Greetings from the Big Easy.
As much as I miss the stately oaks and broad magnolias of LSU, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to take my talents to New Orleans for Super Bowl XLVII. I’ve been lucky enough to work for ESPN Radio all week, getting guests of the World Wide Leader’s highest-rated shows to sign footballs and other items for the V Foundation Auction to benefit cancer research.
I’ve been at the ESPN hub for Super Bowl XLVII in the parking lot of Jax’s Brewery on South Peters since Monday and am having the experience of a lifetime. Here’s some highlights and photos from the first couple of days.
Monday
– One of ESPN’s best “This is SportsCenter” commercials of all-time is NFL insider John Clayton’s. He was the first guest on Mike and Mike on Monday and dropped some fabulous football knowledge as always.
I was surprised when he finished his segment and didn’t immediately start jamming out to Slayer while eating Chinese food.
– It’s always great to see LSU Tigers outside of Baton Rouge, especially when it’s a guy as entertaining as James Carville.
He stopped by Mike and Mike in the Morning with wife Mary Matalin, with whom he’s heading up the Super Bowl XLVII welcoming committee. He doesn’t think NFL commissioner Roger Goodell will be ill-received in the Crescent City. We’ll have to wait and see.
– Following the LSU trend, former Tiger defensive back Ryan Clark was the final guest of the day on SVP and Russillo. While walking onto the set, he gave his Super Bowl ring to a fan in the crowd.
After his manager looked at him like he was crazy, Clark just shrugged it off. “I can catch anyone in this crowd,” Clark said.
Tuesday
– Even though Houston Rockets guard James Harden gets all the love about his facial hair, Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end Brett Keisel possesses the beard everyone should fear.
He came on The Herd with Colin Cowherd promoting Head and Shoulders, which he uses in his ridiculously awesome mane.
– One of the craziest guys in NFL history is former Denver Broncos and Oakland Raiders linebacker Bill Romanowski. He mentioned on The Herd how near the end of his career, he would use the oxygen masks on the planes to road games so he wouldn’t lose any over the trip.
Definitely sounds like a guy whose autobiography is titled, Romo My Life on the Edge: Living Dreams and Slaying Dragons.
– During Super Bowl Media Day, San Francisco wide receiver Randy Moss declared he was the greatest wide receiver of all-time. Former 49ers wide out Jerry Rice responded later that day, saying, “Put my numbers up against his.”
While I’m not going to weigh in on who the better pass catcher is, it didn’t stop fans from hounding Rice for autographs like a pack of wild dogs.
Wednesday
– Although Fox NFL broadcaster Daryl Johnston’s nickname is “Moose”, he brought a different animal to his appearance on Mike and Mike: his yellow lab Gunner. Mike Golic enjoyed visiting with both Moose and Gunner after their segment.
– Inevitably one of the most sought after guests of the week, Drew Brees made his first ESPN Radio appearance on The Herd. If you missed his chat with Colin, don’t worry; he’ll be on SVP and Russillo Thursday and Mike and Mike Friday.
– Last, but certainly not least, was LSU football coach Les Miles’ visit to the ESPN compound. He visited with Scott Van Pelt and Ryen Russillo to discuss the biggest question surrounding the Tigers: How do they recover from losing so many underclassmen to the 2013 NFL Draft?
Miles answer was simple, “When you lose 11 juniors, you have to be prepared to reload.” Speaking of those early departures, former Tigers Barkevious Mingo and Chris Faulk took a tour of the ESPN set later that day.
Well that’s it for me. If you want updates from the next two days in the Big Easy you can follow me on Twitter @DardDog.
Until next week, stay classy Baton Rouge.
