Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes speaks to the media during Super Bowl LVIII Opening Night at Allegiant Stadium Monday, Feb. 5, 2024.
Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024 | 2 a.m.
Opening Night of Super Bowl Week is the laid-back part of the busiest week on the NFL’s calendar.
Cameras, phones and recorders flooded the turf of Allegiant Stadium. Eleven risers circled the field hosting 11 of the top stars from the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers.
Questions covered a wide-array of important topics.
What is it going to take for the Chiefs to conquer the vaunted 49ers defense and win back-to-back Super Bowls?
What does 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy need to do to finally earn the respect as one of the league’s best signal callers?
Has Travis Kelce listened to Taylor Swift’s new album yet? The answer is yes, by the way, but the future Hall-of-Famer isn’t giving away any trade secrets.
It’s the last time the 49ers and Chiefs get to enjoy the pageantry of the week ahead before they play for the Lombardi Trophy on this same turf on Sunday. The next few days mark the beginning of the final preparation for the 58th installment of the NFL’s big game, which will hit Las Vegas for the first time.
But it wasn’t just the players on the field having a good time.
Fans got to sit in the stands and cheer on their favorite players being interviewed, though it was difficult to hear because of continuous audio troubles. The cameras panned to Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes fielding questions multiple times, but it was difficult to hear his responses from the 100 levels.
Some fans from both teams were pitted against each other in what looked like an NFL version of Pictionary. Although they didn’t play for premier prizes, a family of five were gifted tickets to the game.
Each team has their own style of personalities that appeal to this kind of environment. There’s Kelce, with his nonchalant approach to life and also being one of the most famous people in the world off the field with dating the biggest mega star in music. The star tight end, as expected, took all Swiftie-related questions without batting an eye.
Mahomes is on the cusp of being the next great quarterback in league history. One more Super Bowl would give him three in four years before turning 30 years old. He’s already drawing comparisons to Tom Brady and his seven championships.
But sitting at his podium with his name emblazoned in red and yellow LED lights, Mahomes was calm and collected per usual. He riled up 49ers fans prior to the evening’s festivities by acknowledging the San Francisco crowd with a taunting, “I appreciate it Niners Nation. We’re here.”
The 49ers’ contingent shined with their personalities.
The first question 49ers tight end George Kittle took was about the current situation involving WWE’s WrestleMania. The avid wrestling fan, who actually wrestled in a match during last year’s WrestleMania, gave his two cents on the championship picture that involves Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
Running back Christian McCaffrey, one of the finalists for the league’s MVP trophy, took a selfie with Blue Man Group and was given the Polaroid photo, as well as a blue-painted T-shirt.
It was a night to celebrate both teams going through unique paths to get to Las Vegas. The Chiefs were written off following their Christmas Day loss to the Las Vegas Raiders but haven’t lost a game since and are one more win from cementing themselves as the league’s new dynasty.
One team the Chiefs beat to get to that point are these same 49ers. They squandered a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl 55 in Miami, which led to the birth of the legend that is Mahomes. The 49ers, once again, are looking for their sixth championship.
It was all in good fun Monday. Six days from now, it’ll be business one more time.
