(Ben Liebenberg/NFL.com)

Tampa is gorgeous, especially today.

Super Bowl Sunday began with a special Super Bowl prayer in the hotel room (something like “God bless football”) in an effort to get things started on the right track. For all of the people here in Tampa who are working today’s game, from all over the country, Super Bowl week gets even better when friends and family arrive. In the same way that people will be going to Super Bowl parties and hosting friends, we get the privilege of bringing people to the game, too.

“This might be the greatest day of my life,” said one of my guys.

That’s the perspective I’m holding heading into the game.

We’ve got about five hours before kickoff. Fans are congregating in the parking lots outside the stadium, and I can only guess how early they were here. This is a completely arbitrary number, but guesstimating that Steelers fans outnumber Cardinals fans 15-to-1. The skies over Tampa are partly cloudy. I’m no weatherman … it’s nice and warm.

One thing I noticed on the way in: Outside the stadium, there are five-story mural banners of Ben Roethlisberger and Larry Fitzgerald on the side I entered from. A sign? Possible MVPs?

I’m headed down to the sidelines and around the stadium. Stay tuned.

Posted in: Super Bowl  |