The Super Bowl officially began for me when Brian Urlacher stepped off the Bears’ airplane holding a drink of some sort with a bold “54” distinctly visible on the label. That, ladies and gentlemen, is called knowing how to play the game.
William E. Amatucci Jr./WireImage.com Big Tony capitalized on his five minutes of big fame.For the guys who get it, the Super Bowl is one long commercial for themselves and their business interests. Urlacher and his handlers knew the photographers would be focused on him as he walked down the plane’s staircase — another contrived Super Bowl affectation — so he placed his product in an advantageous position.
For the most part, this week isn’t all about football, no matter what the players and coaches say. The agents and the marketers work like famished dogs to figure out the best way to parlay all this free publicity into an even bigger payday for them and their guys.
Of course, winning is important, since it increases the stakes, but a guy who plays the game during the week can offset the importance of the outcome.
Urlacher’s opening gambit was good, but he’s got a lot of work ahead of him if he’s going to come close to the reigning champion of Super Bowl week — Tony Siragusa. When he played for the Ravens — the victorious Ravens, lucky for him — he and his guys had the whole scene scoped out. Within two weeks after the Super Bowl, the guy had done every television show from Letterman to “Turkey Hunting With Ed” on the Outdoor Network.
So when you see Siragusa working the sideline for Fox and ponder the age-old question — how in the hell did that happen? — remember Ravens-Giants, and the week Big Tony got a good hand and played it perfectly.
