By ROB MAADDI and JANIE McCAULEY AP Sports Writers
SAN JOSE — Maybe the game itself will live up to the hype, because Super Bowl Opening Night was calmer than usual.
Drake Maye and the New England Patriots (17-3) take on Sam Darnold and the Seattle Seahawks (16-3) on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers.
The media frenzy that kicks off the week’s festivities on Monday night was smaller, quieter and far less outrageous than recent years.
The crowd inside the San Jose Convention Center was a fraction of its usual size – Opening Night has previously been held in larger arenas. More than 2,000 reporters from across the globe were credentialed to cover the typically zany event, and the league expects 6,500 media members to cover the game and various events surrounding it.
There was no sign of the naked man in a barrel. Nobody wore a wedding dress and proposed to Maye. Reporters weren’t asking players to dance or perform odd tricks. One guy did dress up as Charizard, a Pokemon character.
Still, it wasn’t all football and X’s and O’s.
Maye was asked about his wife, Ann Michael Maye, and her popular baking videos on social media.
“Keep being you,” he said. “You’re the better half of me and I love you. It’s such a special moment for me to follow your journey. I know you do it for something bigger than yourself and that’s what makes it special.”
Darnold was asked to name his favorite coffee spot, burger joint, hobby and food.
Patriots coach Mike Vrabel refused to compare Maye to Tom Brady and was asked several questions about playing for Bill Belichick. He had fun with a reporter from Nickelodeon who presented him with a purple-and-green chain that read, “Slime.” Vrabel wore it but feared he’d get that green, gooey stuff splashed all over his head.
“Why do you keep looking up? Am I about to get slimed?” he said.
Assured he wasn’t, Vrabel was asked if there’s one player he would want to slime.
“Stefon Diggs,” he said without hesitation.
Diggs, the standout receiver, was full of praise for his coach.
“I’ve had great coaches but this guy played the game, he knows we’re gonna grind and he takes care of us,” Diggs said.
The Patriots spent one hour fielding questions before giving way to the Seahawks, who took the stage an hour after New England concluded.
Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald, a finalist along with Vrabel for AP NFL Coach of the Year, was asked if he considered signing Marshawn Lynch to a one-day contract to give him an opportunity to score a 1-yard touchdown.
This is a Super Bowl matchup that produced one of the most memorable endings among the first 59. The Patriots beat the Seahawks, 28-24, when Malcolm Butler picked off Russell Wilson’s pass from the 1-yard line in the final minute on Feb. 1, 2015. Seahawks fans still lament the fact Lynch didn’t get the ball in that spot.
“I love Beast Mode,” Macdonald said. “Just the fact that he knows me and he texts me. … That’s how you want Seahawk football to look – like Marhsawn.”
An event that began as a daytime introduction of the teams has evolved into a live, ticketed, prime-time showcase on national television.
The Patriots are aiming for an NFL-record seventh Lombardi trophy, which would be their first without Brady and Belichick.
Vrabel, who won three Super Bowls as a linebacker with New England, inherited a 4-13 team and has the Patriots on the verge of their first championship parade in seven years.
Maye had a sensational sophomore season, becoming a finalist for the AP NFL MVP and Offensive Player of the Year awards while leading the Patriots to their 12th Super Bowl.
A stifling defense has led the way for the Patriots in the playoffs, holding three opponents to just 8.7 points per game.
The Seahawks had the NFL’s stingiest defense, led by tackle Leonard Williams, linebacker Ernest Jones IV and cornerback Devon Witherspoon. Seattle allowed just 17.1 points per game.
But Darnold’s resurgence will be the top storyline of the week. A No. 3 overall pick by the New York Jets in 2018, the former USC and San Clemente High star is thriving on his fifth team.
Despite winning 14 games with Minnesota in 2024, the Vikings let Darnold walk away in free agency. He became the first quarterback to lead two teams to consecutive 14-win seasons and has proved his doubters wrong. Now, he’s trying to help Seattle win its second Super Bowl in the franchise’s fourth appearance in the game.
At least Darnold has experienced this week’s shenanigans. He was a backup to Brock Purdy when the 49ers lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl two years ago.
“The reason why this is so special is because of the process and what it took to get here,” Darnold said.
PATRIOTS DC THRILLED TO BE CANCER-FREE, WITH TEAM
Every Monday when he could, Terrell Williams would show up for New England’s defensive meetings and praise the unit for an interception, sack or pass breakup during the previous game, and his players found joy in seeing the strength of their coach as he fought cancer.
“I feel like he never lost it,” linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson said. “He still had the charismatic energy and kept a smile on his face, he kept being positive. You wouldn’t be able to know anything was going on with him. I appreciated everything that he showed throughout the process.”
The defensive coordinator is now back with the Patriots for the Super Bowl on Sunday after a nearly five-month battle with prostate cancer.
Williams attended meetings at the Patriots’ facility during his treatment, but he hasn’t traveled with the team all season and hasn’t been on the sideline since Week 1. Inside linebackers coach Zak Kuhr filled in as New England’s defensive play-caller.
Williams was declared cancer-free during the playoffs and cleared to join the team at the Super Bowl.
He was diagnosed because he thought he had a stomach illness following a Week 1 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. When Williams told Mike Vrabel after the game he wasn’t feeling well, the head coach urged him to get checked out by the medical staff and Williams was immediately sent to urgent care.
“As they were doing tests, that’s when they found out about the cancer, so thank God that I had the stomach flu because if I didn’t it just would have been business as usual,” Williams said Monday night.
Chaisson said Williams provided everybody with an emotional lift with his presence and positive spirt despite the obstacles he faced.
“It’s huge, for sure,” Chaisson said of Williams’ return. “Coach has been with us throughout all year, though. We never forgot about him. Everybody continued to call and check on him throughout his recovery but to see him back around and to see him full-time smiling and his very positive energy, it’ll uplift every ounce of joy that we have in our lives.”
Williams focused on his mental approach and found it important to share his tough days with the players “because keeping that stuff in, that’s not the way to go.”
“I’m from South-Central Los Angeles, and we were taught where I grew up to keep things inside,” he said. “And now going through what I went through over the last year, I’m not keeping it inside, I’m sharing with people. The struggles, not just the nausea and the things you’re going through, but also the mental part because there’s a mental component that’s probably the biggest going through a struggle like that.”
Safety Jaylinn Hawkins praised Williams’ heart, even when he was dealing with his illness.
“He’s been a hell of a coach for us since he got here,” Hawkins said. “All that he was going through he still managed to show up for us and that’s special and that means a lot. Showing up for people is something I take serious. To see him showing up for our team the way he did regardless of what was going on was just amazing to me, and that just shows how much he loves and cares about us.”
Now that he is medically cleared, Williams is busy preparing his team for a tough Seattle offense. But he’s also allowing himself to reflect a bit on his remarkable comeback journey.
“Honestly, my thoughts are about the game and not really about me or the Super Bowl or anything,” he said. “This could be a preseason game and I’d be happy to be here with these guys after kind of what I’ve been through, what we’ve been through. It’s been joyous for me just to watch them develop and watch them buy into the message that Vrabes is preaching.”
GOODELL SAYS 18-GAME SEASON IS ‘NOT A GIVEN’
Not so fast on an 18-game NFL season.
A week after Patriots owner Robert Kraft made it seem inevitable, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said expanding the regular season to 18 games is “not a given.”
“We have not had any formal discussions about it and, frankly, very little, if any, informal conversations,” Goodell said Monday at his annual state of the NFL news conference ahead of the Super Bowl. “I’ve heard people talk about it in the context. It is not a given that we will do that. It’s not something we assume will happen. It’s something we want to talk about with the union leadership.”
Last Tuesday, Kraft made it seem 18 games was a foregone conclusion.
“I want to tell you guys that we’re going to push like the dickens now to make international (games) more important with us,” Kraft told 98.5 FM last week. “Every team will go to 18 (regular-season games) and two (preseason games) and eliminate one of the preseason games, and every team every year will play one game overseas.”
Clearly, word reached Goodell.
He mentioned that the NFL Players Association will be going through a leadership transition and that the conversation will be complex. Goodell pointed out player safety concerns, competitive issues, the potential need to add another bye and roster sizes as areas that have to be addressed through collective bargaining.
The current CBA between the NFL and its players’ union expires in 2030.
“As (the NFLPA) determines their priorities, we are doing the same at the ownership level so that when we get together, we can address these issues together,” Goodell said.
The momentum for an 18th game took off when Goodell made an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” at the 2024 NFL Draft in Detroit and said: “I’d rather replace a preseason game with a regular-season (game) any day, that’s just picking quality. If we got to 18 (regular season) and two (preseason), that’s not an unreasonable thing.”
He’s walked it back previously but not to this point.
The NFL added a 17th game in 2021 in the most recent CBA.
Seahawks receiver Cooper Kupp hinted Monday night that owners would have to give up a bigger piece of the financial pie to get an 18th done.
“For the 18th game to happen, there’s obviously going to be some negotiation,” Kupp said. “There’s some things, give and take. Unfortunately, it’s one of those things. If the 18th game is on the table, there’s going to have to be some talks about what makes that worth it to the players. And we’ll get to that point. We’ll cross that bridge.”
TISCH-EPSTEIN
The NFL will look into New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch and his association with Jeffrey Epstein after his name showed up more than 400 times in files released by the U.S. Justice Department regarding Epstein.
“Absolutely we will look at all the facts,” Goodell said. “We’ll look at the context of those and try to understand that. We’ll look at how that falls under the (league personal conduct) policy. I think we’ll take one step at a time. Let’s get the facts first.”
Tisch said last week he knew Epstein and that they “exchanged emails about adult women” and “discussed movies, philanthropy and investments.” But Tisch, 76, denied going to Epstein’s island and was never charged in the investigation.
Epstein killed himself in a New York jail cell in August 2019, a month after being indicted on federal sex trafficking charges.
The documents were disclosed under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the law enacted after months of public and political pressure that requires the government to open its files on the late financier and his confidant and onetime girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell.
INTERNATIONAL GAMES
The NFL will play its first regular-season game ever in France next season with the New Orleans Saints set to travel to Paris later this year and the league will also head back to Mexico City for the first time since 2022, increasing the total of international games to nine in 2026.
The league announced the plans to play a game at the Stade de France next season in addition to a multiyear deal to keep playing regular-season games at Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, and a game to be played in Mexico City in December.
Goodell said 16 international games remains the goal.
AP Pro Football Writer Mark Long contributed.
