Cliff Brunt’s slideshow look back at Super Bowl XLVI week
By CLIFF BRUNT
ISL Editor
INDIANAPOLIS — I think it’s only right to take a look back one year later at what most Super Bowl regulars said was one of the best ever, on and off the field.
I covered last year’s Super Bowl as a reporter for The Associated Press, and though I worked, I made it a point to experience as much as I could during the week. I saw it as more than work, but a chapter in my life and something to be shared with others.
I’ve posted 40 photos here. The slideshow takes you from the building of Georgia Street, the centerpiece of the action downtown, to Media Day, with superstars such as Maria Menounos and Ciara and the gigantic crowds surrounding Tom Brady and Eli Manning, to Radio Row, to the clubs and parties, Madonna’s press conference and behind the scenes on Game Day.
The decision to take the Tebowing shot you see here was a spur-of-the-moment thing decided on fumes at about 3 a.m. after the game. Almost everyone had left the stadium. My feet were killing me because I had worn Stacy Adams shoes all day. Still, I wanted to go down to the field. I picked up some of the confetti — it’s in my mancave — then I saw some people standing and talking in the end zone.
They asked me to take photos of them, and I obliged. Then it hit me. As I stood in the end zone at the Super Bowl, everything moved in slow motion. Everything was right. This was it. The Mother of All Tebowing Shots was going down.
This year, it’s all about “Kaepernicking.” Last year, it was “Tebowing.”
It had to be done. And the result was one of the most memorable photos I’ve been in. Someday, my grandkids will ask me what the heck I was doing kneeling on a football field while wearing a suit with some piece of paper hanging off my neck. I look forward to that.
One thing I’ll always remember is the hype around Madonna’s appearance at media headquarters, the J.W. Marriott Hotel. All these hard-edged professionals turned into little giggly kids when it was learned when and where she’d give her press conference. Hard news became irrelevant. Madonna was in the building. Everyone wanted to be in the room when the Material Girl arrived.
All I had was a camera phone, and I wish I had a better one. I got close to the front and ended up with one halfway decent shot, kind of blurry, which is included in the slideshow. I found out that my shot was better than almost everyone else’s. To this day, I still can’t believe I was that close. She truly had a magnificent presence. I’ve never seen people act so strangely around or about a person than I did that day.
There’s a shot of Drew Brees playing XBox against a kid. It’s not much of a photo, but I posted it on Twitter and it got viewed more than 10,000 times. My guess is that it epitomizes what everyone already thought about him — that he’s real, and that he’s the guy you’d like to have over your house.
I have pics of Michael Irvin, Marshall Faulk and Dwight Freeney at Sensu in downtown Indianapolis. I went there twice. The best story about that place is that I took my wife, Christina, with me the night Drake was supposed to perform. Christina was pregnant with my daughter, Eden, but we agreed that getting out during Super Bowl week was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, so she came.
First, we fought through crazy crowds to get there, and she walked more than I had hoped because unless you’re rolling in dough, you couldn’t park close to anything. She said her feet hurt, but she didn’t mind. She’s about experiencing things, and that’s one of the things I like best about her.
Anyhows, some of the people at the club recognized that she was pregnant and allowed her to sit in a reserved section while I snapped photos on the red carpet. Turns out, the section was reserved for David Arquette. He showed up and chatted with her and wished her a healthy delivery. That made her night, but Drake took his time, so we left before he performed.
The photo with the lit-up pagoda was taken at the host committee’s party. It should be noted that the host committee knocked it out of the park.
One of the things I remember most about game day was how many Peyton Manning jerseys were in the crowd, and how much the Colts fans wanted the Giants to win. Eli was like an adopted brother in Indianapolis that week, and it was clear that the fans not only wanted Eli to win, but wanted Brady to lose. I also remember that we spent as much time talking about Peyton as we did Eli that week because of his contract situation. Even by winning, Eli couldn’t win.
Based on what I saw and what has been said, it’s a pretty good bet that the Super Bowl will return to the Circle City in the near future.
