NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana: Baltimore Ravens players flew into New Orleans on Monday for the Super Bowl, settling into a riverfront hotel three blocks from the San Francisco 49ers, their rivals in Sunday’s title game.
Thousands of fans from across the United States are expected to flock into the “Big Easy” as well this week ahead of the National Football League championship showdown at the Louisiana Superdome.
Eight years after the Superdome became a scene of horror as refugees fled to the damaged stadium from the flooding and devastation of Hurricane Katrina only to find no relief, the first Super Bowl there since the deadly storm will try to signal that the city famous for its Mardi Gras party is having fun again.
“It’s our biggest global moment,” Mayor Mitch Landrieu said. “You have a city that’s going to be on the world stage dramatically changed.”
Parades and parties began last week for the Carnival in which Mardi Gras is the centerpiece, but for the players it will be business as usual while their supporters frolic in the French Quarter, near both team’s hotels.
“We’re not going to New Orleans for nothing else but to bring a (championship) ring back to Baltimore,” Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis told a crowd of supporters at a harborfront pep rally in Baltimore on Monday before the team flight.
Lewis announced late in the season that he was retiring after the campaign and the man whose enthusiasm and energy has powered the Ravens for years could see his career conclude with a victory in the Super Bowl.
The 49ers made a point of not gawking like tourists when they departed their plane late Sunday, no recording the sights or showing any sign it was anything other than an ordinary road trip, although it could change their lives.
“We’re not down here to have a good time,” offensive tackle Joe Staley said. “We’re here to compete for a Lombardi Trophy.”
San Francisco coach Jim Harbaugh, will challenge his brother, Ravens coach John Harbaugh, in the first Super Bowl matchup pitting brothers against each other as coaches. Even they are all business.
“We want to come down here and it’s a business trip,” said 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh. “It’s not necessarily to have fun. It’s to win a football game. We have to stay focused throughout the week and try to accomplish the goal we set in training camp.”
Jim Harbaugh was a fan at the 1990 Super Bowl in the Superdome when the 49ers routed Denver 55-10. It was the fourth of five Super Bowl triumphs by the 49ers, who have never lost in the Super Bowl.
“The organization has a tremendous history and we’re proud of it,” Harbaugh said. “This is new business and our team is focused on winning a championship.”
The 49ers will train and practice at the New Orleans Saints facilities in the suburbs while the Ravens will work out at Tulane University in the city.
Super Bowl coaches bristle at Obama’s comments
Meantime, President Barack Obama’s comments that he would “think long and hard” before letting a son play American football were shrugged off by Super Bowl coaches on Monday but there was some agreement from players that the game needed to evolve.
Obama’s stance came in an interview with the New Republic, published on Sunday, where he was asked how he squares his love of the game with rising awareness of the impact of repeated head injuries on football players.
“I’m a big football fan, but I have to tell you if I had a son, I’d have to think long and hard before I let him play football,” said Obama.
“And I think that those of us who love the sport are going to have to wrestle with the fact that it will probably change gradually to try to reduce some of the violence,” he said.
San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh was dismissive of Obama’s comments.
“Well I have a four-month old, almost five-month old son, Jack Harbaugh, and if President Obama feels that way then there will be a little bit less competition for Jack Harbaugh when he gets older,” he told reporters.
Brother John Harbaugh, coach of the Baltimore Ravens, the other team in Sunday’s Super Bowl, said he didn’t agree with Obama and stressed the game had much to offer.
“Football is a great game ... It’s challenging, it’s tough, it’s hard. There is no game like football. It’s the type of sport that brings out the best in you. It kind of shows who you are.
“I think it’s a huge part of our educational system in this country. And it’s going to be around for a long time,” he said.
The 49ers’ outside linebacker Aldon Smith said players were well aware of the risks involved.
“I think the game has been like it always has. It’s a physical game. Everybody plays hard. Guys get hit sometimes and that’s what we all know coming into the game.
“We all signed up for it. It’s not like we signed up and thought we were going to play tennis,” he said.
Concerns over the risk of brain injury from repeated concussions suffered by players in the NFL are growing with hundreds of former players involved in legal action against the league.
The NFL, America’s most popular television sport and a $9 billion a year industry, has introduced tougher rules and regulations regarding the treatment of concussion.
Ravens center Matt Birk said he understood Obama’s concerns and felt the game was beginning to change.
