Activities for the week of Super Bowl LVIII kick off with Monday’s media day gathering, now known as Super Bowl Opening Night. What began as a quiet session between coaches and reporters in 1967 has morphed into a prime-time spectacle, with personal questions and silly inquiries that border on kid stuff.
So, it is only appropriate that the media crush includes a kid asking questions.
Panini America is sending a 9-year-old boy to the media circus for the 12th consecutive year to interview players. It is a part of the sports card and memorabilia company’s “Kid Reporter” contest, a promotion where young collectors register online for a chance to become a sports reporter for a day.
Jayce Choi, of Irvine, California, won the sweepstakes and will not only interview players -- he and his parents will also attend Super Bowl LVIII, Panini said in a news release.
Contestants entered the sweepstakes by finding a special card inserted into packs of 2023 Panini football cards, including Score, Donruss, Donruss Elite, Prestige, Certified, Prizm and Absolute brands. He was chosen from among more than 300,000 entries, Panini said in its release.
Choi has been collecting cards since he was 6 and found the insert when he opened a Mega Box of Prestige football. He will be accompanied to the session by former NFL quarterback Trent Dilfer, whose Baltimore Ravens won Super Bowl XXXV. Dilfer has been the “ambassador” who steers the Kid Reporter toward the podium to ask questions.
That is needed since more than 6,000 media members from 26 countries have been accredited to cover the first Super Bowl played in Las Vegas, The Associated Press reported.
On Opening Night in 2017, Panini’s 7-year-old reporter, Joseph Perez, asked Tom Brady a question that caused an emotional reaction.
“Many people say that you’re their hero, but who’s your hero?” Perez inquired.
“Who’s my hero? That’s a great question,” Brady said. “Well, I think my dad is my hero, because he’s someone I look up to every day, and, uh ...”
Brady’s voice trailed off and he swallowed hard before saying, “My dad.”
Youths who have served as Kid Reporters have been able to ask thoughtful questions to players. Of course, a low bar has been set through the years by other media members.
A female reporter once showed up in a wedding dress veil and proposed to Brady, the AP reported.
During media interviews for Super Bowl XLVIII, an Austrian reporter interviewed a Mexican reporter while dressed as Mozart, according to The Toronto Star. The Austrian scribe dressed that way because, hey, the famous composer was also Austrian. Go figure.
Last year, Philadelphia Eagles coach Nick Sirianni was asked who on his roster he would not let allow his daughter to date.
“My daughter is 5 years old,” Sirianni answered.
“Downtown” Julie Brown has been credited as starting the hoopla surrounding Media Day, USA Today reported. Brown, an MTV “VJ,” came to the press gathering in 1993 wearing a black mesh jumpsuit and proceeded to ask players silly questions.
Brown asked Dallas Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson, “What are you wearing to the game,” adding that she would be rooting for his team because they were young and would know who she was, according to the newspaper.
When Brown asked Johnson what rules he had for his team, the coach responded, “Don’t kiss Julie Brown.”
There have been other legendary exchanges involving quarterbacks Jim Plunkett and Doug Williams, and a Japanese reporter during Super Bowl XXIII asked Joe Montana how he acquired his nickname of Boomer. The reporter had mixed up Joe Cool with his counterpart on the Cincinnati Bengals, Norman “Boomer” Esiason, AL.com reported.
The Kid Reporters have held up better through the years.
Natalie Blank, a 10-year-old from Franklin, Tennessee, asked Eagles quarterback Nick Foles during Super Bowl LII week who was “the most inspiring woman in your life?”
Foles said his wife, Tori Moore, fit that description because of her battle with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). It is a condition with symptoms that include a fast heart rate, dizziness and fatigue, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Foles also spoke about the recent birth of his daughter.
This year it will be Choi’s turn to ask questions.
“We are so excited to have Jayce with us in Las Vegas serving as the Panini Kid Reporter,” Jason Howarth, Panini’s senior vice president of marketing and athlete relations, told Cox Media Group in an email. “Jayce’s passion for collecting and football really shine through, and we know he will do a great job!”
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