Super Bowl media day was a hair-raising event.
Green Bay players wore Troy Polamalu wigs on Tuesday in honor of the Pittsburgh Steelers safety whose Rapunzel-like locks are insured for $1 million. Packers linebackers Clay Matthews and A.J. Hawk debated whose long blonde hair — stroked by a NFL Network female reporter — was better.
“There’s no competition there,” Hawk said. “We don’t compete in that area. [Matthews] has that long flowing girly hair that girls want.”
Somewhere Vince Lombardi is crying.
Downtown Julie Brown used to be a rare sex symbol on media day. On Tuesday, Cowboys Stadium overflowed with sideshows. Ines Sainz of TV Azteca, whose beauty drove the New York Jets to overstep the boundaries of good taste earlier this season, was back wearing a dress one Web site described as “a hooker outfit.” Los Angeles radio personality Victor Jacobs donned a fur coat and hat that would have made Liz Taylor envious.
And where do we start in describing Steelers defensive end Brett Keisel, who was a sword short of being a Norse god and claiming Texas in the name of Vikings everywhere. Seriously, Keisel’s beard is the greatest ever by an athlete. He’ll have a second career portraying Kirk Douglas in “The Vikings” remake.
“The beard’s getting too caught up in this media attention,” Keisel said. “Basking in all this glory. It needs to worry about the game.”
The game? America’s greatest sporting event also serves as America’s dumbest distraction every Tuesday during Super Bowl week. And that’s fine. Amid the stupidity is a rare freshness from players who actually spend one hour with the media. For some players, that’s more time than they spent with scribes all season.
Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin was having so much fun at the podium that Steelers’ predecessor Bill Cowher was somewhere shaking his head in bewilderment. Enjoying oneself at a big moment? Who knew NFL coaches were people, too?
At least Packers coach Mike McCarthy sounded like the second coming of sourpuss New England coach Bill Belichick when discussing his Green Bay predecessor, Lombardi.
“I walk through the doorway that was his office every day,” McCarthy said. “There’s constant reminders of coach Lombardi.”
But enough serious answers. Green Bay receiver Greg Jennings chose Chris Paul as the NBA player who could become an NFL quarterback. Packers cornerback Charles Woodson urged President Obama to attend the Super Bowl even if Green Bay knocked out the First Fan’s Chicago Bears.
“That didn’t sit right with me,” Woodson said of Obama’s boycott. “Come watch Green Bay.”
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger continued his redemption tour by joking with a Spanish reporter over how little of the foreign language he knew and posing for a photo with a youngster. Roethlisberger — who opened the season by serving a four-game suspension — and Steelers Hall of Fame quarterback/Fox broadcaster Terry Bradshaw even made peace in front of the media.
“I just try to enjoy life,” Roethlisberger said. “You learn from mistakes and try to become a better person.”
On media day, everybody’s happy.
Examiner columnist Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Read more at TheRickSniderReport.com and on Twitter @Snide_Remarks or e-mail [email protected].
