NEW ORLEANS – The Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles have both been in this position before, ahead of Super Bowl LIX.
Experience in this high-pressure environment is certainly an advantage for those players that went through this nerve-wrecking week, but what exactly are these players experiencing behind closed doors?
One former NFL player revealed what was on his mind before he got a crack at the Lombardi Trophy.
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NFL free agent running back Todd Gurley reacts during the 2021 MLS All-Star Game at Banc of California Stadium. (Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports)
“Honestly, you start thinking about gifts that you’re gonna buy yourself when you win, and you get the winning earnings,” ex-Los Angeles Rams and Atlanta Falcons running back Todd Gurley told Fox News Digital on Radio Row on Wednesday. “You’re not thinking ahead, but you’re like, ‘We’re gonna go to Vegas and celebrate.’”
Gurley joked that, with both Kansas City and Philadelphia cold this time of year, whoever wins will not be staying long after the parade.
Now, Gurley, unfortunately, didn’t get that winning feeling in Super Bowl LIII, falling to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, 13-3, to cap the 2018 season. Gurley had just 10 carries for 35 yards, as the Rams struggled mightily on offense.
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Gurley explained how the team was trying to prepare like it was a normal week when they got to Atlanta.
“You just try to treat it like a normal week, but you know you only got a couple days left so you just want to lock in,” he explained while also discussing his partnership with Bush’s Beans. “You’re like, ‘Couple days left. Let’s lock in.’ And then you try to be as cliché as possible like, ‘it’s just another game, it’s just another game.’”
However, what the Chiefs and Eagles might have figured out the first time facing each other in the Super Bowl was this, at least from Gurley’s perspective.
“Honestly, when the game came, I can definitely say it was by far one of the fastest games I’ve ever played in,” he said. “It was like a blur. I really don’t remember too much from it. It was super, super fast.”
The adrenaline pumping with millions watching can reach all-time highs for players, and Gurley even mentioned halftime being too long due to the pomp and circumstance of the signature halftime show.
Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley, #30, runs the ball against New England Patriots defensive back Jonathan Jones, #31, and outside linebacker Elandon Roberts, #52, during the fourth quarter of Super Bowl LIII at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. (John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports)
Again, there are only a handful of players on each team who do not know this feeling of going through meetings, media availabilities and practices, knowing only one game remains for glory.
For the Chiefs, they basically have a routine now with the Super Bowl, as they can make history with three straight Lombardi Trophies won, becoming the first team in NFL history to do so.
However, players like Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and others want revenge, as the Eagles fell to the Chiefs, 38-35, in Arizona in this game two years ago.
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Preparation is key, but even with that and experience, the pressure of performing on the biggest stage anywhere is immense. The Super Bowl is where legends are made, and Gurley understood that when he took the field at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in February 2019.
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Today, Gurley’s preparation for the “Big Game” involves getting in the kitchen to whip up some tasty eats at home, which he always loves to do.
Being out in Los Angeles, Gurley said he gets to have cookouts all the time. What he cooks is the main question, but there seems to be a constant: baked beans.
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It is not just the standard Bush’s Original, which Gurley believes is more than fine. He prefers his family’s secret recipe.
“You want to spice it up a little bit,” he said. “Obviously, you usually go with the original. But you just start seeing stuff. Before YouTube and all this stuff, you learn it from the family or your learn it from your friends like, ‘Hold on, what was that you put in it the other day?’ And then you start adding stuff, so you do ground beef if you’re a beef guy, or you do turkey. Obviously, onions go with a lot of things – can’t go wrong with that. Some green peppers, some brown sugar, and then some bacon bits.”
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