Super Bowl Travel Its Own Unique Experience Before Big Game

As of Monday evening, both teams will be in Arizona preparing for Super Bowl XLIX and all the hoopla that comes with it. But first, they had to get there.

The New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks are in for a doozy of an experience, even if members of both clubs have been through this song and dance before. Traveling to the Super Bowl site is its own surreal experience before things get really wacky in the run-up to the big game.

“As good as it feels, this is also a great example of the challenge that both teams face throughout the Super Bowl process — loads of adulation, emotional moments so far removed from the game they can’t possibly affect it, and a pseudo-winning feeling before anything has actually been won,” Matt Chatham wrote Monday on FootballByFootball.com. “You can’t fall victim to the back-patting. And there’s a lifetime’s worth during Super Bowl week.”

Getting through the send-off rally is only the start, according to Chatham. Players need to remember that the other side is getting showered with just as much love, and that neither team has won anything yet.