SAN FRANCISCO — Derrick Brooks has been there and done that. So while you might hear tales of how teams wish they had more time to prepare for the Super Bowl, the Hall of Fame linebacker would contest there might actually be too much time between the conference championships and the biggest game of the NFL season.
Or that’s the way it seems, at least.
Brooks pointed to “boredom” as being a huge challenge to overcome during Super Bowl week. The AFC and NFC champions obviously are hard at work preparing for the big game, but there still is downtime, and finding ways to pass that time in anticipation of the Super Bowl isn’t easy.
“You try to occupy time (late in the week) to speed it up, but you can’t and some people get bored,” Brooks told NESN.com’s Michaela Vernava on Thursday on Radio Row. “I think that’s the biggest challenge. All the other stuff will come. You’re going to be on a schedule, you’re going to deal with the media — that’s part of the right you earned to be here — and once you get past all that, it’s ‘now what?’ You try not to let your family be a distraction to you as well. So you really try to limit the distractions, if I was to say the toughest thing to do, and you fight boredom.”
Brooks successfully combated his boredom back in January 2003 en route to a Super Bowl title with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The nine-time All-Pro returned an interception for a touchdown in Tampa Bay’s 48-21 win over the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII, which he discussed with Vernava this week in California while representing Kay Jewelers.
For Brooks’ full interview, check out NESN’s YouTube page.