STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
OK, the Super Bowl comes Sunday, and the festivities are underway in New Orleans, or New Orleens (ph), or New Orleahns (ph), or Narleans (ph). Take your choice. NPR's Becky Sullivan went to the Superdome, or Superdohme (ph), last night and sent back this story.
BECKY SULLIVAN, BYLINE: In six days, this stadium will host the big game. But on Monday night, it was transformed for the spectacle that is Super Bowl Opening Night.
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SULLIVAN: Every player from the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs was there, dressed in matching white tracksuits, making the rounds to talk to the media. For thousands of fans, it was a chance to get autographs.
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SULLIVAN: For social media personalities, a chance to ask silly questions.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Now, can we compare hand sizes?
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: What color is the Gatorade going to be on Sunday?
SULLIVAN: And it's New Orleans, so of course there was a marching band.
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SULLIVAN: The Eagles and the Chiefs have competing goals for the game, of course. But on Monday, the players expressed something they shared - gratitude for reaching a moment that they've been working toward their entire lives. For Philadelphia's Kelee Ringo, it hit him the moment he arrived.
KELEE RINGO: Soon as I walked in, I'm like, man, older Kelee's really living young Kelee's dreams. It's such a great feeling, man, just - man, I'm extremely blessed, highly favored, man.
SULLIVAN: For some of the Chiefs, you can multiply that feeling by three. They're the first team in NFL history to return to the Super Bowl after winning two in a row. That was beyond the wildest dreams of third-year defensive back Joshua Williams because, well, his dreams weren't that elaborate.
JOSHUA WILLIAMS: It was me going in my rookie year and winning the Super Bowl, and I never went past that. So the fact that we've done it a second year and made it here the third year, and we're planning to accomplish the big feat of winning the third one, it's a blessing.
SULLIVAN: That run got going with a Super Bowl win back in 2023, when the Chiefs beat the Eagles 38-35. So this year's a rematch. The familiarity between the two teams runs even deeper than that. Kansas City head coach Andy Reid first held that job in Philly for 14 years, and among his mentees there was Howie Roseman. He's now the Eagles general manager, and he had some gratitude of his own to express on Monday.
HOWIE ROSEMAN: I'm very fortunate, I feel like, to be able to have spent the first 13 years of my career with coach Reid and learned from him and him take the time to watch tape with me and explain to me why he was doing things. You know, I would definitely not be in this position if it wasn't from him, and that's where it started.
SULLIVAN: So between these two teams, it's all compliments for now. Sunday, back here at the Superdome, will be a different story.
Becky Sullivan, NPR News, New Orleans.
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INSKEEP: So I don't know, Michel. I mean, I don't have, like - it's not like one of my teams is in the Super Bowl.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Facts.
INSKEEP: But I like Kansas City just 'cause I like Kansas City, you know? And...
MARTIN: Well, look, this country's polarized enough, so I'm not taking sides.
INSKEEP: (Laughter).
MARTIN: All I'm going to say is our colleague, Juana Summers, is from Kansas City.
INSKEEP: Oh.
MARTIN: And so I'm afraid of her. So I'm not going to say...
INSKEEP: (Laughter) Not going to - I'm not going to say I'm for the Eagles, says Michel...
MARTIN: (Laughter) So...
INSKEEP: ...While making it clear that she's for the Eagles.
MARTIN: You know, I'm all about the snacks, Steve.
INSKEEP: The snacks are important.
MARTIN: Snacks.
INSKEEP: Taylor Swift - big part of the story here. Travis Kelce - according to A to Z Sports, Travis reveals how Taylor Swift constantly inspires him to be better.
MARTIN: How could she not?
INSKEEP: So that's one of the plotlines for the Super Bowl this Sunday. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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