AT THE SUPER BOWL
SAN DIEGO >> It is touted as "Partners in Paradise," the deal between the NFL and the Pro Bowl. But to the players who are selected for pro football's all-star game, it's simply paradise, playing the sport they love with and against the elite of the game in Hawaii. Elite players work
after Super BowlCindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.comThe NFL's season-ending contest Feb. 2 at Aloha Stadium is more than the NFC blue and AFC red aloha shirts, and a paid vacation to the 50th State. It's about respect that the 86 players receive by being chosen, and also the respect players want to earn by proving themselves worthy of being an all-star.
"I played there four years ago and I'm looking forward to going back," said Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Troy Vincent during yesterday's news conference at the San Diego Convention Center. "You get to see the Randy Mosses, the Brad Johnsons of the game. You're lined up against the best the world has to offer. You're among the elite.
"You want to perform well, strut your stuff and show the world you belong there. It's always a great experience to go to the city and see the fans. We understand it's a game and people are paying to watch us perform."
Vincent's goal is to also pick up the $30,000 paycheck that each member of the winning team receives. When his NFC team lost to the AFC in 2001, he earned $15,000.
For New England's Richard Seymour, next Sunday's game is the continuation of a magical playing career. In the past 26 months, the defensive tackle played for Georgia in the Oahu Bowl and was part of the Patriots' winning effort in Super Bowl XXXVI. He is in the Pro Bowl after only his second pro season.
"You couldn't ask for a better experience than I've had in a short time," Seymour said. "As a (Pro Bowl) rookie, you really don't know what to expect. And with us not being in the playoffs, you have to stay in shape because you want to give the fans something to watch.
"It's going to be a great time to mingle with the rest of the players, interact with them off the field. I'm looking forward to coming back. It's a beautiful place."
Seymour knows that the artificial turf has not been replaced at Aloha Stadium. Fieldturf was supposed to be installed after the ConAgra Foods Hawaii Bowl last month, but the installation has been put on hold until after the Pro Bowl.
"You can't control what's going on out there," Seymour said. "And you can't hold that in the back of your mind or you will get injured. We just have to go out and do what we normally do on a regular basis and hope to stay injury-free."
Rating the playing surfaces in the NFL was among the topics of yesterday's NFL Players Association interview session. NFLPA executive director Gene Upshaw discussed the findings of the latest league-wide survey, which showed that players clearly preferred playing on natural grass.
The survey, conducted every two years since 1994, again ranked Tampa Bay's stadium surface as the best. It was the fifth consecutive time that Raymond James Stadium was voted No. 1.
Arizona, Seattle, Carolina and Jacksonville round out the top five in a vote of 1,367 players. Seattle's Seahawks Stadium has Fieldturf and it was the first time that an artificial turf was ranked among the five best fields.
For the fifth time in a row, Philadelphia's Veterans Stadium ranked as the worst playing surface. The Vet, which is being replaced next season, was followed by the home stadiums for the New York teams, Cincinnati, Minnesota and New Orleans.
"This clearly demonstrates the increasingly strong preference for top-quality natural grass playing surfaces," Upshaw said. "However, with five grass fields ranked among the league's 10 worst, this year's survey demonstrates that a grass surface alone is no guarantee of excellence."
The preference for grass fields was made by 88.8 percent of the players, up from 86.6 percent when last asked in 1998. The players also believe that artificial surfaces are more likely to contribute to injuries (95.7 percent), shorten their careers (79.3 percent) and cause more soreness and fatigue (97.8 percent).
Over 75 percent of the respondents believed they have suffered one or more injuries on artificial turf that would not have occurred on grass. That percentage was markedly higher than the 58.4 percent in the 2000 survey.
Among the other topics Upshaw addressed during the hourlong session were the focus on more minority hirings in the NFL front offices, creating internships for current players to identify their management potential, and the move by the players to change the current overtime procedure. The players want to see a switch from sudden death, where the first team that scores wins, to that of giving both teams a chance to score.
National Football League