SAN DIEGO HOST SUPER BOWL XXII : Drivers’ Tent Took the Wait Off Their Back

Everyone knows about the bigwigs at Sunday’s Super Bowl. The fat cats with the expensive tastes, the 50-yard-line seats and extravagant parties. But what about the people who got them there?

People like Freeman Dearth.

Dearth is a driver for Nancy Lee Adventure Charters and Tours, a bus company based in the hamlet of Hemet. He and about 2,000 other bus and limousine drivers spent the day Sunday ferrying the well-connected to the big game.

What that usually means is being left on the doorstep. But on Sunday, Dearth and his counterparts had some solace.

Billed as the world’s largest alcohol-free tailgate party, a special 40,000-square-foot tent was erected for Dearth and his friends on the asphalt savanna of the San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium parking lot. Plied with 5,000 hot dogs, 4,000 pounds of knackwurst, 175 gallons of chili, 3,000 sandwiches, non-alcoholic beer and soft drinks, the drivers were supposed to have something to do besides napping in their vehicles--at least that was the idea.

Before the kickoff, and throughout the game, it seemed to be working.

“I think it is good . . . it shows to me they didn’t forget our people,” said Dearth, joined by his wife, Thelma, who works as his escort. “Yeah,” Thelma interjected, “it shows they care about us.”

The Dearths had earlier picked up a group of “high rollers” at Brown Field, where they had arrived by private jet from Harrah’s Casino in Reno. The Dearths, echoing a sentiment shared by other drivers, said their part of the Super Bowl had been surprisingly smooth.

“In fact,” Freeman said, “did you see the roads out there? There was no traffic. None. The people in our bus couldn’t believe it.”

The idea of the drivers’ party has been around for several years. This is the second one sponsored by Sheraton Hotels.

“These are the people who help make it happen, and it fits into our designated-driver program,” said Marje Bennetts, a Sheraton spokeswoman.

“This sure beats having them stand around by a bus.”

J.R. Thomas is a veteran of three Super Bowls. A Greyhound Bus Lines driver from Los Angeles--part of a convoy of 20 buses--Thomas was transporting a group from NFL Properties Inc.

“If I wasn’t here, I’d just be sitting on the bus, walking around . . . listening to the other drivers groaning about waiting around,” he said, pausing briefly as a Sheraton official called out the winner of a door prize, one of several given out throughout the day. The top prize was a trip to the Pro Bowl game next week in Hawaii.

And while Thomas enjoyed the food, and watching the dozens of television sets lining the perimeter of the white tent, he said there was one thing that could have made it even better: a ticket to the game.

Five years ago, when the Redskins played in the Super Bowl in Pasadena, Thomas scored just such a coup. Seems he was taking a group from the Redskins’ booster club to the game and they had an extra ticket. Better yet, it was free. “Sometimes you get lucky,” he said.

Earnestine Grossley, a San Diego driver for Gray Line Tours, had the bad luck of not being able to wait around for the kickoff. She was responsible for the Navy Drill Team, which was performing a pregame performance and that was all.

But it really didn’t bother her. Just another day on the job.

“It’s nice in here. The beans are good, but kind of cold,” she said, laughing. “I think they should have given the bus drivers tickets. But really, I’m glad they did this.”