Prior Trips Super Useful

No matter what point spread Las Vegas assigns when New England plays Philadelphia in Super Bowl XXXIX, there’s one lopsided tally that won’t change.

Namely, 38-4.

Patriot starters have played in a combined 38 Super Bowls; Eagle starters have played in four -- tackle Jon Runyan and defensive end Jevon Kearse with Tennessee, Mike Bartrum with Green Bay and Dhani Jones with the New York Giants.

The reason for the disparity is obvious. New England is playing in its third Super Bowl in four years, whereas the Eagles haven’t been to the big game since the 1980 season. When the teams converge on Jacksonville, Fla., next week, the players no doubt will talk about how their work isn’t through, how they’re on a business trip, how they’re not simply happy to be there. In fact, that talk has already started.

“They have a sense that this thing is not finished yet,” Eagle Coach Andy Reid said of his players. “They’re happy, don’t get me wrong. But they understand there’s more to do.”

That said, many men who have played in one or more Super Bowls say you never really know how it feels -- the pressure, the requests, the time demands -- until you’ve been to the big game. And most of the Patriots have. Thirty-two active Patriot players were on last season’s active Super Bowl roster. All told, counting starters and reserves, eight Eagles have played on Super Bowl teams.

“I’m not going to say it’s old hat for the Patriots, because it never is,” said former NFL lineman Mark Schlereth, who earned rings with Washington and twice with Denver. “The Patriots have a little better understanding of what you go through.... Just the enormity of the game, the enormity of the situation. The minute you get off that plane, you realize this is a different deal.”

For Rick Walker, who played in two Super Bowls in his six seasons with Washington, the demands started pouring in as soon as the Redskins won the NFC title game.

“The biggest distraction is getting all the ticket demands from your friends and family,” said Walker, a former UCLA tight end who rounded up 62 tickets when the Redskins played Miami in Super Bowl XVII at the Rose Bowl. “I had a stack of messages waiting for me wherever I went. Thank goodness it was pre-cellphones.”

Things got even crazier, Walker said, when the teams reached their hotels. Every time he walked out of his hotel room, it seemed, someone wanted something from him, whether the request came from a coach, a reporter, a ticket scalper or one of the hundreds of fans milling about the lobby.

“Every Tom, Dick and Harry makes it to the hotel,” he said. “I had to run to the bus. It’s like being a Beatle. For a week, I was Ringo Starr.”

Unlike in regular-season games, players participating in the Super Bowl often share their hotel rooms with their wives or girlfriends. That can be a distraction for first-timers too.

“I don’t care who you are, that makes it different,” Walker said. “That’s just human nature. People don’t factor in that having your wife or your girlfriend there can either help you or hurt you. There’s no sightseeing. She’s got to realize that you’re an angry grizzly bear and you’re hibernating, waiting to peak at [kickoff] Sunday.”

This year, both teams have the advantage of an open week between the conference championship game and the Super Bowl ramp-up. That gives players time to sort through the ticket details, make arrangements to get their families to Jacksonville and to get some rest before the biggest week of their career. The ticket situations differ from team to team. Each Patriot, for instance, has the opportunity to buy 15 tickets at face value. (Face value for last season’s Super Bowl was $500.)

“Distributing the tickets is really hard,” New England tight end Christian Fauria said. “If you’ve ever planned a wedding, you get the idea.”

And, as is often the case for a bride and groom at their own ceremony, often Super Bowl week flies by far too fast for the players involved.

“When I was younger and I went to Disneyland, I’d sprint to every ride,” Fauria said. “When I go there as an adult, I walk through and notice so much more. That’s kind of how the Super Bowl is. I’m going to pay closer attention this time.”