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Share the Joy: Why “cold” weather Super Bowls are good for the NFL Posted on February 2, 2014 by Roy Kessel
This past week in New York (no, I actually didn’t even get over to NJ), was interesting. Amidst the terrific array of events surround our battle against the concussion crisis and creative sports philanthropy initiatives, the weather forecasts took center stage.
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Featured Posts » Share the Joy : Why “cold” weather Super Bowls are good for the NFL » Super Bowl Sports Philanthropy Summit presented by All Sports United » NFL Super Bowl Logo continues to be bland
Much of the last 3 months has been dedicated to worrying about the Super Bowl weather conditions and how it was going to impact the game. The real question is, should we care? We don’t see paralyzed in great concern over the football weather conditions any other time of year for any other game. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I realize that the Super Bowl is not just “any other game”, but the point remains that weather comes and goes. There is zero chance to predict what is actually going to occur when the games are awarded 3 or 4 years in advance. NYC and the NFL got lucky this week with mild temperatures, no snowstorm and a game day expectation now rising in the upper 40′s. But still, when you look at past Super Bowl locations, the “cold” weather has never been an issue for the fans. Players, media and the corporate culture prefer the warm, party climate, but the fans have braved the conditions to explore the NFL Experience and related Super Bowl activities in much worse conditions than seen this week. Detroit, Indianapolis and Minneapolis have hosted Super Bowls. While the games were all indoors, the pre-game festivities, and week-long party circuit were in the same conditions as we saw in NYC. In fact, the worst Super Bowl weather conditions in recent memory occurred in Dallas. Yes, the one in Texas. And just think what would happened if the entire Super Bowl deluge had been in Atlanta this week? We might still be sitting in traffic. There seems to me to be no reason NOT to have games in cold weather climates and give other cities the opportunity to host the game. Chicago would do a great job, so would Denver. And the list could go on and on from there. Really, if the NFL continues to put games in domes in cold weather climates, the only people that it really benefits are the 70,000 to 80,000 in attendance at the game. In every Super Bowl venue, that is a small percentage of those that participate in the Super Bowl festivities. The Super Bowl benefits from being hosted in new markets where different fans can get to the Super Bowl activities without having to fly to Florida, New Orleans, Texas, Arizona or
» Concussion Summit at the United Nations » “Messi and Friends” fiasco disappoints fans; Lesson for all athletes in celebrity events » Soccer deaths in Brazil show ugly side of sports » Fantastic prom story of popular senior girl asking autistic boy to prom » 2013 Draft Statistics vs 5 y ear average » Financial checklist to gauge risk for professional athletes » Review of “Modern Day Maccabees” » Brookly n Law Review Article on Gender identity in sports quotes Roy Kessel » Probability of Competing in sports bey ond high school » The worst mistake in college sports?!! » Quoted by Chicago Tribune’s David Haugh re concussions » Review of ESPN’s Broke (30 for 30) » Contracts May Keep Play ers in China Longer » Profile of Roy Kessel in Chicago Daily Law Bulletin » Rules to Change: A Call for National Agent Regulation Search
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the Super Bowl activities without having to fly to Florida, New Orleans, Texas, Arizona or California. Hundreds of thousands of kids would be able to attend the NFL Experience and get a glimpse at the craziness that is Super Bowl week. The cost of attending the game itself is astronomical (was offered plenty of tickets this week at face value—but even at $1000 to $1500 instead of Stubhub pricing, I would rather watch with my kids). But my kids had a fantastic time two years ago in Indianapolis when they were able to see the zipline, go to the NFL Experience, see the NFL Shop and mountains of Super Bowl merchandise and survive the virtual stampede in an attempt to see the LMFAO concert. If the NFL returns to the typical policy of only warm-weather sites it will be depriving many in the country of ever having the experience of the Super Bowl energy. So if it makes the game attendees pack a few extra layers of clothes, it is well worth the trade-off (and besides, now there is more cold weather merchandise to license too!!)
Posted in Concussions, Family, Featured Posts, Football, Roy Kessel, Sports, Sports Business, Sports Philanthropy| Tagged Chicago, NFL, NYC, Roy Kessel, Super Bow l| Leave a comment
Super Bowl Sports Philanthropy Summit presented by All Sports United Posted on January 31, 2014 by Roy Kessel
It was a terrific event today put together by All Sports United for their Super Bowl Sports Philanthropy Initiative. There were terrific speakers and a tremendous group of individuals involved in the Sports Philanthropy world. We will add pictures after getting back from the Super Bowl including slides listing the panels The panels were impressive. As you will see from the slides that are uploaded, the speakers had some very interesting perspectives. One theme that continues to resonate across all levels of sports philanthropy is the term engagement. The other term is authenticity If you put these two terms together what you see is the ability of an athlete or a sports organization (team, league, governing body) to have a dramatic impact on the community. BUT, they must be engaged with the cause. This means not throwing a party, raising a few dollars and moving on to the next social function. But truly staying involved with the cause. Many athletes fail to make that happen. Either due to a lack of resources, expertise, support or interest. The challenge for all of us involved in Sports Philanthropy is to find a way to MAKE SURE that the athletes select their causes with purpose. Make it be a smaller number of causes, but the ones to which you can properly dedicate some of your time and attention to helping. The second element of authenticity is equally important. People are much more media savvy now in the age of social media. It is fairly transparent when the athlete is only promoting a cause because “it sounds good for me to do that.” If the athlete is not engaged, the public and financial supporters will see it quickly and that base of support will rapidly dry up. BEST QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Live a life that will live beyond your life.”
weather Super Bowls are good for the NFL Super Bowl Sports Philanthropy Summit presented by All Sports United NFL Super Bowl Logo continues to be bland Concussion Summit at the United Nations Roy Kessel’s Ramblings for week ending July 19, 2013 Roy Kessel’s SportsLaw newsstand week ending July 12, 2013 Roy Kessel’s Ramblings for week ending July 12, 2013 Retired NFL Play ers raise money for Dollars for Scholars “Messi and Friends” fiasco disappoints fans; Lesson for all athletes in celebrity events Hampton and McMichael put on good show for Dollars for Scholars The mixed messages in the Aaron Hernandez jersey exchange Soccer deaths in Brazil show ugly side of sports Hate to see little league games end this way -Umps need mentoring too Roy ’s Ramblings for week ending July 5, 2013 Louisville’s agent policy completely misses the boat, harms play ers Aaron Hernandez case creates more questions about missed investigations Roy ’s Rapid Ramblings 5-10-13 NHL head shots take center stage in play offs Roy ’s Rapid Ramblings 5-3-13 NCAA suspends proposed rule on unlimited texts Fantastic prom story of popular senior girl asking autistic boy to prom The proposed ban on the belly putter heats up 2013 Draft Statistics vs 5 y ear average Roy ’s Rapid Ramblings 4-26-13 Oregon’s NCAA troubles just beginning
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Panelists & Moderators included: Alan Pavlosky, All Sports United Bobby Maylack, Prizeo Bonnie Upright, Olympus Foundation Management Bridgett Coates, Exposure BBC David Meltzer, Sports1Marketing David Nelson, NY Jets Drayton Florence, Carolina Panthers/Drayton Florence Foundation Jason Rosado, GivKwik Jonathan Herman, Allen Houston Foundation Lisa Delpy Neirotti, George Washington University Madieu Williams, Retired NFL/Madieu Williams Foundation Melissa Mahler, ProPlayerInsiders.com Polly Craik, FineLine Solutions Rob Vaka, The G2G Collection Sergio Fernandez de Cordova, PVBLIC Foundation Tara Schwartz, National Basketball Association
Posted in Featured Posts, Philanthropy, Roy Kessel, Sports Philanthropy| Tagged All Sports United, Roy Kessel, Super Bow l| Leave a comment
NFL Super Bowl Logo continues to be bland Posted on January 31, 2014 by Roy Kessel
A year ago I wrote about how the NFL Logo strategy misses the mark of the character of the Super Bowl. One of the interesting elements of old logos is that they incorporated the character of the host city as well unique design elements. Each Super Bowl had a different look at the resulting look back at the historic logos was a fun retrospective.
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This year for NYC/NJ, it appears that they took a bit of my advice. While they still used the bland Lombardi Trophy logo as the primary logo for the event, they decided to essentially create a secondary logo with the theme of the broadway lights. I still prefer a more unique primary logo, but at least this year there were some alternative looks and designs for the fans. Other sites also have a similar perspective on this bland logo issue. Take a look at the full history and give us your thoughts.
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Concussion Summit at the United Nations Posted on January 29, 2014 by Roy Kessel
I was privileged to get an opportunity to participate in a Concussion Summit at the United Nations today. There was a terrific agenda of speakers listed here (and reposted below) and they lived up to the billing.
The level of conversation and concern for player health was amazing. I am writing a detailed summary of the event which will be posted this week in between the array of meetings at the Super Bowl. _______________________ #C4CT Concussion Awareness Summit Working Agenda Wednesday, January 29, 2014 // United Nations Emceed by NFL Network’s Andrea Kremer * www.c4ctsummit.com
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I was privileged to get an opportunity to participate in a Concussion Summit at the United Nations today. There was a terrific agenda of speakers listed here (and reposted below) and they lived up to the billing. We will update this information as opportunity arises and share the insight The level of conversation and concern for player health was amazing. I am writing a detailed summary of the event which will be posted this week in between the array of meetings at the Super Bowl. _______________________ #C4CT Concussion Awareness Summit Working Agenda Wednesday, January 29, 2014 // United Nations Emceed by NFL Network’s Andrea Kremer * www.c4ctsummit.com 7:00 – 8:00am: Registration & Continental Breakfast 8:00 – 8:30am: Welcome & Opening Keynote Address Jack Brewer, CEO of The Brewer Group, Inc. Gerald Commissiong, President & CEO of Amarantus BioScience General Pete Chiarelli (Ret.), CEO, ONE MIND for Research 8:30 – 10:00am: Long Term Consequences of Repetitive Brain Trauma: CTE and Neurodegeneration Historical Perspectives of CTE: Robert C. Cantu M.A., M.D., F.A.C.S., F.A.A.N.S., F.I.C.S., F.A.C.S.M., Clinical Professor of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Boston University School of Medicine; Medical Director of National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research and Sport Legacy Institute (SLI) Initial Athlete Studies: Julian Bailes M.D., Bennett Tarkington Chairman, Department of Neurosurgery at NorthShore University HealthSystem; Co-Director of NorthShore Neurological Institute; Clinical Professor of Neurosurgery at University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine Clinical Presentation and Diagnosis of CTE: What We Think We Know and What We Need to Know Next: Robert Stern Ph.D., Professor of Neurology and Neurosurgery at Boston University School of Medicine; Director of the Clinical Core of the NIH-funded BU Alzheimer’s Disease Center; Co-Founder of the Boston University Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy 10:15 – 11:00am: Diagnostics and Standard of Care Gunnar Brolinson D.O., Associate Professor/Discipline Chair of Sports Medicine, Virginia Tech Jay Clugston M.D, MS, CAQSM, Assistant Professor, Department of Community Health & Family Medicine; Assistant Director, Sports Medicine Fellowship; Team Physician, converted by Web2PDFConvert.com
University of Florida Andrew Mayer Ph.D., Associate Professor of Translational Neuroscience, The Mind Research Network, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Neurology, University of New Mexico Health Science Center 11:00 – 11:15am: Diagnostics and Standard Care Panel: Moderated by Dr. Russell Warren, NY Giants Team Physician Gunnar Brolinson D.O., Jay Clugston M.D., M.S., CAQSM, Andrew Mayer Ph.D., Harry Kerasidis M.D. (Sponsored Panelist) 11:20 – 12:10pm: World Impact of TBI David Lowe Ph.D., President & CEO of Neuro Assets Andrew Maas M.D., Ph.D., Professor and Chairman, Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital Antwerp Michael J. Bell M.D., Associate Professor of Critical Care Medicine, Neurological Surgery, Pediatrics; Director, Pediatric Neurocritical Care; Director, Pediatric Neurotrauma Center; Associate Director, Safar Center for Resuscitation Research 12:15 – 2:00pm: Lunch 1:15-1:45pm: Keynote Address Chris Nowinski, Co- Founder & Executive Director of Sports Legacy Institute; Co-Director for the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy at Boston University, School of Medicine; Former WWE Wrestler 2:00 – 2:30pm: Emerging Diagnostic Tools and Potential Therapies Under Investigation Donald Dengel Ph.D, Professor at University of Minnesota Adam J. Simon Ph.D., Founder and CEO of Cerora, Inc. Kim Heidenreich Ph.D., Professor of Pharmacology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado Denver Department of Pharmacology
Posted in Concussions, Featured Posts, Football, Roy Kessel, Soccer, Sports, Sports Business| Tagged Brew er Sports, Roy Kessel, United Nations| Leave a comment
Roy Kessel’s Ramblings for week ending July 19, 2013 Posted on July 14, 2013 by Roy Kessel
Roy Kessel’s Ramblings for week ending July 19, 2013 July 14, 2013–My daughter went off to overnight camp. Lots of kids, parents and
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buses. But it never ceases to amaze me when you look at how some of the parents behave. Overwhelmingly oblivious to what is going on as the buses started to pull out and many tried to run in front of the buses (with smaller kids in hand) to get to the other side of the bus to get in one last wave (after about 25 minutes of standing by the side of the buses and it being clear which way the buses were pulling out. Maybe it is just me, but the concept of the parent crying when the kid leaves for camp is something that I cannot relate to. It is going to be a fun experience for the kids, and the parents should be happy to see their kids maturing and being healthy and having the financial capability to send the kids to a fun, safe place. Almost all of the children in the world would love to have that type of experience. July 13, 2013–Saw Monsters University with my daughter last night. Not bad. Thought Despicable Me 2 was MUCH more entertaining. Monsters just seemed to be an animated rehash of so many existing movies of the poor geeky underdogs rising up to beat the studly-greek-house-athletes. Some nice messages in the movie but still seemed too plain too me in comparison to the creativity in Despicable Me 2. One thing that I really did not understand was the “short film” that was shown after the previews before Monsters University. It was called the “Blue Umbrella” and is a very interesting presentation of what can only be described as a love story. Interesting visual effects and presentation but seemed much more appropriate to precede a romantic comedy than a kids movie. Posted in Family, Observations, Roy Kessel, RRR| Tagged Blue Umbrella, Despicable Me, Monsters University, Roy Kessel, summer camp | Leave a comment
Roy Kessel’s SportsLaw newsstand week ending July 12, 2013 Posted on July 12, 2013 by Roy Kessel
Some of the top Sports Law stories of the week ending July 12, 2013: July 12, 2013–Jets Aboushi defends self against classification as “muslim extremist” July 12, 2013–PSU authorizes settlement of Sandusky lawsuits July 12, 2013–Marshall Henderson had more run-ins with the police July 12, 2013–Mississippi Valley State suspended coach Chico Potts indefinitely after he was arrested earlier this month on a domestic violence charge July 11, 2013–Patriots Alphonso Dennard arrested again….bad timing for non-elite player especially in the wake of all things Aaron Hernandez July 11, 2013–Graham Spanier sues Louis Freeh July 11, 2013–Broncos President not happy with “hollow” apologies over DUIs July 11, 2013–Warnings over NFL knee and thigh pads already starting—players are not at all happy about this situation and really do not like wearing this equipment July 11, 2013–NCAA has deemed two former players at Prime Prep, the school cofounded by ex-NFL star Deion Sanders, as non-qualifiers July 11, 2013–No penalties in NASCAR roof panel flap July 10, 2013–Roger Goodell will be allowed to be deposed in lawsuit relating to tickets over Dallas Super Bowl July 10, 2013–College sports get “B” for diversity in the report by the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport.d July 10, 2013–Federal judge has denied former Auburn basketball player Varez Ward’s request to enter a pretrial diversion program in his point shaving trial July 10, 2013–Former Bengal TE Utecht wins grievance against Bengals over concussion July 9. 2013–Judge denies class action status for ticket lawsuits relating to Dallas seating fiasco Posted in Family, Football, Law , Roy Kessel, Sports, Sports Business, Sports Law | Leave a comment
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Roy Kessel’s Ramblings for week ending July 12, 2013 Posted on July 12, 2013 by Roy Kessel
Roy Kessel’s Ramblings for week ending July 12, 2013 July 12, 2013–Finally got some nice summer weather in Chicago. Let’s hope that we can keep it for a little while longer. July 11, 2013–Looking forward to the University of Wisconsin Buckingham Club event tonight being held at the Lincoln Park Hotel at 1816 N. Clark. Should be a great night with Athletic Director Barry Alvarez as well as many other Badger celebrities July 11, 2013–Lots of outrage of Justin Bieber’s negligent trampling of the Blackhawks logo as he was taking pictures prior to his shows. Some good natured teasing on Twitter but a lot of nasty comments all over Facebook and Twitter. While hard-core fans might know about the tradition, I would guess large numbers of intense Blackhawks fans would make that same mistake if they were even given the chance to get into the Blackhawks locker room. July 10, 2013–Great cans of Coke and Coke Zero to commemorate the Blackhawks Stanley Cup Championship
July 10, 2013–Always interesting (i.e. frustrating) to see how long it takes to deal with some of the basic items that need to be corrected like prescriptions, bills and other relatively routine items that should have been much easier to handle. July 9, 2013–Fantastic celebrity golf event today for the Retired Professional Football Players of Chicago at Bolingbrook Golf Club. They are a great example of sports philanthropy and they do a terrific job raising money for the Dollars for Scholars program and they are able to give a number of kids scholarships for college. Here are some more detailed write-ups from me and from the Sports Brain website July 8, 2013–A great VIP event held tonight as part of the RPFPC Celebrity Golf Outing tomorrow at Bolingbrook Golf Club. The event was held at Hollywood Casino in Joliet and was highlighted by a special improv performance of a talk show by Dan Hampton and Steve McMichael. Very interesting comments and more details of the presentation here. July 8, 2013–Very disappointed to hear the news about the Messi and Friends events. You can read my full rant here, but Messi had one game cancelled and another game where Messi failed to appear for a private appearance which people had paid $2500 to attend. July 7, 2013–Enjoyed a terrific level of tennis at Wimbledon though Djokovic didn’t look entirely healthy in his movements (though he refused to make excuses). Murray played well by Djokovic left many points on the court and let Murray get to many of the drop shots he usually puts away. July 7, 2013–Big baseball semi-final under the lights tonight. Brett was very excited since that was his first game under the lights. Unfortunately the team came in second (i.e. lost but they had a terrific season and all of the players on the team really converted by Web2PDFConvert.com
improved. July 7, 2013–Horrendous story from Brazil as you see two deaths coming out of a red card in a soccer game–two deaths?? The ref ends up stabbing and killing the player he had red carded, and then the player’s family tied the ref up and stoned him to death before dismembering his body. Absolutely insane on all levels. July 6, 2013–Great day taking the kids to Great America. What was supposed to be a short trip there ended up much longer as the kids had to wait in line for the rare “backwards” trips on Viper and Batman. Since Brett got to do a 54″ ride he was excited. We cooled off a trip to Hurricane Harbor and since the water slides are the only rides I go on, I enjoy that part of the day the most. One piece of advice for season pass holders, use the back entrance and don’t get complacent and believe that the Grand Avenue entrance will work well. I have to give a lot of credit to a few parents that I saw helping their disabled children enjoy the day. Having a developmentally disabled sister I can appreciate the amount of effort and anguish that goes along even with helping your child enjoy the day. July 6, 2013–Brett didn’t want to see Despicable Me 2 so I took Julia. Great movie and enjoyed it a lot even though had not seen the original. My favorite minion was the knockoff of the Love Boat’s Isaac the bartender. July 6, 2013–shocked and upset by the airline crash in San Francisco. With as much traveling as I have been doing it is a jolt of reality at how precarious our lives are.
Posted in Concussions, Family, Football, Golf, Observations, Philanthropy, Roy Kessel, RRR, Sports, Sports Philanthropy| Tagged Bolingbrook Golf Club, Dollars for Scholars, Hollyw ood Casino, NFL, Roy Kessel, RPFPC| Leave a comment
Retired NFL Players raise money for Dollars for Scholars Posted on July 9, 2013 by Roy Kessel
It was a privilege to participate in the celebrity golf event today for the Retired Professional Football Players of Chicago at Bolingbrook Golf Club. RPFPC is a great example of sports philanthropy as they work hard to raise money for the Dollars for Scholars program. Each year they are able to give a number of kids scholarships for college.
As always, there were a lot of former players, some well known, and many others who played decades ago—but are often the most interesting and insightful because they lack the large egos and expectations of many of today’s players. We were pleased to have a Sports Brain presence at the event since we are working with so many of the former NFL players helping them recovery for the effects of concussions. converted by Web2PDFConvert.com
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Table of information about the Sports Brain study w ith the NFL Alumni and RPFPC
Thankfully the weather held off and people were able to enjoy the day and raise money for this cause thanks for the many sponsors for the event:
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Posted in Football, Roy Kessel, Sports, Sports Philanthropy| Tagged Bolingbrook Golf Club, NFL, NFL Alumni, Roy Kessel, RPFPC| Leave a comment
“Messi and Friends” fiasco disappoints fans; Lesson for all athletes in celebrity events Posted on July 9, 2013 by Roy Kessel
There can be little doubt that Lionel Messi is the premier soccer player in the world. His accomplishments of the last few years are unprecedented in a sport that has been competed at a very high level across the globe for decades and decades. So when the Argentinian superstar was the centerpiece for a US Tour entitled “Messi and Friends”, fans got very excited and flocked to see the games. But unfortunately, many came away great disappointed. converted by Web2PDFConvert.com
The details are ugly, and sadly, most of the disappointment was preventable. Unlike the case when a performer gets ill and a concert gets cancelled, this debacle was almost entirely due to the mismanagement by the promoter. A lot of anger and interesting perspectives came out after the Chicago game and this fiasco followed closely to the cancellation of the game in Los Angeles. NYDN: Messi blows off meet and greet WSJ–discussed the other cancellations and lack of “friends” Comcast CSN Chicago–”Messi and Friends” match tanks in Chicago Crains Chicago–Promoter promises refunds In Chicago, the VIP meet and greet ($2500 a pop) didn’t get the participants the field access, the autographed ball and jersey or the other promised interaction with Messi. The promoters in Chicago were apparently different than the ones in LA. But the problems were similar and one of the things that becomes clear in these situations is that the player’s reputation is on the line. Even if Lionel Messi did everything in his power to make this happen the right way, his name is up in lights. That means that regardless of whose fault it is, the athlete bears most of the ill-will that arises from the failures. The lesson for any celebrity involved in an event which carries their own name is clear: make sure that you have done your homework on the groups with whom you are partnering in these events. Their ability to execute the event and properly publicize and manage the event are the primary factors which will influence the event’s success, and therefore the reflection it will have on your name. Posted in Are you kidding??, Featured Posts, Soccer, Sports, Sports Business| Tagged Chicago, Messi, Roy Kessel, Soldier Field | Leave a comment
Hampton and McMichael put on good show for Dollars for Scholars Posted on July 8, 2013 by Roy Kessel
The Retired Professional Football Players of Chicago are holding their annual celebrity golf event tomorrow to raise money for their “Dollars for Scholars” program. We will have more coverage of that event tomorrow, but tonight they held the VIP Sponsor reception at the Hollywood Casino in Joliet. There was some good food, open bar and an interesting silent auction format that allows you to bid directly from your phone. The highlight of the evening was the improvised show featuring Chicago Bear legends Dan Hampton and Steve McMichael. Hampton is a HOF and McMichael is a flamboyant personality who loves the spotlight and likes talking his mind. McMichael is also currently involved with the minor league Chicago Slaughter. You can definitely tell by observing these guys that they have suffered way too many concussions and could benefit by participating in Sports Brain’s study which has proven successful at helping many former NFL players overcome the effects of concussions. Among the zingers and insights from Hampton and McMichael: They both clearly had little respect for Jerry Angelo and were happy to see him go. Lovie Smith had their respect. They said that Lovie really only lost his job because he was not able to beat the Packers. The rest of his record was pretty good and the
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players had a lot of respect for him. They both believe that Mark Trestman will do very well and will be successful in Chicago. They told the story of how well he prepares and trains his team and used the game where the Vikings put up a lot of quick points when Trestman was the OC at Minnesota. They feel that Cutler will have his best season now under Trestman. Interesting story of how they went into the Bears front office to lobby for the team to acquire Steve Young because McMahon was always getting injured. The team refused and Young obviously went on to a HOF career with the 49ers even though he was backing up Joe Montana. There was a feeling that the team had a negative image of BYU QBs as a result of Jim McMahon and that they would have signed him had he been coming from anywhere else McMichael apparently had been cut from the Patriots so they were thrilled when they got to play New England in the Super Bowl and knew that they were going to crush them Hampton went out to Bourbon Street the night before the game to ask bartenders and bar owners let him know if any players were out partying. Walking out the door the first player he runs into is Jim McMahon. Apparently some of the players knew in advance that Buddy Ryan was leaving to become head coach of the Eagles and it was a very emotional scene, even before the game Talked about how cheap Bears management was when the team only spent $4000 on the Super Bowl rings (the minimum allowed by the league). When they confronted McCaskey on that issue, he convinced them that they were a young team and he wanted room to have the rings get bigger and bigger as the team won more championships. Hampton talked about the “Ring Ceremony” and basically it was a quickly thrown together event at a small hotel near Halas Hall. Not quite the pomp and circumstance that you would get today. One thing that I always find interesting is that you get a sense of the personalities and personality conflicts when you hear these stories almost 30 years later. I am sure that I am forgetting some of the commentary and barbs but I will add them as they come to mind Posted in Concussions, Football, Roy Kessel, Sports Business, Sports Philanthropy| Tagged Chicago Bears, Chicago Slaughter, Dan Hampton, Hollyw ood Casino, Roy Kessel, Sports Brain, Steve McMichael| Leave a comment
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