NFL legend Barry Sanders steals the show – Orange County Register
Editor’s Note: SCNG’s NFL reporter Gilbert Manzano eventually found the coffee station at the Super Bowl radio row and spotted several Hall of Famers inside the Los Angeles Convention Center. The mood returned on Tuesday after a quiet opening day. Here’s what Manzano saw and heard from Day 2 of Super Bowl LVI Week:
LOS ANGELES — The adorable police dogs roaming the Los Angeles Convention Center might have been the highlight of day two on Super Bowl radio, but the legendary Barry Sanders made an appearance on Tuesday.
Detroit Lions Hall of Fame running back Sanders doesn’t give way to anyone and he was the main attraction on the radio. Even at age 53, Sanders has shown elusiveness as he hopped from TV shows to radio stations to podcasts.
Everyone wanted to talk to one of the greatest football players of all time, and there were plenty of great ones walking around the convention center on Tuesday.
Hall of Fame running backs Terrell Davis, Marshall Faulk and Eric Dickerson also attended. But the paw patrol took over them on the list of notables for the second day on the radio.
Pat McAfee, AJ Hawk, Lord Zito and the rest of The Boys nearly stole the show on their first live broadcast of “The Pat McAfee Show.” They were loud and shouting as members of the media walked past their radio set.
New USC football coach Lincoln Riley and Minnesota Vikings star receiver Justin Jefferson made the media rounds early Tuesday. Hot-headed WWE Superstar The Miz made his rounds in the afternoon.
USC coach Lincoln Riley at #SuperBowl talking radio line with NFL Network pic.twitter.com/dCn5vP2PH5
—Gilbert Manzano (@GManzano24) February 8, 2022
Speaking of great running backs, this reporter spoke to Chargers great Darren Sproles and sat down with James Rapien, a beat Cincinnati Bengals reporter for Sports Illustrated. Here are highlights from these interviews on the Compass on the Beat podcast.
SPROLES IMPRESSED BY BURROW
Like everyone else, Sproles is also in love with the loot of Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow.
Sproles knows what a confident quarterback can do for an organization. He spent the majority of his 15-year NFL career playing with former Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers and former New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees.
“When a quarterback is this confident, it fades,” Sproles said. “It rubs off on his receivers and his offensive line. You need that quarterback like that, especially when you have young receivers. They’re coming into the league and they might be a little nervous. But to have a quarterback like Joe, he’s going to make the game a lot more relaxed for them.
Sproles said he thought the Rams would win Super Bowl LVI, but said he would support the Bengals. He also guaranteed that Rivers and Brees, two quarterbacks who recently retired, would enter the Hall of Fame.
“Guaranteed Hall of Famers,” Sproles said. “They’re going to mess around and get into the Hall of Fame at the same time.”
CONCERNS ABOUT LINE O OF BENGALS
It was Rapien’s second appearance on Compas on the Beat this season.
He wasn’t sure if the Bengals were a playoff team in Week 13 before falling to the Chargers.
“It’s crazy to think about,” Rapien said of the Bengals in the Super Bowl. “I would have called you crazy the last time we spoke. … It takes a lot of luck to get to the Super Bowl. Now that they are there, they must take advantage of it.
Rapien said the Bengals offensive line didn’t make much of a difference in the AFC Championship game against the Kansas City Chiefs after Burrow was sacked nine times against the Tennessee Titans in the round of division.
“The Titans made Joe Burrow question himself,” Rapien said. “That’s Burrow’s best trait is pre-snap, post-snap, find weakness. He struggled against the Titans and had to hold the ball longer. He couldn’t be magic when they needed it.
“That was the difference. The Chiefs failed to confuse him.
The Rams have the defensive playmakers to confuse Burrow with lineman Aaron Donald, outside linebacker Von Miller and cornerback Jalen Ramsey.
