Today is probably my favorite day of Super Bowl week. It's media day. Today is the day all of the 49ers and Ravens will be trotted out to the Superdome field and asked ten-thousand questions. Not all of the questions will be about football. Not all of the questions will make sense.
In the past, there have been some stupid questions. For instance, before the 1989 Super Bowl, 49ers quarterback Joe Montana was asked by a Japanese reporter, "Why do they call you Boomer?" Boomer Esiason was the quarterback of the 49ers' opponent in the game, the Cincinnati Bengals.
A reporter asked Tennessee defensive tackle Joe Salavea, "What is your relationship with the football?" Salavea replied, "I'd say it's strictly platonic."
One of the St. Louis players was once asked, "Is Ram a noun or a verb?" The answer: it's both. But I have no idea why anyone needed to know that.
Broncos runningback Detron Smith was asked, "What size panties do you think you'd wear?"
There are hundreds of media outlets who will send representatives. Not all of them will be regular sports reporters. MTV one year sent Downtown Julie Brown, one of their veejays, who asked Dallas runningback Emmitt Smith, "What will you be wearing in the game on Sunday?" That's not actually the stupidest question. She may have been wondering whether the Cowboys would be wearing their white or blue jerseys. But I doubt it.
That same year, someone asked Troy Aikman, "Will you stay on the field at halftime so you can watch Stevie Wonder?"
I like this two-part question. A reporter asked Rams quarterback Kurt Warner, "Do you believe in voodoo? And can I have a lock of your hair?"
Here's a media day myth I'll clear up. In 1988, when the Redskins beat Denver, Washington's Doug Williams became the first black quarterback to start a Super Bowl. For years it's been reported that he was asked, "How long have you been a black quarterback?" Not true. The real question? "You've always been a black quarterback. When did that become important?"
Just one more. Wide receiver Isaac Bruce was telling a group of media day reporters the story of how he had flipped his car one night during the season and how he thought for a few seconds that he might die. He told them, "I just called upon the name of Jesus." He was then asked, "Did you say 'Jesus, Jesus, Jesus', or just 'Jesus'?" In case you're wondering about the answer, Bruce said, "Once was enough."
