Editor’s note: Gilbert Manzano, SCNG’s NFL reporter, finally found the coffee station at Super Bowl radio row and spotted several Hall of Famers inside the Los Angeles Convention Center. The atmosphere picked up 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 through the Los Angeles Convention Center might have been the highlight of Day 2 at Super Bowl radio row, but then the legendary Barry Sanders made an appearance Tuesday.
Sanders, the Detroit Lions’ Hall of Fame running back, doesn’t take a back seat to anyone and he was the main attraction at radio row. Even at 53, Sanders displayed elusiveness as he shifted 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 many great ones walking around the Convention Center on Tuesday.
Hal of Fame running backs Terrell Davis, Marshall Faulk and Eric Dickerson were also in attendance. But the paw patrol got the edge over them on the list of notables for the second day at radio row.
Pat McAfee, A.J. Hawk, Lord Zito and the rest of the Boys nearly stole the show during their first live show of “The Pat McAfee Show.” They were loud and provided shoutouts as media members walked past their set at radio row.
New USC football coach Lincoln Riley and Minnesota Vikings star wide receiver Justin Jefferson made the media rounds early Tuesday. Brash WWE superstar The Miz made his rounds in the afternoon.
USC coach Lincoln Riley at #SuperBowl radio row talking 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 Cincinnati Bengals beat reporter for Sports Illustrated. Here are highlights from those interviews on the Compas on the Beat podcast.
SPROLES IMPRESSED BY BURROW
Just like everyone else, Sproles is also enamored with Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow’s swag.
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 that confident, that rubs off,” 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 come into the league and they might be kind of nervous. But to have a quarterback like Joe, he is going to make the game way more relaxed for them.”
Sproles said he thinks the Rams will win Super Bowl LVI but said he’ll be rooting for the Bengals. He also guaranteed that Rivers and Brees, two quarterbacks who recently retired, will make the Hall of Fame.
“Guaranteed Hall of Famers,” Sproles said. “They’re going to mess around and go into the Hall of Fame at the same time.”
CONCERNS ABOUT THE BENGALS’ O-LINE
This was Rapien’s second appearance on Compas on the Beat this season.
He was unsure if the Bengals were a playoff team in Week 13 before they fell to the Chargers.
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“It’s wild to think about,” Rapien said about the Bengals being in the Super Bowl. “I would have called you crazy when we last talked. … It takes a lot of luck to get to the Super Bowl. Now that they’re here, they need to take advantage of it.”
Rapien said the Bengals’ offensive line didn’t do much differently in the AFC championship game against the Kansas City Chiefs after Burrow was sacked nine times against the Tennessee Titans in the divisional round.
“The Titans made Joe Burrow second-guess himself,” Rapien said. “That’s Burrow’s best trait is pre-snap, post-snap, find the weakness. He struggled against the Titans and had to hold the ball longer. He couldn’t be magical when they needed him to be.
“That was the difference. The Chiefs weren’t able to confuse him.”
The Rams have the defensive playmakers to confuse Burrow with lineman Aaron Donald, outside linebacker Von Miller and cornerback Jalen Ramsey.