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Tuesday, January 23
Players put positive spin on Media Day
By Darren Rovell
ESPN.com
The biggest game of their season is still five days away, but for many of the Ravens and Giants, Tuesday may have been the most important day of the year.
|  | | New York Giants quarterback Kerry Collins answers questions at Super Bowl Media Day. |
As some 3,000 reporters and cameramen swarmed around them, the players put on their best smiles and offered up some of their best lines during two one-hour interview sessions at Raymond James Stadium. But the media wasn't the only group observing with interest as advertising executives are also on the lookout for the most articulate, charismatic and flashy athletes who will play in Super Bowl XXXV.
For the second time in as many days, Giants quarterback Kerry Collins recounted his battles with alcohol. Linebacker Jessie Armstead promised to reveal his prediction of Sunday's outcome in another note taped beneath the postgame podium. And Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis addressed some issues surrounding his much-publicized offseason murder trial.
"(Collins) was excellent (Monday) in explaining his past indiscretions," said Bob Williams, president of Burns Sports, a company that matches advertisers with athletes. "He proved that he has straightened himself out, and people love a guy who is apologetic and is back on the right track again after a troubled past."
Quarterbacks are often a team's most recognizable player, and for that reason, they have always been the advertiser's favorite. Because Collins and Trent Dilfer, his Ravens' counterpart, aren't exactly householdnames, Williams said it might take "a Montana-esque, 90-yard drive to win the game" for either of the two to land a national commercial spot.
Lewis made a statement about his much-publicized double-murder case, but some sports business executives believe the Baltimore linebacker -- despite being named The Associated Press Defensive Player of the Year -- is too controversial to be considered a candidate for corporate endorsement. Sports marketers fear that images of Lewis standing before the judge wearing an orange prisoner's jump suit might overshadow his outstanding performance on the field.
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O.J. (Simpson) went to a trial and so did Ray. Both spent time in jail waiting for a trial and both were acquitted, and I don't see O.J. Simpson doing any national endorsements. ” |
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— Bob Williams |
"Suppose an attorney makes a statement and the judge says to the jury, 'Please disregard that statement and do not consider it in your thoughts.' You never forget about that," said Craig Tartasky, senior vice president of the sports division for E.J. Krause & Associates.
Although Lewis wasn't the sole defendant in his trial, his situation is comparable to another high-publicized murder trial. "O.J. (Simpson) went to a trial and so did Ray. Both spent time in jail waiting for a trial (and neither was convicted), and I don't see O.J. Simpson doing any national endorsements," Williams said. "So from an advertiser's viewpoint, the perception is too negative to associate with a product or service with him and that's why he has zero potential to get a national advertisement at this time."
While Super Bowl MVPs are captured in the limelight of the game, by no means is their stay on top of the game guaranteed. In reality, history does not bode well for those who -- at the time of the game -- are not considered among the cream of the NFL's crop of superstars. Washington Redskins quarterbacks Doug Williams and Mark Rypien each earned Super Bowl MVP awards, but were left waiting for endorsement opportunities that never came.
Larry Brown, the Cowboys' cornerback and MVP of Super Bowl XXX, didn't become a popular name after the biggest performance of his life, and neither did Desmond Howard a year later. Howard, a Heisman Trophy winner at Michigan, returned a punt 99 yards in the Green Bay Packers' 35-21 victory over the New England Patriots, then was off to the Magic Kingdom shortly thereafter.
But aside from Disney's instant commercial, now a staple of each Super Bowl postgame, Howard was afforded few endorsement opportunities.
Darren Rovell, who covers sports business for ESPN.com, can be reached at Darren.Rovell@ESPN.com.
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