It’s Super Bowl Sunday Eve and teams are ramping up for the big show. Seattle, coming into the game as a No. 1 seed in the NFC for the second year in a row, looks to repeat as Super Bowl champions. New England, which will represent the AFC, will look to make history also. Besides the fact that both respected teams are aiming for a shot at history, they both already share something in common – distractions.
Despite the “deflategate” accusations that have been the main focus of attention since the night the Patriots won the AFC, both teams have been dealing with numerous distractions of their own.
Seattle’s defensive secondary, also known as the Legion of Boom, has had its hands full recently. Safety Earl Thomas, who suffered a dislocated shoulder in the NFC title game, told the media Wednesday that his injury, if he had to rate it, felt like a 10. The next morning, Thomas started his day with a random blood test for HGH from the league just to make sure everything was healing naturally. Cornerback Richard Sherman, who is dealing with an elbow injury suffered in the NFC championship, is also dealing with family matters in the midst of Super Bowl XLIX. Sherman’s girlfriend, Ashley, is expecting to give birth to their baby boy in early February. Sherman knows that if a little Sherman shows up prior to Sunday evening, then he will face a huge life decision.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” Sherman said.
In addition to the Legion of Boom, along with the seven other players on defense, quarterback Russell Wilson is on the final year of his rookie contract. Wilson earned just north of $600,000 this year, but if he claims another Super Bowl ring, he will be in an elite category of quarterbacks who are earning top-tier money. This comes with good news and bad news ? the good news is Seattle will be able to pay its franchise quarterback like a franchise quarterback, but the bad news is that Seattle will lose roughly $17 million in cap space for free agents next season.
Running back,Marshawn Lynch, who is no stranger when it comes to being disciplined by the NFL, is facing more disciplinary charges. Last year, Lynch was fined for not speaking to the media during coverage of the Super Bowl. Recently, Lynch was fined by the NFL for the type of socks he wears, the type of cleats he wears, the obscene gesture during the NFC title game and his trademark Beast Mode hat. After leading the league with the most rushing yards and rushing touchdowns, Lynch also leads the league with over $130,000 in fines accumulated throughout the years.
If those aren’t big enough distractions for you, then let’s take a look at the team opposing this battle-tested Seahawks squad.
The New England Patriots, attempting to prove that they’re nothing less than a dynasty in the league, are facing their own struggles.
“I think Belichick did a great job getting his guys focused on what they needed to be focused on,” said Lynn English athletic director Gary Molea. “I think a lot of the off-field issues were blown out of proportion.”
As a high school coach, Molea shared that adversity in sports comes at all levels, especially in high school. The adversity can either motivate a team to succeed or be an unwanted distraction that will leave players not concentrating on what needs to be done.
In the wake of the AFC championship game, quarterback Tom Brady and head coach Bill Belichick have been the center of attention for “Deflategate.” While there is still no hard evidence supporting the accusations, the speculation has been that Brady and Belichick were involved. On top of that, Brady has been dealing with a head cold, but he reported Thursday that he was feeling much better.
New England’s defensive secondary is also dealing with off-field issues. After the signing of cornerbacks Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner, the Patriots defense has improved drastically. Although Browner had a delayed start to the season, because of his four-game suspension, bot
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