Welcome to the United Nations of Football.
Every Super Bowl has a nerve center. This year, it’s the Phoenix Convention Center downtown. There’s a massive fan expo that occupies three floors of the airplane hangar-sized building.
But it’s not just Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots jerseys you see here.
The NFL builds up the Super Bowl to be more than just a game, but a celebration of football. Packer green, Bronco orange, Cardinal red — fans of all allegiances are in Phoenix this week.
It’s easy to see why. Inside the expo, dubbed the NFL Experience, there’s enough to keep fans busy all day.
You can be humbled by trying to kick a 30-yard field goal. In 10 minutes of watching, I didn’t see a single one successfully made.
You can be enlightened by watching a football stitched together, laced and inflated — preferably to the NFL standard of 13 psi.
You can be lulled by standing in long lines, not only to get autographs of NFL players but to have your picture taken with the Super Bowl XLIX Lombardi Trophy.
But the fans — especially the children — didn’t seem to mind. As I was finishing my lunch Tuesday in the food court, a rumor started to circulate.
Wearing a Seahawks jersey, an 8-year-old boy got news that sprung him off his seat like it was a hot iron.
“Richard Sherman is playing Xbox downstairs?!?”
I followed the boy and his parents.
Sure enough, they were just in time to join a gathering crowd waiting to see the Seattle cornerback and New England running back Shane Vereen face off in a game of “Madden 2015.”
We often hear, read and write about the problems with the NFL, and there are many. But a trip through the fan expo is a reminder of why the league is so popular.
