How delaying specialization helped these Super Bowl-bound athletes
By Monique Louis Medill Reports SAN JOSE, Calif. — How did Seattle Seahawks cornerback Nehemiah Pritchett learn how to track a football so well? By playing baseball. At Jackson High School in Jackson, Ala., Pritchett was first-team all-state in both football and baseball. He said being his team’s center fielder helped him learn and master […]
Super Bowl LX illuminates reality of San Francisco’s homelessness crisis
By Olivia Craycraft Medill Reports SAN FRANCISCO – The Moscone Center, in San Francisco’s Yerba Buena neighborhood, is the host of this year’s Super Bowl Experience, Pro Bowl Games and Media Center, which includes the famous Radio Row. Hundreds of security personnel surround the building, protecting many of the country’s biggest athletes, celebrities, journalists and […]
Super Bowl legacy transforms San Francisco school
By Bianca Bryant Medill Reports SAN FRANCISCO – NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell stood at the entrance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Academic Middle School this week, not to discuss labor relations, but to champion a “spectacular city on the rise.” As the Bay Area prepares to host Super Bowl LX on Sunday, Goodell and […]
‘Full-circle’ moment: ’85 Chicago Bears cornerback Leslie Frazier is after another Super Bowl ring
By Sarah Force Medill Reports SAN JOSE, Calif. — Seattle Seahawks assistant head coach Leslie Frazier knows what it takes to beat the New England Patriots in a Super Bowl. This year’s championship game marks the 40th anniversary of the Chicago Bears’ 46-10 victory over the Patriots in Super Bowl XX, when Frazier started at […]
New England’s Borregales set to become 1st Venezuelan to play in Super Bowl
By Justin Parmer Medill Reports SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Even after 59 iterations of the game, Sunday’s Super Bowl LX will add yet another first. Born in Caracas, New England Patriots kicker Andrés Borregales is set to become the first Venezuelan player to play in the Super Bowl. The milestone comes amid rising tensions between […]
Yerba Buena District invites visitors to enjoy art, culture in heart of San Francisco during week of Super Bowl LX
By Mike Hall Medill Reports SAN FRANCISCO — As the San Francisco sun beamed down near the intersection of Howard and 4th streets, vibrant hues from every shade of the rainbow decorated once-bleak concrete walls, illuminating a series of four murals outside the entrance to the Yerba Buena Gardens. Those murals, designed by four Filipino […]
Patriots safety duo returns to Bay Area for Super Bowl homecoming
By Ryan Kirton Medill Reports SANTA CLARA, Calif. — If you had told a Patriots fan who their starting safeties would be before the season began, they might’ve started preparing for next year’s draft. But in a season full of pleasant surprises, Jaylinn Hawkins and Craig Woodson have been perhaps the most surprising of all. […]
Efton Chism’s underdog season lands him in Super Bowl LX
By Ryan Kirton Medill Reports SAN JOSE, Calif. – You wouldn’t have known Efton Chism was an undrafted rookie if you were at Super Bowl Opening Night. In a sea of superstars, seasoned veterans and even the MVP runner-up, Chism found himself caught up in a sea of reporters. There were times you could barely […]
George Holani’s road to Super Bowl rooted in persistence, sacrifice
By Mike Hall Medill Reports SAN JOSE, Calif. – For his final year and a half at St. John Bosco High School, in Bellflower, Calif., George Holani slept on his assistant coach’s couch while his parents stayed at a discount motel for weeks at a time. On Sunday, the 26-year-old will suit up as the […]
Law enforcement officials promise ICE-free Super Bowl
By Brock Morgan Medill Reports SAN FRANCISCO – NFL Chief Security Officer Cathy Lanier said the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement would not be among the federal and local law enforcement agencies protecting the region during the Super Bowl. “No planned ICE enforcement activities, we are confident of that,” Lanier said during […]