Super Bowl XLVI: Recapping The Pregame Show With Videos And More

Heading into Super Bowl XLVI on Sunday, the NFC was riding an unprecedented -- and highly unlikely -- streak of winning 14 consecutive Super Bowl opening coin tosses. Would the New York Giants be able to make it 15 in a row and choose to kick off or receive first against the New England Patriots?

The 2012 class of Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees was on hand to witness the coin toss. The Giants got the call for the toss and chose “tails,” but the streak came to an end at 14 years when the toss came up “heads” and the New England Patriots deferred.

At Super Bowl XLVI, the over/under for Kelly Clarkson’s rendition of the National Athem was set at 1:34. Hopefully, you took neither, as her version clocked in at 1:34.

Clarkson first became world famous and launched her singing career when she appeared on American Idol, a television show that you totally at least used to watch, don’t even lie. Unlike many of the flash-in-the-pan singers who made a name for themselves on reality television shows, Clarkson has turned her TV appearances into a successful decade-long career, featuring two Grammy Awards and 24 million albums sold. Rachel Mazique performed the anthem in American Sign Language.

New Orleans will be hosting the Super Bowl for the 10th time. They beat out regular host city Miami, Florida, as well as 2008 Super Bowl host Glendale, Arizona. Said Saints owner Tom Benson:

As you can see in the video below, Gronkowski appears to be running fine and without a limp.

Also note his ankle, which is wrapped. He will also likely be given a shot of something to keep the pain down. The adrenaline of playing in the Super Bowl won’t hurt either.

I’m not sure how many people knew Steve Gleason’s story before Sunday, when NBC aired a lengthy feature on his battle with ALS. The feature itself was difficult to watch, knowing that just a few years ago, Gleason was healthy, youthful and living a happy life. In a way, he’s still living that happy life, but the personal tragedy he, his family and his friends have been through has been tough to watch unfold.

Gleason is a shell of his old self, succumbing to ALS as it takes over his body. He was officially diagnosed with ALS just about a year ago, and the disease has moved rapidly. Just a few months ago, I saw Steve in Pullman, when he attended a Washington State football game. Seeing the NBC feature on Sunday, and how his health has rapidly deteriorated, was heartbreaking.

Vollmer has missed the last seven games with back and foot injuries. It’s unclear if he will start or play a reserve role but Pats offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia indicated earlier in the week that he will likely play.

So for the first time since late November, the Patriots will have their starting right tackle in the lineup.

Barack Obama was interviewed by Matt Lauer ahead of Super Bowl XLVI, with the two discussing football for a few moments before talking about current affairs and other typical agenda items. Lauer began the interview by asking Obama for a pick, as well as his thoughts on the NFL season, before getting a little more serious and political.

Once again, President Obama refused to make a pick, instead saying he expects a close game. Obama says he expects a good game, and that it may come down to a turnover, a ball on the head or some other oddity. But, like many, he added “I can’t tell you who’s going to win this thing.” Despite Matt Lauer’s repeated attempts to perhaps trick him into answering, Obama remained steadfast that he wasn’t stepping out on a limb.

So what do you think, who is your most valuable player?

The 2012 Super Bowl odds have been pored over plenty of times by the people interested in that sort of thing, meaning anything read on Super Bowl Sunday probably isn’t going to make much of a difference for most people out there. For those looking for an extra bit of fun as they wait for the big game to begin, however, there’s a free props contest offered by SB Nation’s partner Odds Shark.

The contest is free to enter, though it does have a $3,500 prize pool that will be split between the top 46 players with the winner receiving a cool $464.64. The details don’t make it seem too difficult, either.

For the latest Super Bowl updates, be sure to follow this StoryStream. Also be sure to check out Patriots blog Pats Pulpit and Giants blog Big Blue View.

“Been like this all day,” said the nice, exhausted woman at the grocery register. On Saturday afternoon this grocery store was full of customers with full shopping carts in long lines, and so were millions of others just like it. “Like it’s about to be a blizzard tomorrow,” the lady added.

You have...

Edit: Here is the live-stream information for the 2013 Super Bowl.

For the first time, the Super Bowl will be streamed live on NFL.com and NBCSports.com for free.

Here’s what the players (and coach) said about their best Super Bowl memory:

49ers LB Patrick Willis: “Probably that game just on that highlight right there against the Cardinals with Santonio Holmes. That was unbelievable.”

But they still expect it be a very close game. In fact, take the average score of the picks provided by SB Nation bloggers and you actually have the Patriots winning, 27.6 to 26.4. That tells us that, while the majority are picking the Giants to win, some of those bloggers who feel the Patriots will win believe they’ll do so in a landslide.

Among those who picked the Giants, the most lopsided prediction was 41-17. And among those that picked the Patriots, the most lopsided prediction was 31-13. The rest were in between and the vast majority picked a three-point game.

While Lucas Oil Stadium has a roof, meaning that (presumably) weather situations will have absolutely no effect on the actual game at the Super Bowl, the patrons and vendors could potentially be affected by some less than desirable weather. Obviously, having a Super Bowl in Indiana means that there is a risk of unpleasant weather, and there will probably be a bit of that in the build-up to the big game.

According to the National Weather Service, there is currently a 50 percent chance of rain and snow on Saturday night and a 30 percent chance of snow on gameday. The good news is that the potential snow on Sunday will come early in the morning, and should not affect travel to the game. Indianapolis has done plenty of preparing for bad weather after the problems that were encountered in Dallas last season, and there shouldn’t be any weather issues that affect anyone’s safety.

More: The best of the pre-released 2012 Super Bowl commercials.

Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m ET, but the official Super Bowl Pregame Show airs from noon until 6 p.m. Here’s what you can expect:

The NFL Network will have their “GameDay Morning” pregame show from 9am to 5:30pm ET and ESPN’s “Sunday NFL Countdown” will be on the air from 10am to 2pm ET.

Al Michaels will handle the play-by-play for NBC, with former NFL wide receiver Cris Collinsworth serving as analyst. Michele Tafoya is NBC’s lone field reporter for the broadcast, which will also be streamed live online for free on NFL.com and NBCSports.com.

Tiquan Underwood was cut by the New England Patriots just 24 hours before the Super Bowl, and the move has caused plenty of uproar. It’s cold, sure, but the move was also a calculated one, as you would probably expect. As the news began to trickle out, I wondered if the timing had something to do with a competitive advantage, and it seems that it did.

In short, releasing Underwood now, and not days ago, ensures the New York Giants cannot claim him, allowing them to gain some kind of perceived advantage. It’s likely the Patriots decided Chad Ochocinco would be active, making Underwood expendable. So instead of keeping the young wide receiver, New England called up a practice squad defensive end for depth.

Screencap via NFL.com

This is great. We actually don’t even need to bother with the Super Bowl on Sunday. The outcome has already been determined, so we can all sit back and watch the commercials, the halftime show and six hours of pregame while ignoring the matchup itself.