Usually, I am attending all of the Jacksonville Jaguars home games as a fan. This time I was there under different circumstances. Once again, through the Sportz Ventures program I had another experience that I will never forget. Along with five other students from my school, I had the chance to watch the Jaguars play the Buffalo Bills from the press box at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium.
Before the game, we had the chance to go on the field and take a couple of group pictures. I have been on the field without any fans there before, but it was interesting to see what a players sees as he looks up to the stands. After that, we were directed by a member of the Jaguars staff to the press box. During this time, I had my first contact with a player.
As we walked through the Bills tunnel the linebacker corps was getting ready to go out onto the field for pregame warmups. Suddenly, Bills linebacker Paul Posluszny calls to me and asks "Hey, how's the weather out there?". I then described the conditions to him for a minute and afterwards he thanked me and then huddled up with the other linebackers prior to taking the field. After this, I was behind the group but I caught up and nobody could believe the story when I told them. Then we headed up to the press box.
When I first saw the press box, I couldn't believe how big it was. There were separate sections for the PR staffs for both teams, areas for the TV and radio announcers and sections for the reporters of the respective teams. I could only imagine how much of a mad house that place was when the Super Bowl was in town four years ago.
After eating a pregame meal, we got adjusted in our seats. They were in the first row and were located at the 15 yard line sitting near the Buffalo reporters. Before the game, I was just taking in the whole environment. Prior to the game, the press box is a very quiet area as most of the reporters are setting up their computers or jotting down notes related to the game.
During the game, I was taking notes on everything that was taking place. In my notepad, I wrote down the key plays and things I found interesting while each team had the ball. Even if you missed a play, it isn't hard to catch up. There are TV's showing the game which comes in handy if there is a questionable call. One of the things that they do in the press box which I really liked was after each quarter, they gave out the stats. This also included a play-by-play transcript of everything that occurred during the respective quarter. As a stats guy, I found this very helpful as I didn't have to worry about trying to calculate the numbers in my head which I usually would have to do at games. Even with all the excitement in the press box, there was still a game being played.
As the Bills entered with the league's worst rush defense and an interim coach who was just brought in this week, the Jaguars were favored to win. The Bills however gave the Jaguars all they could handle on both offense and defense. My new "friend" Posluszny did an excellent job stopping the run as he led the Bills with 12 tackles. On offense, Terrell Owens had one of the best games of his Hall of Fame caliber career as he had nine receptions for 197 yards. This included a 98 yard touchdown which was very cool to see from our angle and one I will never forget. At 98 yards, chances are it will be the longest touchdown from scrimmage that I'll ever witness in person. Owens was running down our sideline and when he started taunting at the Jaguars 30 yard line. This play was also a historic one as it ws the longest in Jacksonville Municipal Stadium and Bills team history. Even though that touchdown gave the Bills the lead in the 3rd quarter, there was still a lot of football to be played.
At the two minute warning the Jags trailed 15-10. They faced a third and two at the Bills four. However, it was time to start going down for the post game press conferences. On the bright side, we ended up not missing a play of the game and got quite the workout in the process going down flights of stairs in order to get to the room where the Jaguars would address the media. Fortunetly, there was a TV in the room where the game was playing. After Maurice Jones-Drew converted on third down, David Garrard threw a three yard touchdown pass to Mike Sims-Walker to give the Jaguars the lead which was 18-15 after the two point conversion. The Bills then started at their own 39 but after Anthony Smith picked off a Ryan Fitzpatrick pass, the game was over.
While waiting for Jack Del Rio and some players to arrive, CBS was showing the Colts move to 10-0 before switching to the Steelers Chiefs game. This one was of particular interest to the Jaguars as a Steelers win would put them in front of the Jaguars in the playoff standings. Surprisingly, the Chiefs sent the game to overtime and when they got the ball Matt Cassel connected with Chris Chambers for a 61 yard catch and run to set themselves up at the Steelers four yard line. After the play, coach Del Rio walks in and the TV was shut off. Del Rio then says "Don't cut that off, let's watch it for a while." The game was then turned back on just in time to see Ryan Succop hit a 22 yard field goal for a 27-24 Chiefs win. "See, it was worth those 30 seconds" Del Rio said. The press conferences had officially begun.
Even though none of us asked any questions, it was interesting to see what the normal press conference is like. They were held in one of the team's large meeting rooms and it is a different experience seeing how everything compares to the "live look ins" that you would see after a game. In additon to Del Rio's, we also were at the Garrard and Jones-Drew's press conferences. All three of them talked about how a young team needs to stay focused as every game becomes more important.
Overall, this was an excellent experience that I will never forget. Some writers sometimes don't watch a game in the press box for the first time until they are finished with college. I had the chance to have this experience at a young age and with a pro football team none the less. I would once again like to thank Jenny Corace with the Sportz Ventures program and the Jaguars for making this all possible. I really appreciate the opportunity and am fortunate to have already had so much hands on learning experiences in the field.
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