The Latest: Patriots meet media first at Super Bowl Opening Night

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Super Bowl Opening Night is set to begin, with Drake Maye, Sam Darnold and other Super Bowl participants meeting with thousands of reporters from across the globe in a zany spectacle that kicks off the week's festivities on Monday night.

Maye and the New England Patriots will take on Darnold and the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday at Levi's Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers.

First, the athletes will meet more than 6,000 credentialed reporters who will pepper them with questions ranging from the standard football topics to the silly and offbeat stuff.

The event began as a daytime introduction of the teams and evolved into a live, ticketed, prime-time showcase on national television.

The Latest:

Patriots' Christian Gonzalez looks forward to matchup with Seahawks' Jaxon Smith-Njigba

Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez could have his hands full in the Super Bowl. Gonzalez will be tasked with trying to slow down Seahawks star receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

''He can do everything from every spot on the field,'' Gonzalez said at Super Bowl Opening Night. ''He's a smooth route-runner, can run every route, and he's just an amazing player. I got the utmost respect for him, and I'm excited for Sunday.''

Smith-Njigba led the NFL this season with 1,793 yards on 119 catches and scored 10 touchdowns.

Gonzalez had 69 tackles and 10 pass defenses.

Drake Maye says his older brothers are his heroes

Patriots quarterback Drake Maye has more than one hero in his life. He has three — his older brothers.

''My older brothers, my heroes,'' he said. ''Just growing up with them, having somebody that's that close to me, kind of live their own lives and me just learn from them and be the youngest brother and to have the opportunity to have something to chase.''

Maye and his brothers grew up in Cornelius, North Carolina, where they attended William A. Hough High School. Maye transferred after his freshman year to Myers Park High School in Charlotte and ended up playing college football for the Tar Heels.

He will be the second youngest QB to start a Super Bowl, at 23 years and 162 days.

Roger Goodell doesn't expect anything divisive from Bad Bunny at Super Bowl

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell says he doesn't expect Bad Bunny to say anything divisive during his Super Bowl halftime performance.

''Before I say thanks to God, I'm going to say ICE out,'' Bad Bunny said. ''We're not savage, we're not animals, we're not aliens. We are humans and we are Americans.''

Goodell was asked if he expects political statements from Bad Bunny, Green Day or any other artists performing at the Super Bowl. He says Bad Bunny understands that the NFL is providing a platform ''to unite people and be able to bring people together.''

''Bad Bunny is, and I think that was demonstrated last night, one of the great artists in the world,'' Goodell added. ''And that's one of the reasons we chose him.''

Roger Goodell says he played no role in Bill Belichick's Hall of Fame snub

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell wants to make it clear that the Pro Football Hall of Fame board he's on does not make the rules, so he played no role in Bill Belichick's reported snub.

ESPN reported last week that Belichick fell short of making the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.

''I'm not even sure whether it's true because I don't think the class has been announced at the end of the day,'' Goodell said. ''As I said before, Bill Belichick, I think, is the second-winningest coach in NFL football, six Super Bowls as a head coach and two as a defensive coordinator. That's a Hall of Fame career.

''But there's a decision-making process here, and it's a timing issue. … There are a lot of people who want to be in that Hall of Fame, and Bill Belichick deserves to be in that Hall of Fame, too.''

Roger Goodell says it's too soon to say whether Giants' Tisch could be disciplined by league

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell says it's too soon to say whether New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch might be subject to the league's personal conduct policy.

''We are going to look at all the facts,'' Goodell said. ''We're going to look at the context of those. We're going to try to understand that, and we'll look at how that falls under the (personal conduct) policy. But I think we're taking it one step at a time. Let's get the facts first.''

Tisch acknowledged last week that he knew Epstein and they ''exchanged emails about adult women'' and ''discussed movies, philanthropy and investments.'' But the 76-year-old Tisch denied going to Epstein's island and was never charged in the investigation.

Epstein killed himself in a New York jail cell in August 2019, a month after being indicted on federal sex trafficking charges.

Roger Goodell says no talks yet on expanding NFL season to 18 games

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell says the league and the players union have not had ''any formal discussions'' about an 18-game schedule.

Goodell says expanding from 16 to 17 games ''went quite smoothly.''

''But the challenges will be different here a little bit, and it'll depend on a lot of factors, including safety of the game,'' he said.

Goodell suggested part of the discussion will include roster sizes and whether teams should have two bye weeks to potentially accommodate an extra regular-season game.

NFL will return to Mexico City for total of 9 international games next season

The NFL will play nine international games next season, with commissioner Roger Goodell announcing a return to Mexico City.

Goodell added that he hopes the NFL will continue adding international games until it has 16 per season, meaning every team will play one game abroad.

Ten teams hold marketing rights in Mexico as part of the league's Global Markets Program.

The NFL also extended its longstanding broadcast partnership with TelevisaUnivision, an official media partner for the last 60 years, as part of the league's commitment to increasing fan access to live games and NFL programming in Mexico.

The NFL's international schedule in 2026 includes games played across four continents, seven countries and eight stadiums.

Saints will play in the first NFL game in France

The league announced Monday that the game will be played at the Stade de France. The NFL also has a multiyear deal to keep playing regular-season games at Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

The NFL already had its first game in Australia scheduled for next season, with the Los Angeles Rams set to host that one. It also will play in Rio de Janeiro, Munich and three games in London. The league also could return to Mexico City this fall.

The NFL has played 62 regular-season games outside the U.S. so far, with London, Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, Madrid, Dublin, Sao Paulo, Mexico City and Toronto serving as hosts.

The Saints' opponent will be determined once the schedule is finalized in a few months.

NFL releases statement on Giants co-owner appearing in Epstein files

''The league is aware of the reports and Steve's response,'' the statement read. ''Our office will look into the matter to understand the facts.''

Tisch said last week he knew Epstein and they ''exchanged emails about adult women'' and ''discussed movies, philanthropy and investments.'' But the 76-year-old Tisch denied going to Epstein's island and was never charged in the investigation.

Epstein killed himself in a New York jail cell in August 2019, a month after being indicted on federal sex trafficking charges.

Patriots QB Drake Maye deals with illness on top of Super Bowl pressure

New England quarterback Drake Maye didn't practice on Friday because he was dealing with an illness, the latest wrinkle in the quarterback's preparation for his first Super Bowl.

Coach Mike Vrabel has said he doesn't expect the illness or the shoulder injury to affect Maye's performance on Sunday.

Sam Darnold is the first class of '18 QB in the Super Bowl

Sam Darnold will be starting in the Super Bowl before Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen and the rest of the NFL's Class of 2018 quarterbacks. It took Darnold five teams and eight seasons to get there.

Darnold led the Seattle Seahawks to a 14-3 record, a division title, the No. 1 seed and was at his best in the NFC championship game.

Despite an oblique injury, Darnold threw for 346 yards and three touchdowns in Seattle's 31-27 victory over the Los Angeles Rams. He completed 25 of 36 passes and had no turnovers.

The process of preparing the Super Bowl field got underway long before the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots started getting ready for the 2025 season.

Nick Pappas — the NFL's turf guru — chose the sod farm that began growing the grass for the game about 16 months ago. He has spent time since then monitoring the progress.

The job went into overdrive in January, when Pappas and his crew started a monthlong installation and preparation process to make sure that the story of the game is about the teams and not the grass.

The field at Levi's Stadium will be the stage for the country's most-watched sporting event on Feb. 8, along with the pregame and halftime festivities and concerts that make Super Bowl Sunday a cultural capstone.

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