Super Bowl week is not like any other week – especially not for the players on the teams involved. From a German perspective, who would know this better than Sebastian Vollmer: Eleven years ago, the now 41-year-old won his first title with the New England Patriots – and like this year, it was against the Seattle Seahawks.
Before Super Bowl LX at the San Francisco 49ers’ Levi’s Stadium (on Sunday from 11.15 p.m. live on RTL on free TV) speaks the former NFL professional SPORT1-Interview about the challenges before the big game, bizarre encounters, special training methods and the influence of the halftime show on the players.
He also reveals why he didn’t get to see the legendary Super Bowl moment that changed his life live.
NFL madness at the Super Bowl – that’s what Vollmer recommends
SPORT1: Sebastian, you know the situation the Patriots and Seahawks players are in this Super Bowl week. What is the biggest challenge in these very special days?
Sebastian Vollmer: To stay concentrated and focused. The attention is on you, all the international media are there and want something from you. Everyone has an opinion about you: in the morning you can be the best in your position, in the evening you are the worst thing ever. Every expert has some take. So: turn off the TV, don’t read the newspaper, no social media and just do your thing, sticking to the routine as much as possible.
SPORT1: How realistic is it to really completely ignore all of this?
Vollmer: That’s not feasible because you have Open Locker Room, because you have Media Day. The players have to make themselves available to the media, which in turn conveys this to the fans. That makes sense too. Still, it doesn’t help you perform at your best if you have to stand all day, if you can’t recover, if your routine is destroyed. But it’s part of it, they’re all professionals and both teams do it the same way – so it’s fair.
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“This is the greatest moment for a footballer”
SPORT1: Still, it sounds like this week leading up to the Super Bowl is more of a burden than pleasure for a player.
Vollmer: In any case. This is the greatest moment for a football player, for many perhaps the only chance to win the Super Bowl – and of course you don’t want to do anything that could prevent that in the end. The weather is nice here now, but it’s also winter: you shake 1,000 hands, you’re in a room with 500 people, maybe one of them is sick. Then someone stands in front of you and coughs on you. These are the things you think about as a player. You stand for hours where you could normally lie down. You sleep in a hotel for a week even though you want to go to your own bed.
SPORT1: Particularly on Opening Night, where all the players are available to the media on one evening, there are always some bizarre scenes. Is there an anecdote that sticks in your mind?
Vollmer: In the end, a lot of what happens is self-glorification somewhere. Often it’s not about the player or football itself, but rather there is someone who wants to go viral. It’s often more about the person asking the question. A Mexican television station once came to my house with a soccer ball and kicked it in my direction as hard as it could. The ball missed me, but hit someone behind me – and you’re just wondering: Why?! When the ball hits me, it really hurts. But then somehow they have a viral image. To be honest, as a player you don’t really feel like it at that moment. But you do it, because without the attention and the fans we don’t have a game, so it’s part of it.
Why the halftime show is so difficult for the players
SPORT1: If we look at sports: How much is actually being trained this week, how much is still happening?
Vollmer: 100 percent, that’s really hard. Wednesdays are a really tough practice, it’s all about first and second downs. Everything in pads, just like at home. Training and meetings aren’t cut, you just do more around them.
SPORT1: And how much does the game day process itself change with the halftime show and everything else going on at the Super Bowl?
Vollmer: This actually mainly applies to halftime, which is twice as long as usual. In the normal season you know exactly: It takes two minutes to get to the locker room, then you have three minutes, you have a drink, you go to the toilet, whatever you have to do, a minute of speech and out again.
SPORT1: And at the Super Bowl you suddenly have a lot more time to fill.
Vollmer: It’s about half an hour there, but you don’t know exactly. Depending on how long the stage takes and what the artist has in mind, it can be 35 or 36 minutes. So you gave it your all for an hour and a half or two hours, then you had a half hour break – and maybe you weren’t on the field as an offense at the end of the first half, maybe the opponent gets the ball in the second half. Then it can be an hour, an hour and a half where you don’t do anything. Staying in it mentally and physically is not that easy.
SPORT1: Can you prepare for this?
Vollmer: We actually trained for the halftime show back then, which in my opinion was a huge advantage, for example in the Super Bowl against Atlanta (34:28 for the Patriots after overtime despite being 3:21 behind at halftime, editor’s note). You have to learn how to do nothing for an hour and a half and then accelerate again.
SPORT1: How can you imagine this training then?
Vollmer: We trained for an hour and a half, then actually had to sit down for half an hour and then started again.
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Super Bowl Seahawks vs. Patriots again – that’s how Vollmer remembers it
SPORT1: This year’s duel will of course also bring back memories of the Super Bowl eleven years ago, in which you won your first title. What did you think of that last-minute interception by Malcolm Butler right in front of your end zone?
Vollmer: We were in the lead and of course we also realized that our defense was having problems with Marshawn Lynch (former Seahawks running back, editor’s note) had. In the situation, we had our backs to the field and were just talking to offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who briefed us again: “They’re going to score now, which means we’ll be three points behind. We’ll still have about 25 seconds left, we have three plays, we’ll do this and that.”
SPORT1: So a final drive has already been planned?
Vollmer: You’re already going through all of this: “We think the defensive end is going to make this move, the quarterback is going to be there.” Everything is really detail-oriented – but then all of a sudden you hear this screaming and you turn around. Anything could have happened, a touchdown for Seattle, anything. And then, whatever, Malcolm has the ball. It felt like it took ten seconds to realize that, but it was probably only half a second. And then you realize: 20 more seconds and we are Super Bowl champions. Suddenly it changes from “I don’t know if this will still work” to “Wow, finally!” – truly an emotional rollercoaster.
SPORT1: Sounds like that was your most memorable Super Bowl moment too.
Vollmer: In any case! I remember the whole game very fondly, but of course it was that moment when you realize you’re now a Super Bowl champion. You did it, you played through it, all the injuries and everything else were somehow worth it.
That’s how Vollmer tips the Super Bowl LX
SPORT1: Now this year there will be a new edition of this duel between Patriots and Seahawks. What kind of game are you expecting?
Vollmer: I believe the Patriots will win. My guess is the score will be in the low 20s, 24:21, something like that. In my opinion, the team that makes fewer mistakes will win in the end – and I believe that will be the Patriots.
SPORT1: From your own experience, if you could give one thing to the players for Sunday, what would it be?
Vollmer: In the end, it’s a game you’ve played for years – from the moment the kickoff arrives until the end. Sure, there’s more at stake, but ultimately it’s exactly the same. If you can block out everything else and do what got you there, then you’ll be okay.
