Working at the Super Bowl and a Hometown Win!
After successfully finishing my first semester at the University of Tampa, I can say proudly it was a good one. I met so many wonderful people, had some amazing experiences, and got to finally learn first hand the subjects I was most interested in. I had so many opportunities to grow both professionally and personally, especially when the Super Bowl came to town.
During the fall semester, it was typical that I received sports opportunities via email in the Tampa Bay area. In this case, I saw in capital bold letters ‘SUPER BOWL LV VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES’. I immediately clicked the email to reveal a few pages of opportunities in the area for the upcoming event. I filled out the application as soon as I finished reading that email. I was eagerly awaiting what might come of this.
Time went by and the semester had ended, and with winter break approaching, I got ready to head home back to cold and snowy Connecticut. I wasn’t all too fond of heading home, but I knew it would be nice to see my family and get a break from living in my tiny dorm room. Once arriving home, I became bored pretty fast. Although, right when I landed, I received an email about the opportunity I had applied for to be volunteering at the Super Bowl. I was over the moon that I was even being considered.
Once finishing my finals, I talked almost every day to my parents about how excited I was for the Super Bowl to come to Tampa. Growing up in New England, just about everyone I knew was a Patriots fan, especially of legendary Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski. It seemed as though I transferred at the perfect time when they decided to play for the Buccaneers.
Once the interview came around, I was more nervous than I ever had been before. I remember frantically going over my resume multiple times over so I could be prepared for any and all questions. Unexpectedly, it went much better than I thought...I landed a spot to work at the NFL Experience AND at the Super Bowl on Gameday. I couldn’t be more excited to get back to Tampa and be in the excitement of it all. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I almost felt as though everything in my life worked out for a reason. To be a young college student going to school in the same city as the Super Bowl? What more could I ask for?
I bragged to just about everyone in my family that I got the job. As both of my parents are in the sports industry, it made me happy that they were proud of me to land this sort of thing. Break quickly came to an end, and before I knew it, I landed in Tampa with a smile on my face knowing the big game was in a few short weeks.
On my first day of work, although, things didn’t exactly go as planned. I had completely forgotten that I needed specific credentials to get into the building. In order to get it, I had to walk about 5 miles. It was 8:30 a.m. in 70-degree weather and I wasn’t all too fond of walking that far by myself-but, I made it work. I came back as quickly as possible and I was ready to work.
My time working at the NFL Experience flew by very fast. It was lots of fun knowing some of the ins and outs of what goes on behind the scenes and an even bigger dream to be a part of it. During my breaks, I would be sure to walk around the set up and take it all in. My favorite was the NFL Museum of every professional team in the league. I was able to walk around and see shoes and helmets signed by the biggest current and past players. Growing up, I knew nothing but sports. I would constantly be watching sports with my family or spending time in my parents’ office up in Bristol watching even more than I already did at home. To think that I got to be attending the biggest sporting event of the year? It was so unreal to me...to this day, I still can’t believe I did it.
Once this part of the job came to a close, it was time to gear up for my position on game day. In all honesty, I didn’t know a single person at my school who was working the same position as me. It made it hard because it was out of my comfort zone, you know, being with all of these strangers and not knowing a single person. Despite this, I knew it was something I needed to do in order to be prepared for professional opportunities in the future, such as stepping into a brand new job where I may just not know any of my co-workers.
All of us were called to a meeting a few days prior to the game to discuss fan safety. I had expected that we would be meeting at some high school or at the Tampa Convention Center...but to my surprise, we got to go into the stadium. By doing so and sitting through the meeting while time went by, I only became more ecstatic. I was in awe and basically fangirling over the Super Bowl.
The night before, I tried to get to bed at 9 p.m. sharp. I did everything right, but I couldn’t seem to fall asleep. I tossed and turned all night because I kept thinking about the game and the uproar of excitement the city would have if the Buccaneers won. What if I mess up? What if something goes horribly wrong and it’s on National News? Will I see a celebrity? I barely got any sleep that night and had to be up and there by 10 a.m.
I finally arrived at the stadium and received about 15 different phone calls from my parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends. Everyone was wishing me luck and asking me to send photos, but I was way too tired to even talk to anyone at that hour. It wasn’t until I got past security and into my workstation where I heard and got a glimpse of Miley Cyrus rehearsing that it was all really happening.
The day went by and I did what I helped people coming into the game. I made sure to let them know where they were going, where to park, and any sort of questions they had about being a guest. I was extremely jealous of every person that came into the stadium considering they had a ticket to the game. Although, I was still excited, despite the fact I wasn’t an attendee. With every person that came to the stadium, I cheered with them as they yelled Go Bucs or Go Chiefs! (yes, I even cheered with the chiefs fans, even though I was definitely not rooting for them).
By the time the game came to an end, I had been on my feet all day. It was still challenging to be standing for that long considering I had my two knee surgeries less than a year prior. I didn’t mind the knee pain because I wanted to get the full experience of being a part of it all. I knew once the fireworks went off that the city was about to go CRAZY! I even cried once they won because I got to watch them win in person. I wish my parents could have been there to make it all the better.
When driving home, I knew everyone finally felt the excitement I had been feeling for the past few months. To have a rare hometown win on Super Bowl Sunday AFTER winning the Stanley Cup was legendary. The chaos I got to see by the fans was unreal. I was too exhausted from working, so I went directly to bed, but oh man, was I proud to live in Tampa Bay and be a Bucs fan.
All in all, I would not have traded my experience for the world. I am so grateful things worked out where I got to be a small part in such a huge event. By working under the National Football League, it truly made me appreciate event management and all of the work thousands do to make sure it runs perfectly. I still can’t wrap my head around it all, but, I can’t thank the University of Tampa enough for presenting the opportunity to me in the first place. It is an experience I will remember forever and I can’t wait for more opportunities to come!
