MIAMI – Bob Whitfield was in the mood to have fun, which was fortunate, because it would have been unwise to anger this 6-5, 310-pound LT.
Whitfield is blind in his right eye and has recently been growing a scraggly beard that makes him look more imposing than usual. The Falcons’ best offensive lineman did his best to enjoy himself in the days leading up to Super Bowl XXXIII, even though never far from his thoughts there is a personal tragedy that continues to affect him.
“You can’t be all serious and straight up-and-down,” Whitfield said to a group of reporters. “I’ll brighten up your guys’ morning. Brighten up my morning. Because when I make you laugh, it makes me laugh inside. I just have fun with it. Just being a little different.”
This is the crowning achievement for Whitfield, a seven-year veteran who is a staggering success story. He grew up in Carson, Calif. amid drugs and gangs and was able to escape. He was an economics major at Stanford, a first-round draft pick of the Falcons and owns a recording studio in Atlanta. The mean streets did not get the best of the 27-year old Whitfield. His older brother Paris, 30, is in California State Prison-Sacramento, in the fifth year of a 26-years-to-life sentence for first degree murder.
Bob Whitfield has a contract that averages $3 million per year and today plays in the biggest game of his career. Paris Whitfield will not be a free man for quite some time, if ever again.
“We all were vulnerable,” Bob Whitfield said. “Among my cronies, one became a dancer, one went to college, another guy got killed and another dude got strung out on drugs. Some of them had motivation to distance themselves from that place, and some said the hell with it.”
In today’s game, Whitfield will play a key role in protecting Chris Chandler and opening holes for Jamal Anderson. Whitfield goes against DE Maa Tanuvasa, who had 8.5 sacks for the Broncos this season.
“When I see them on film I see a team that can be beat,” Whitfield said. “Denver’s a great team, much kudos to Denver, but they can the be had. They can be beat.”
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One proud tradition is no more. Dan Reeves no longer wears the coat and tie on the sideline that easily made him the league’s best-dressed coach. Reeves always eschewed the team colors for his own natty attire. No longer. He now sports the black and red of the Falcons.
“I thought I could help Reebok,” he joked. “I haven’t helped. They’re going out of business.”
Reeves recent bypass surgery prompted the change in clothing.
“It had become difficult for me to dress,” he said. “The reason I wore a coat and tie was I though it would calm me down, help me control my temper. I was getting just as mad in a coat and tie. Now I feel much more comfortable. A lot of people write, though, and say they would like to see me in a coat and tie.”
Cher will sing the National Anthem tonight.
CB Michael Booker is a confident second-year player from Nebraska who filled in for five games as a starter when Ronnie Bradford was injured. Bradford will start in the Super Bowl, but Booker will be on the field often at Atlanta’s nickel back.
“I would love for them to come at me,” Booker said, “but I don’t think they will. If they do some after me, they’re just giving me more camera time. I need all the exposure I can get at the Super Bowl.”
Broncos’ starting DT Trevor Pryce, was a reserve on last year’s Super Bowl winner, but he said he heard people say he didn’t even play. Not true.
“I read in the paper somewhere that I didn’t play,” Pryce said. “but actually I did. I don’t know where that came from. I did play, but not a lot. Not as much as I’d like. That’s why I don’t wear my ring. This year, if we win, I feel like I can wear my ring and show it with pride.
“I gave [last year’s] ring to my mom and haven’t seen it since I got it. I didn’t feel like I did anything for it. I feel they gave me one because I showed up.”
