WIBC/1070 host recalls his Super Bowls as player & broadcaster, looks forward to Indy’s!
Joe Staysniak on the NFL’s Big Game
Today is Media Day in Indianapolis for Super Bowl XLVI. Joe Staysniak calls it “insane” and Big Joe would know. Not only has he reported on site them for both Colts Super Bowls during the Peyton Manning era, he’s the only current regular local broadcaster who has actually played in the Super Bowl!
As Indy gears up for the New York Giants vs. the New England Patriots, Staysniak agreed to sit down with Radio Indiana and answer a few questions about his own experiences and what Hoosiers should expect, and will deliver, for the annual road show of grandiose NFL self-promotion. Interesting excerpts include:
Regarding his first Media Day, not expecting to be interviewed and found himself in demand by foreign journalists…
Big Joe: “A group of Korean reporters that didn’t speak any English saw that we (the role players) weren’t busy. We didn’t understand Korean, they didn’t understand English, it was a heck of an interview! That’s the kind of fun things you find at media day.”
On the Super Bowl game in his first NFL season (with the Buffalo Bills)…
Big Joe: “…you’re going in there as a rookie you’ve got no clue what is happening… (the game) was in Tampa, Whitney Houston (sang the National Anthem).. red-white-and-blue, desert storm, I mean very patriotic, it was just a very surreal experience.”
When asked which he liked better, playing in the Super Bowl or reporting on it in the host city…
Big Joe: “I’m really looking forward to being a member of the media in this one, because Miami is so spread out, Tampa was fairly spread out, the Minneapolis one we were really close but they didn’t embrace it the way Indianapolis is embracing it… It really is a no worries approach (executed by Indy’s local organizers)… centrally located area for all… the Super Bowl Village, is a great idea… and even though I’m too heavy for the zip line, I can’t wait to see people do that!”
His entire first-person account is insightful. Give it a listen. It takes just a few minutes.