10 NFL stars reveal what it’s really like to play in the Super Bowl

Cruz, who retired in 2018 after seven seasons with the Giants, told BI that the Super Bowl has “so much media,” adding, “It’s such an event.”

He continued, “I always tell people that the NFC Championship Game was the most physically taxing game that I’ve ever played in, and then the Super Bowl was the most mentally taxing game because it’s just between the interviews and your family and travel and you’re just trying to secure all of those things. And then by the time you get to the game, you’re finally like, wow, I can relax, but I also can’t relax ’cause now, I have to play a game.”

As a record seven-time Super Bowl champion, Brady has shared plenty of thoughts on his experiences in the big game over the years.

In 2005, Brady reflected on his early career success during an interview on “60 Minutes” and how he felt after winning — at that point — three Super Bowls.

“Why do I have three Super Bowl rings and still think there’s something greater for me out there?” he said.

He added, “It’s got to be more than this; I mean this isn’t — this can’t be what it’s all cracked up to be. I mean I’ve done it, I’m 27. What else is there for me?”

Of course, there were more than 15 seasons and four Super Bowl wins in Brady’s future.

In a February 2025 episode of NFL on Fox, Brady, too, said the Super Bowl is unlike any other game a player will take part in.

“There’s so much attention,” he said, adding that it’s important to “try to make that game as normal as you can from a preparation standpoint” so you can be ready when game time comes.

In a January 2025 episode of 94 WIP Sportsradio, retired Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce reflected on playing in his first Super Bowl in 2018.

“It was a highly emotional time,” he said, adding, “Everything flashes before you before a Super Bowl. You can’t help but think back and think about ‘How am I here?,’ How am I fortunate enough and lucky enough to be here?’ And then you think about your teammates and everybody else.'”

Kelce continued, “It’s a very overwhelming experience, you know, being on the biggest stage of your profession and I imagine anybody feels that way, right?”

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow had a different perspective on his first Super Bowl, which he lost to the Los Angeles Rams in 2022 at SoFi Stadium.

Burrow told The Colin Cowherd Podcast in September 2022 that the first series of the game “felt like a dinner party and we were the entertainment.”

He added, “‘Cause I mean, you come off a road game in Kansas City, a road game in Tennessee, and then, you know, your first home win in the playoffs in 30-some years, and then you go to the Super Bowl and it’s more corporate.”

“It just took a second to get used to, it didn’t feel like a playoff football game,” he said.

Like Burrow, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts knows that not all Super Bowl appearances end the way you want them to — the Eagles lost Super Bowl LVII to the Chiefs in 2023 — but that’s a fact he plans to change this year.

At a press conference ahead of Sunday’s game, Hurts said he’s “learned so much,” adding, “It’s the same as any other game and, you know, I think the moments are the moments. But ultimately, you know, every game has its lessons — good, bad, or indifferent. So, just being able to become wiser, grow, and mature and take all these lessons in for the next season and the next games.”

“It’s had a great driving force. It lit a flame, lit a fire in me, and to have this opportunity again is exactly what you work for,” Hurts said.

Patrick Mahomes said he was more nervous to propose to his now-wife, Brittany Mahomes, than he was to play in his first Super Bowl with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Both life-changing events occurred in 2020, with the Super Bowl in February and his proposal to Brittany in September.

Mahomes told 610 Sports Radio, “You don’t think it’s going to be nerve-racking, especially when you’ve been with someone for so long, but before you get on that knee, your heart’s racing, I promise you that.”

Veteran defensive end Michael Strahan was ready for his second shot at a Super Bowl title when the New York Giants faced the New England Patriots in 2008.

Strahan had previously been a member of the Giants’ 2000-2001 squad, which lost Super Bowl XXXV to the Baltimore Ravens, 34-7.

His advice to teammates was simple: ignore the distractions.

“Giving that up now is worth it a million-fold if you win the game,” he said, per the NFL.

“That is my message to those guys. And once it kicks off, it is just a football game. All that pressure of it being the Super Bowl — and I love when they kick it off and all the flashing lights — but we are still the only ones that can control what happens on the field. As long as you don’t let those things get to you and you are relaxed and play football, it is just a game.”

The Giants went on to defeat the Patriots 17-14 in what would be Strahan’s last game of his 15-season, Hall of Fame career in the NFL.

“Mentally, I was spent,” Strahan told SNY after his retirement, adding, “I took everything out of myself physically and mentally to win the Super Bowl and once it was done, I said ‘OK, that’s good enough. What else do I have to prove?'”

In 2000, quarterback Kurt Warner led the St. Louis Rams to their first-ever Super Bowl win, beating the Tennessee Titans.

Warner told ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss, “You work your whole life to be considered the best at what you do,” adding, “To be a part of a team, a group that does that, kind of writes your name in history. It’s incredible.”

Warner continued, “As far as sports goes, there’s no greater feeling than winning a championship. I always kind of liken it to the greatest things in life, when you get married, when you have your children. That kind of feeling in life.”

Warner was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2017.

Deion Sanders won back-to-back Super Bowls during his Hall of Fame career in the NFL, first in 1995 with the San Francisco 49ers and again in 1996 with the Dallas Cowboys.

Sanders spoke about what it was like to play in a Super Bowl during a January 2025 episode of “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.”

“It’s awesome,” Sanders said. “It’s almost like you’re riding to the game and you’re seeing stuff that you never thought existed because you’re like, ‘I didn’t know they do that at Super Bowls. I didn’t know they do that,’ and then you say, ‘Like man, all of these people are coming to see us play. You mean to tell me I get to put on a show in front of America tonight? You got to be kidding me, Lord, thank you.’ That’s the feeling you have driving, riding to the stadium, and knowing you’re getting ready to play.”

He added, “You’re not worried, you’re not overexcited, you’re just, you wanna rock steady, you wanna be calm because you are getting an opportunity to do what you have been blessed to do in front of everybody.”

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce has won three Super Bowls so far in his career, but the one that stands out was against the Philadelphia Eagles and his brother, Jason Kelce, in 2023.

In 2024, Kelce told reporters, “I’d always wanted to be at the mountain top with my brother, and when I visualized it, it was always playing with him in the Super Bowl, but playing against him, meeting him there, was one of the most special moments of my life and I don’t know if any moment will ever compare to being on top of the world, going against my brother like that.”

Now, the Chiefs will face the Eagles again on Super Bowl Sunday, though this time, Jason will be watching from the stands.