For more than 100 million Americans one Sunday evening every February, the Super Bowl halftime show (this year performed by rapper Kendrick Lamar) is a chance to observe a made-for-television musical performance.
For the players of the two teams involved in the big game, it’s a waiting game, as the roughly 30-minute hiatus is unlike any other halftime to that point in the season.
At least Philadelphia Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson found one benefit of the extended break.
“Well, we have more time to use the restroom – let’s get that out of the way,” Johnson told USA TODAY Sports. “Regular games, we don’t. It’s like, you get out, you get seven minutes, coach tells you, ‘You got this?’ and then we’re back on the field. They need to make regular halftimes longer.”
Like the game itself, preparation is essential. Both staffs of the Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs have plans in place to deal with the downtime.
That includes four or five minutes designated for eating (a snack). Then players review the coaching points they’ve been drilled on for two weeks. Coaches will conduct reviews from the first half, followed by a break. There’s more eating and hydrating. Then adjustments are made for the second half.
“Getting off your feet, eating, rehydrating – all that stuff is just as important as the game,” Danna said.
Both the Eagles and Chiefs are familiar with the challenge a Super Bowl halftime presents. The Chiefs have been here the previous two years and are back for the fifth time in six seasons. The Eagles lost to the Chiefs in Super Bowl 57 two years ago.
Johnson said wasn’t he sure if the Eagles became too complacent during that game, in which they entered the locker room with a 10-point lead.
“To your point, we do have more time for coaching and we do have more to hydrate – and use the restroom,” Johnson said.
Halftime at the Super Bowl doesn’t feel the same for every player. Eagles edge rusher Josh Sweat said “last Super Bowl was a blur.”
“They’ll have stuff for us to do, warming up. We’ll have stuff to stay fresh,” Sweat told USA TODAY Sports. “We’ll manage the time well. I don’t know how it’s going to look, because I ain’t going to lie, I forgot how it looked last time.”
Going into halftime with a calm frame of mind and knowing that conserving energy is a priority is essential, Chiefs safety Justin Reid said.
“Sometimes, guys come (into) halftime like ‘Rah, rah,’” Reid told USA TODAY Sports. “The halftime is so long that you just got to have a plan for it. The first little bit is just decompressing. “And then from there, you do another mini warmup to get out there and play again.”
Having to warm up again is the “weirdest thing” about halftime at the Super Bowl, according to former NFL offensive lineman Andrew Whitworth, who played in two Super Bowls with the Los Angeles Rams.
“There’s almost a period of, like, you truly need to shut it down for a second and then ramp it back up,” Whitworth told USA TODAY Sports. “Whereas in like halftime normally, I would never even sit down usually. I’d just kind of walk around the locker room and sip some water, get ready to go back out there.”
The players with more wear on their tires, such as Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and Johnson, have more work cut out for them in terms of ramping it up, and their warmups will have to be more intense (Whitworth would know; he played in his Super Bowls at age 37 and 41).
“If I got to sit back down, I’m gonna have to get myself back up again pretty good,” Whitworth remembered. “You really got to take advantage of that window.