A first Super Bowl experience like no other!
For the final week of an NFL season, the city that hosts the Super Bowl is not only home to the championship game featuring the two best teams from the AFC and the NFC, but it is a mecca for the game itself.
It is like the All-Star festivities that take place in MLB where fans (and some players) from every team – both from around the country and around the world – gather in that one city to embark on a celebration of the game.
However, for the NFL, all the festivities are there, but there is a champion to be decided at week’s end between two of the best teams from the season, making the adrenaline and the pressure that much more heightened, compared to an All-Star game at the end.
In the moments leading up to Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas, there were countless events, both on the low-end side to the high-end. From the Super Bowl experience that encompasses the NFL and all 32 teams, including the hosting team and the celebratory banquets and events, the week was that much more momentous.
With this year’s Super Bowl taking place in Sin City, there were countless parties, meals and events as NFL players and personnel were on hand in the Las Vegas community, especially along Las Vegas Boulevard.
“It was definitely the experience of a lifetime,” said Ely resident Meg Rhoades, who got to experience all of it, but from a different perspective: working throughout the week leading up to the Super Bowl and during the Big Game itself.
Rhoades helped countless fans make sure they were in the right place, showed them where to go and answered questions if they needed help.
She made the four-hour trip from Ely to Las Vegas to work the various events for the Las Vegas Super Bowl committee beginning on Feb. 8.
Rhoades, who worked 13 years in tourism in White Pine County, was one of those people who made sure the little things did not go awry and everyone had a positive Super Bowl experience all week long.
“I was in a position where I tried to help mitigate wherever there were issues with things like ticketing or anything,” Rhoades said. “Then, if I couldn’t answer it or help, then I would take them to the guest services or the guy that was in charge. They would take it over and do what was needed to be done. So, it was pretty neat.”
She was all around the Strip from the airport, Mandalay Bay Convention Center for the Super Bowl experience, Allegiant Stadium as well as Caesars Palace for the Super Bowl Breakfast, which featured the announcement of this season’s Bart Starr Award recipient.
Rhoades worked the breakfast and got in a quick conversation with the honoree, Pittsburgh Steelers free safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, but did her best to remain professional.
“The Bart Starr breakfast was really – it was pretty phenomenal,” Rhoades said. “It’s kind of a faith-based thing. It was for the most inspirational player on and off the field. It was Minkah Fitzpatrick from the Steelers. So Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin did the speech. I did talk to him before and I thought that was him, but I didn’t want to do anything that would make him uncomfortable.”
Rhoades, who was born and raised in Ely, was one of about 9,000 applicants for the various positions and one of 7,000 that was selected.
“They have playmakers and coaches,” Rhoades said, describing the level of roles. “So I asked about being a coach instead of a playmaker. They talked to me about my background and then I got to be a coach. The coaches got more opportunities to help with some more of the behind-the-scenes stuff.”
While working the Super Bowl experience, she controlled the pickleball area where current and former football stars and celebrities tested their game in a sport that is taking the world by storm.
“New Orleans Saints running back Jamaal Williams, Los Angeles Rams running back Kyren Williams and Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk all played pickleball with Flavor Flav, as he was there as well,” Rhoades said. “And then they had Pickleball player Tara Bernstein. They all paired up and they played pickleball for probably a little over an hour.”
Seeing the stars, like the Hall of Famer Faulk, was one of Rhoades’ favorite moments as she got to see NFL players and celebrities throughout the week while working at various locations.
While going through her training on Friday inside Allegiant Stadium, Post Malone was rehearsing his rendition of “America the Beautiful.”
Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua, Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce, Phoenix Suns power forward Kevin Durant and Carrot Top were just a few of the many stars that caught Rhoades’ eye throughout the week.
As the hours progressed, working her first Super Bowl was one to remember, both from the experience and the changes she will make in years to come.
“I did learn a few things. I scheduled myself really heavily those last three days,” said Rhoades who worked three 16-hour days. “You try to take it all in and I think there’s some stuff that’s pre-Superbowl stuff that needs to be done and with it being so close, maybe I could have done a little bit more of that stuff and helped with some of that. But it was an amazing experience.”
On the day of the Super Bowl, Rhoades was working the exterior fan service that included being at the same gate the stars like Kelce and Durant walked through to watch the big game.
However, Rhoades kept her professional mentality and continued her work like at the other venues throughout the week.
“We were greeting people, letting them know, like if they had a bag that was not going to make it through security, that’s where we’re letting them know, ‘You can either put that in the locker or you better take it back to your car now because once you go in, you can’t come out,’” she said. “So, directing them, making sure they have their mobile tickets ready, making sure they needed to have a ticket for the actual game to get in to even the parties.
“We had to treat them all the same. You weren’t supposed to take a bunch of pictures of them or anything like that.”
As the festivities and the hours came to an end with Kansas City pulling off a dramatic 25-22 comeback victory in overtime over San Francisco, Rhoades enjoyed every minute being affiliated under the host committee.
Although Rhoades is a Las Vegas Raiders fan and had to see two of the team’s biggest rivals play against one another in the Raiders’ home stadium, she was able to see the bigger picture of people coming together for a historic weekend of football as she hopes to be working more Super Bowls in the future.
“I would love to go back and do it again,” Rhoades said. “The people coming in, I mean, there were Dolphins jerseys and Chargers jerseys and quite a few Lions jerseys. But it was just fans going. I mean there were, of course, a lot of jerseys for the two teams that were in it, but there were an awful lot of them for all the others. Of course, there were a lot of Raiders jerseys coming in and stuff like that.”
“I would like to do more, and you know, something else I’d like to go do because Levi’s Stadium is after New Orleans (next year), and then SoFi Stadium is after that. So, I’m hoping maybe I can do a few more of them. So those are a little closer than New Orleans, but I have family in New Orleans.”
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