Ex-Chiefs Player Shares Andy Reid’s Plan to Keep Team Fresh During Super Bowl Halftime
During the regular season, the NFL half lasts about 12 or 13 minutes, but at the Super Bowl it lasts about as long as a musical act plays during intermission.
At Super Bowl LVII, Rihanna will be the musical act, and when you factor in the time it takes to set up the stage and later take it down, halftime can last up to 30 minutes.
With all that extra time at halftime, a player can feel tense or lose focus.
But former Chiefs offensive lineman Mitchell Schwartz said on the 33. Team Podcast that Coach Andy Reid emphasized the halftime and prelude approach throughout the week leading up to Super Bowl LIV. Schwartz detailed how Reid approached the longer half and wouldn’t be surprised to see it used again in Super Bowl LVII on Sunday when the Chiefs take on the Eagles.
“It’s such a long half and the coach broke it up into different 5-minute segments,” Schwartz said. “The first 5 minutes, go to the bathroom, sit down, eat a snack. The next five we come in and talk about what we saw in the first half. The next five, you have your own free time to do whatever you want. Then we bring the coaches back, we talk a little bit about what’s coming up in the second half. And then the strength coach will warm you up a bit and then we’ll go out onto the field and then you’ve got 5 minutes.
“So he talks through all the logistics. I’ve always found it very interesting that he put so much emphasis on these different time periods and it obviously paid off. We won, we played a good second half and were able to take the lead and win.”
The other period is before the game. There is a long time between the players entering the field and kick-off.
Schwartz shared what Reid did before the start of Super Bowl LIV.
“We went through almost every day (in training) like before the game and at halftime,” Schwartz said. “And he’s talked about it over and over again. He said: ‘You will take the field. We’ll have about 20-25 minutes before kick-off. This will be so different than normal.’ …
“If you have your normal routine, when you exit the tunnel you will be ready to go. It’s super exciting. You’re running onto the field for the Super Bowl. Like I said, every day he said, ‘Okay, we’re going to the field. I want everyone to sit on the bench. You guys will all sit down and we’ll tell you when you can get up.” He wanted us to stay as fresh as possible and he drew on his past experience and I’m sure what his boys have done but also, how you said speaking to other coaches and what other things were done.
This is Schwartz to talk about Reid’s preparations.
