CHARLOTTE — Carolina Panthers safety Tre Boston was on the practice field Wednesday when it suddenly hit him: He and his teammates were getting ready to play in the Super Bowl.
“It’s still surreal for a lot of us,” Boston said afterward. “I even said today in practice, ‘Y’all know we’re preparing for the Super Bowl?’ This is the biggest stage of them all.”
Panthers S Tre Boston made 29 tackles this season.
But for most players, reality set in quickly after the Panthers stomped the Arizona Cardinals in Sunday's NFC Championship Game. That’s because they immediately started getting bombarded with ticket requests.
Boston said players had “literally 24 hours” to get their requests in, and he said calling around to make sure family members were set was “the craziest thing I’ve ever heard.”
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“You get 15 (tickets), but you’ve got to pay like $1800 for them all,” Boston said. “Family thinks they’re free. Family’s all trying to come like, ‘Oh, I’ve been there since the beginning.’ Alright, well I hope you’ve got $1,800.”
Some players kept it simple. Wide receiver Philly Brown said his mom and siblings got first dibs, then “go random from there.”
Fullback Mike Tolbert made sure his wife, kids, mother and sister got tickets, then shut down pretty much everyone else.
“I’m one guy who you can honestly look at and say I don’t have a problem saying, "No,' " he said.
Offensive lineman Trai Turner, an only child, grinned when talking about how much the tickets would mean to his parents. And rookie wide receiver Devin Funchess was most excited about bringing his close friends to Northern California.
“I’ve got a group back at the house who have stayed with me since high school, since I switched sports to football,” Funchess said. “I’m just ready for those guys to get out there and enjoy this moment.”
But despite changing his phone number so often that people weren’t coming out of the woodwork, Funchess said he was still stressed dealing with all the requests from family. He told people to “go talk to my guy” and let a friend handle the rest.
As hard as it was to say no, Boston said he had to tell some relatives a Super Bowl trip just wasn’t going to happen for them.
“Uncle Ray Ray (wants to) come, Uncle John gotta come, Uncle Luke (wants to) come, they all gotta come,” Boston said.
“(But) everybody has to know, man — this isn’t about everybody. This is about us seizing the moment and getting a ring. I’ll bring the ring home to you guys.”
PHOTOS: Super Bowl rings through the years
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Panthers S Tre Boston made 29 tackles this season.
But for most players, reality set in quickly after the Panthers stomped the Arizona Cardinals in Sunday's NFC Championship Game. That’s because they immediately started getting bombarded with ticket requests.
Boston said players had “literally 24 hours” to get their requests in, and he said calling around to make sure family members were set was “the craziest thing I’ve ever heard.”
Cam Newton: 'I'm an African-American QB that may scare a lot of people' with unique skills
“You get 15 (tickets), but you’ve got to pay like $1800 for them all,” Boston said. “Family thinks they’re free. Family’s all trying to come like, ‘Oh, I’ve been there since the beginning.’ Alright, well I hope you’ve got $1,800.”
Some players kept it simple. Wide receiver Philly Brown said his mom and siblings got first dibs, then “go random from there.”
Fullback Mike Tolbert made sure his wife, kids, mother and sister got tickets, then shut down pretty much everyone else.
“I’m one guy who you can honestly look at and say I don’t have a problem saying, "No,' " he said.
Offensive lineman Trai Turner, an only child, grinned when talking about how much the tickets would mean to his parents. And rookie wide receiver Devin Funchess was most excited about bringing his close friends to Northern California.
“I’ve got a group back at the house who have stayed with me since high school, since I switched sports to football,” Funchess said. “I’m just ready for those guys to get out there and enjoy this moment.”
But despite changing his phone number so often that people weren’t coming out of the woodwork, Funchess said he was still stressed dealing with all the requests from family. He told people to “go talk to my guy” and let a friend handle the rest.
As hard as it was to say no, Boston said he had to tell some relatives a Super Bowl trip just wasn’t going to happen for them.
“Uncle Ray Ray (wants to) come, Uncle John gotta come, Uncle Luke (wants to) come, they all gotta come,” Boston said.
“(But) everybody has to know, man — this isn’t about everybody. This is about us seizing the moment and getting a ring. I’ll bring the ring home to you guys.”
PHOTOS: Super Bowl rings through the years
.usatoday
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