Credit: Penn State Creative Commons.
An opportunity for hands-on experience at one of the world’s most well-known sporting events awaits several Penn State students this week as they step into working, media-related roles at the Super Bowl, which will be contested Feb. 9 in New Orleans.
Their presence continues what has become a tradition — stretching more than two decades —of students from the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications attending and working before, during and after the big game in a variety of roles.
Four students will be working as part of a partnership between The Associated Press and the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism. The students arrive on site Tuesday and will support AP coverage efforts during the week leading up to the game. The quartet of senior journalism majors includes Josh Gabriel, from Flemington, N.J; Joel Haas, from Falls Church, Va.; Tyler Millen, from Ellington, Conn.; and Kendall Skalicky, from Lower Gwynedd, Pa.
“We’re very fortunate both to be able to cover the Super Bowl with a substantial number of students and to be partnering with our friends from the AP again,” said John Affleck, director of the Curley Center and department head for Journalism.
Two other students, representing CommRadio, the internet-based student station housed in the Bellisario College, will be working on site at the NFL’s Media Row, which has broadcast outlets and radio stations from around the country providing coverage of Super Bowl-related activities and promotions from the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans.
Live coverage on CommRadio from Justin Ciavolella, a senior from Sayville, N.Y. and Dylan Price, a senior from Monticello, N.Y., will air from 5 to 7 p.m. on Feb. 6 and again on Feb. 7. Radio Row typically provides opportunities for previewing the game as well as interviews with former players and media personalities. The CommRadio duo plans to make the most of those opportunities.
CommRadio will also conduct a postgame show from the Superdome on Feb. 9. That will air after the game ends on broadcast TV.
Two more students will work directly with the NFL. Seniors Hailey Stutzman, a film production major from Gilbertsville, Pennsylvania, will be assisting the NFL’s photography team during the week and McKenna Wall, a journalism major from Allentown, Pennsylvania, will work with the NFL communications staff.
The television broadcast of the game by Fox — which is expected to reach more than 120 million viewers — will be directed by Penn State alumnus Rich Russo. Russo, who earned his bachelor’s degree in 1984, has worked at 16 Super Bowls in a variety of roles. This will be the sixth time he’s directed the game’s TV broadcast.
In addition, Penn State’s overall presence at the Super Bowl includes four players on the two competing teams — running back Saquon Barkley, receiver Jahan Dotson and practice squad cornerback Tariq Castro-Fields for the Philadelphia Eagles and offensive lineman Hunter Nourzad for the Kansas City Chiefs.
