She's just a rookie, and already Jordin Sparks is going further in the NFL than her father. Only 2 1/2 months after the youngest "American Idol" winner released her debut album, the teen is set to perform the national anthem Sunday at the Super Bowl. In nine years as a pro cornerback, pop Phillippi Sparks never reached the big game.
"I said, 'Dad, I'm singing at the Super Bowl,'" she said Thursday. "He said, 'At least one of us made it.'"
No surprise about which team she'll root for when the New York Giants play the New England Patriots. Her dad spent all but one season with the Giants.
"There definitely is a tie with them," the 18-year-old Sparks said. "I got to go for the underdogs."
Sparks considers herself a "huge, humongous football fan." Nine-time Grammy Award winner Alicia Keys, who will provide the pregame entertainment, is less so — most of the time, anyway.
"Even I, who might think the Mighty Ducks and Penguins are playing, love the Super Bowl," Keys said. For the record, she's pulling for her hometown Giants.
Tom Petty, headlining the halftime show with his Heartbreakers, stayed neutral.
"I'm for everybody," he said.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, however, has a fan in Bill Belichick. In a light moment for him, the Patriots coach admitted he was sorry to miss Petty's performance and said he might play the band's CDs while preparing for the game.
"Well, it's never kept anyone from winning," Petty said.
Like previous halftime performers Prince, the Rolling Stones and U2, Petty's greatest challenge will come in whittling down his band's work into a tight set. They have a total of 12 minutes to perform, and that includes moving 56 carts on and off the field.
"There's this football game that has to go on," Petty said.
Petty grew up in Gainesville, Fla., and does root for the Gators. He also wasn't picking any political candidates, even though his "American Girl" was blasting during Hillary Clinton's recent campaign rallies in New Hampshire.
"We weren't aware of it, but we've heard about it," he said. "We're not endorsing any candidates. You wouldn't want to take a guitar player's advice."
Sparks lives in nearby Glendale — convenient, because the Super Bowl will be played there, at the University of Phoenix Stadium. She sang the national anthem before the Arizona Cardinals played their first regular-season game at the stadium in 2006, but the Super Bowl is in another league.
"For me, since my career has been a couple of months, it's way up there," she said.
Sitting next to Sparks, Keys looked forward to a European tour that begins Feb. 25. Coming off her album "As I Am," she also announced the dates and locations of her U.S. tour, starting April 19 in Hampton, Va., and ending June 18 at Madison Square Garden.
Before that, there's Sunday's performance.
"I'm going to take you by the neck and demand that you watch me," Keys said.
"What she said," Sparks echoed.
Sparks, Keys, Petty headline Super show
Plaxico Burress
plaxico burress, plaxico, plexico, plaxico burris, burress, lambeau field turf
Wow, those two can really go at it. Just saw several shots of the two battling and picking at each other. And it figures, Burress just caught a big one.
All 45 players wearing a Giants uniform will hear the call to arms, but for some, the call resonates just a bit more loudly.
The Giants need everyone if they are to upset the Packers tomorrow night in the NFC Championship game at arctic Lambeau Field, but they likely will need some to rise up higher than others by winning their individual battles — not on one play or a handful of them, but all game long.
When Eli Manning fades to pass, he must see a streak of white and blue, and that means when Plaxico Burress is lined up across from cornerback Al Harris, Burress must escape and excel. The same for Amani Toomer when he's dueling with Charles Woodson.
When Brett Favre fades to pass, he must see the menacing rush of Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora bearing down on him, their hot breath filling the icy evening air. For that to happen, Strahan whips right tackle Mark Tauscher and Umenyiora dominates left tackle Chad Clifton.
This is not about artistry. It is about physicality.
"This is going to be the most physical game any of us have ever played to this point," Burress said. "Even when guys are lying on the ground with guys taking cheap shots and things like that. This is the game to get to the Super Bowl."
With these specific confrontations in mind, the keys to victory:
Armed combat
Normally a physical receiver can escape the jam at the line from most any cornerback, but this is different. Toomer and Burress are long, strong athletes, and they've got to use their arm strength and leverage with their shoulders and hips to wriggle through the clutches of Harris and Woodson.
They play differently than most cornerbacks," Toomer said. "They are the macho, showdown type. ... They're standing right in front of you, they're not going anywhere, they're not backing off"
Keep cool
Toomer and Burress, along with rookie Steve Smith, will be held, grabbed, poked and prodded. It's the way the Packers operate in the secondary, and there's no way an official can call a penalty on every play. That's where patience must come in. If the receivers get frustrated by these tactics and search for a flag, they'll have already lost.
"They're going to test the legality of illegal contact on each and every play," offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride warned. "Our players know that, know that's part of the game. We have to do everything we can to not let that be a factor that affects us negatively. And hopefully we can get some calls."
Accept the challenge
Burress has gone against Harris in the past. Toomer has run routes on Woodson. In fact, they were teammates at Michigan, so they go back a ways. There won't be anything fancy here, no diabolical schemes. Me vs. You. You vs. Me. May the better man win.
"It's going to come down to us, basically, going out and making plays against them," Burress said.
Batter Brett
Putting Favre on his backside is the goal but it can't be the only way to contain him — he's been sacked 15 times all season and only once in the past six games. Favre still moves well at 38 years old, but if the defensive linemen can't get to him, they have to impede his ability to see downfield.
"He throws the ball very, very quick," Umenyiora said, "so we are going to have to really try to get our hands up, get in his face a little bit and see if we can play the game that way."
Extra batteries
The Giants last week for the entire first half — and nearly for the first three quarters — got little pressure and few hits on Tony Romo. A defense with less mental toughness would have crumbled after repeated rushes generated nothing. The Giants kept going after it and gradually — and forcefully — pummeled Romo.
Stay the course
After 15 seasons there remains life in Strahan's legs and fire in his belly. He's had nine and eight tackles in the past two playoff victories, the most he's ever had in the postseason. If Favre is a marvel, then Strahan at 36 years old is marvelous, and motivated.
"To be honest with you, now I feel better than I've felt all season," Strahan said. "Heck, if I can get out there and do it then I know that they can because the guys are younger and faster and all those other things, and I'm sure hopefully I can inspire those guys to go ahead and win on Sunday."
