Celebs hit the Super Bowl scene

On Thursday, the rock band Lifehouse played a concert  in Tampa for the NFL’s Pepsi Smash Super Bowl Bash. On Friday, Lifehouse checked out the ESPN party. On Saturday, they watched a UFC fight at a bar in Channelside.

But on Sunday, Lifehouse found themselves sitting on the 30-yard line, 10 rows from the field, at Super Bowl LXIII at Raymond James Stadium.

"This is the whole reason we’re here," said singer Jason Wade.

He’s not kidding. Not all the celebrities who came to Tampa this week stayed for the game, but the ones who did couldn’t wait to get in.

"It was perfect synergy – it’s like, 'NBC’s got the Super Bowl? I love football. I watch games all year long,'" said Rainn Wilson, in town to promote the hourlong edition of The Office that aired after the game. “It just made perfect sense for me to come here."

Jesse Jackson, Snoop Dogg and LL Cool J were among the stars who sat in the stands alongside Steelers and Cardinals fans, and a slew of others were in the building.

Vin Diesel. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Jimmy Fallon. Jared Fogle, the Subway guy. Even CBS honcho Les Moonves, who arrived with producer Jerry Bruckheimer, Cal Ripken Jr. and Pat Riley.

Before the game, some stars managed to walk throughout the backstage VIP tailgate relatively unnoticed, including Paul Walker, Hayden Panettiere and Andy Roddick. Funnymen Adam Sandler and Kevin James, who tried to avoid the spotlight all weekend, slipped past waiting media and motored through back exits on golf carts.

Others, like Fallon, and Chuck stars Zach Levi and Josh Gomez, happily mugged for fans’ cameras and hobnobbed with the people.

"It’s been a little bit of a whirlwind," said Gomez, who arrived early Saturday morning and has been on a virtual nonstop press junket ever since. "We haven’t stopped. But who wants to stop? It’s Super Bowl weekend in Tampa. It’s incredible."

MC Hammer was spotted in the north end zone, iPhone to his ear, posing for pictures with fans. Jon Gruden seemed in a good mood at the food court.

Up in the suite level, the NFL was expecting A-listers like Jim Carrey, Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore to make an appearance. All the game performers -- Bruce Springsteen, Faith Hill, Jennifer Hudson and pregame headliners Journey and John Legend -- were slated to sit in posh suites, if they so desired.

Olympics stars Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps were on the league's guest list – although during the first and second quarters, someone else was sitting in Phelps’ assigned seat. Same for possible no-shows James Gandolfini and, of all people, Hugh Grant.

But the stars who were there weren’t immune to being star-struck themselves.

As Bruce Springsteen went onstage for halftime, even the boys from Lifehouse hoisted their cameras in the air from the stands, hoping to catch a quick shot of the Boss.

The game may be why they’re in Tampa. But Springsteen, it seems, is a pretty good reason, too.

--Jay Cridlin, Times Staff Writer. Contributing: Janet Zink.

The sign of the true Arizona Cardinals fan

Among all the fair-weather Larry Fitzgerald and Kurt Warner jerseys at Raymond James, he was the one who stood out -- a true Arizona Cardinal fan.

There was Tempe resident Chris Hartley, with three buddies from Arizona, wearing a Timm Rosenbach jersey.

That's right. We didn't know they made them either.

Years before the Cardinals made the Super Bowl, Rosenbach was the starting quarterback for some pretty putrid Cardinals teams in the desert in the late '80s and early '90s.

"We've been fans ever since they came to the desert," Hartley said. "Timm Rosenbach had to run from defenses like no quarterback ever has had to."

-- Eduardo A. Encina, Times staff writer

Hey, you in the green jacket, down in front ...

How can you have some of the best seats in Raymond James Stadium for a Super Bowl and still have a worse vantage point than you're used to having for football games there?

If you're Jim Leavitt, sitting in the front row with his wife Jody at midfield behind the Steelers bench on Sunday night, that's pretty much how it is. Leavitt, wearing a green Bulls jacket in the middle of a sea of black and gold, got hooked up with some primo, primo seats.

Now we know why he's really pulling for the Steelers ...

Gen. Petraeus: Two beers each for troops in Iraq

During tonight's Super Bowl, troops in Iraq will get a treat in the mess hall.

Two  beers apiece.

That's from the mouth of Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S. Central Command, who was on the sidelines in Tampa before the game.

Troops in Afghanistan won't be able to drink, but it's quiet enough in Iraq for a brew, according to the general. Kickoff time in Tampa is about 2:28 a.m. in Baghdad.

Petraeus was waiting to take part in the coin toss.

"It's a real honor to represent our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and all around the world at this real American classic," he said.

Janet Zink, Times staff writer

Another strange thing I saw ...

NASCAR truck series champion Johnny Benson Jr. buying a beer and toting a sweater around in a plastic grocery bag. It is going to be chilly tonight, but wouldn't a fire suit be warmer?

Some trick plays up their sleeves?

The Cardinals aren’t shy about their play-calling. Offensive coordinator Todd Haley has shown a willingness to be aggressive and call anything that will help the team win. That includes the occasional trick play. In Sunday’s NFC Championship Game against the Eagles, WR Larry Fitzgerald scored on a 62-yard catch from QB Kurt Warner after RB Tim Hightower took a handoff then lateraled it back to Warner. Could there be trick plays in store for the Super Bowl? “I think we’re going to definitely have some in the (playbook),” Fitzgerald said. “I don’t know if (Haley) is going to call it, but we’re definitely going to have a few plays at our disposal. That’s just the way we do it. It gives the defense a little bit more to prepare for every week when you have more things like that.”

INJURY ROUNDUP: DE/LB Travis LaBoy has been limited in practice all week because of a left biceps injury. But the Arizona Republic reports his workload could increase after the arrival of a specially designed brace. LaBoy is listed as questionable. Elsewhere, RB J.J. Arrington missed practice for the second straight day Friday because of a right knee injury he sustained in the NFC Championship Game. He, too, is listed as questionable. DE Antonio Smith (knee) and P Ben Graham (groin) also are questionable but are expected to play.

MR. POPULARITY: How do you know the Cardinals are hot? DE Bertrand Berry can see it just in the size of the audiences that show up for his local radio show. “My very first show, there was like six people,” he said. “I think there (has been) a little bit of an increase from what we had in my first couple of years doing it.” How much? “A couple hundred,” he said. “It was insane. They actually blocked off parts of the parking lot and had people checking with security and checking IDs and stuff like that. I was like, 'Wow! Do you really need to check an ID to listen to somebody talk on the radio?’  ”

Stephen F. Holder, Times staff writer

LeBeau has high praise for Fitzgerald

How does Pittsburgh defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau view Arizona’s dazzling WR Larry Fitzgerald, below, who had nine catches for 152 yards and three touchdowns in the NFC Championship Game? “I think that he is probably the best that I have ever seen with the ball skills and the extension at the ball,” LeBeau said this week. “NFL receivers can all catch the ball. They can all run. Most of them have great hand-eye (coordination). This guy is special. They say that a basketball player plays taller than he is. This guy is like 7-foot tall at the ball. They just throw it up to him. They don’t pay attention to whether he is covered or not. They have been rewarded with it because he usually comes down with it.” LeBeau then offered a basketball analogy for stopping the 6-foot-3 Fitz­gerald. “I always try to approach it like a great scorer in basketball. You are not going to stop them. You just have to keep them from dominating the game,” he said. “Instead of scoring 50 points, they score 18-24. That is what we try to do with a top receiver.”

RECORDS TO WATCH: WR Hines Ward has an excellent chance — barring any lingering effects from the knee injury he sustained last week — to set a franchise record for postseason receiving yards. Playing less than a half against the Ravens, he passed Lynn Swann for second with 1,021 yards, 33 behind John Stallworth. Also, Jeff Reed needs one field goal to tie the franchise postseason record of 14 held by Roy Gerela and Gary Anderson. Reed is two back of Gerela’s record of 34 extra points.

INJURY REPORT: The Steelers are in good shape overall. The only players listed as questionable Friday were LB Patrick Bailey (hamstring) and Ward (knee). Listed as probable: C Justin Hartwig (knee), RB Mewelde Moore (ankle), QB Ben Roethlisberger (back), T Max Starks (knee) and LB Lawrence Timmons (illness).

NUMBER OF THE DAY
21 Steelers players with at least six games of playoff experience led by Ward and S DeShea Townsend (13) and DE Aaron Smith (12).

Dave Scheiber, Times staff writer

Jennifer Hudson will sing anthem

Former American Idol contestant and Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson will sing the national anthem at Tampa's Super Bowl on Feb. 1, the NFL announced this morning.

It will be Hudson's first public appearance since the killings of her mother, brother and nephew in October, the Associated Press reports. Her estranged brother-in-law has been charged in the killings. Hudson also is scheduled to sing at the Grammys' MusiCares event in Los Angeles a few days later. (She is nominated for four awards at the Feb. 8 Grammy Awards.)

One of the best-remembered versions of the anthem also happened in Tampa, back in 1991, when Whitney Houston teamed up with the Florida Orchestra during the first Persian Gulf War. So stirring was the performance that it was recorded and released as a commercial single, eventually hitting the Top 20 on the U.S. Hot 100.

Other artists to perform the anthem in Tampa include The Backstreet Boys (2001) and Barry Manilow (1984).

Associated Press

Video preview: Hudson sang at Democratic Convention