National Football League

7,000-pound football inaugurates Super Bowl season in Phoenix

Published Nov. 10, 2014 7:14 p.m. ET

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PHOENIX -- It was unclear Monday what was larger: The excitement of Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee CEO Jay Parry and Phoenix mayor Greg Stanton or the size of the first piece of Super Bowl Central they revealed.

In front of about 75 onlookers, Parry and Stanton, joined by Visit Phoenix chairman Win Holden and Phoenix councilman Michael Nowakowski, unveiled a Super Bowl-sized football that Parry called the "cornerstone" of Super Bowl Central in downtown Phoenix.

The event marked the first major one in advance of Arizona's upcoming Super Bowl XLIX on Feb. 1.

"We're just ready to get this party started," Parry said. "There's been so much that has happened from a preparation standpoint to get us to this point."

The football statue, which stands taller than 20 feet and is 32 1/2 feet around, is just a sliver of the preparations.

The 7,000-pound football is made out of steel, foam and wood and was produced by local company bluemedia -- which was founded by Arizona State graduates and whose services range from banners to signage to 3-ton steel footballs.

"It's really one of a kind," Parry said. "Nothing like this has been done before."

It's just step one to re-creating downtown Phoenix for the weeklong football bash. The game is 83 days away. A week before then, Phoenix will close down 12 blocks of downtown for Super Bowl Central, where there will be concerts, the NFL Experience and more.

The giant football is located on the northwest corner of Central Avenue and Washington Street. The Super Bowl Host Committee welcomes fans to visit the monument and even take selfies, just as Stanton and Parry did while introducing it.

With the countdown to Super Bowl XLIX Feb. 1 at University of Phoenix Stadium underway, FOXSports Arizona has partnered with Arizona State University's Cronkite School of Journalism to bring readers a multimedia, behind-the-scenes look into the most watched sports event in the country.

Starting this month and running up to the game, five aspiring sports journalists -- Evan Webeck, Virginia Poulson, Lucas Robbins, Ben Margiott and Arianna Grainey -- will provide stories, videos and photo essays on everything Super Bowl. From a tour of the Glendale Stadium to how the halftime act is selected to the impact on local businesses.

And don't forget the Pro Bowl, set the week before. Can the Super Bowl's stepchild find a home in Glendale? The young journalists will also take a look at the last two Super Bowls played in Phoenix and the challenge the Waste Management Phoenix Open is facing with the game is town the same week as the golfers.

Look for their continuing reports on FOXSportsArizona.com from now through the game.