All week, various players from the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles talked about the 10 days leading up to the Super Bowl, how the practices and media requirements took more energy than playing in the game itself.

Even with media members, those sentiments were spot-on.

There has been so much going on all week, at the Mall of America or downtown St. Paul and Minneapolis, the events leading up to Sunday's game took up a lot of time and patience, making game day seem almost anticlimactic.

But then Sunday happened.

Super Bowl 52, the No. 1 seeds in both conferences. Great national anthem and halftime show. By halftime, it seemed like you'd seen everything, but that was incorrect as the second half brought even more drama.

It didn't take long for the game to give you a little jolt, as the Eagles marched all over the favored Patriots, who answered almost every challenge. Tom Brady was great, but Nick Foles was better. The Eagles led for most of the game, but midway through the fourth quarter, the Patriots took a lead.

Surely, coach Bill Belichick and Brady, the most decorated coach-quarterback combination in Super Bowl history, would prevail, now that their team led in the fourth quarter.

Nope.

On this cold night, at U.S. Bank Stadium, with the second-loudest crowd of the season roaring at almost every play, the Eagles rebounded and won their first Super Bowl. Foles led a Brady-like comeback, and the defense made one sack and turnover.

No matter your preconceived notions of Eagles' fans, based on how they treated Minnesotans two weeks ago, those idiots lived up to the reputation Sunday. Not sure how some of these folks run free in society, but they must usually travel during darkness.

They had a lot of fun here, and hopefully, they leave our stuff alone until they leave.

What the game lacked in beauty, it made up for with highlights. Long passes, great catches, botched kicks, trick plays that worked and those that didn't ... this one had something for almost everyone, except defensive coordinators.

And it was exciting, the perfect ending to a long week, the boost you need to satisfy the effort.

It's not that the Super Bowl becomes irrelevant by game time, but it's hard for a player, media member or community to run hot for seven or eight days. It's a game that often doesn't live up to the hype.

But this one did.

This week needed a Super Bowl like we got, even though the ringing may never leave the ears. There were plenty of times when it seemed like it truly was work, but in the end, it was fun.

Probably will never cover another Super Bowl, certainly not one here in Minnesota. That's OK.

There will be stories to tell about this game for a long time.

Chad Courrier is a Free Press staff writer. To contact him, call 507-344-6353, e-mail atccourrier@mankatofreepress.comor follow his Twitter feed @ChadCourrier.

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