FedEx Again Delivers Super Bowl Trophy
On Feb. 7, in a scene that most Americans have watched every winter, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will present the coveted Vince Lombardi Trophy to the owner and coach of the team that wins the Super Bowl in Santa Clara, California. But few consider how the trophy will get to the stage to be hoisted in triumph by either the Carolina Panthers or the Denver Broncos.
That honor again went to FedEx Corp. This is the 16th year that the Memphis, Tennessee-based company transported the trophy.
Phil Tejero, a Bay Area resident and 17-year employee of the carrier, delivered the trophy Jan. 30 in a zero-emissions electric truck, handing it to former San Francisco 49ers star Roger Craig to kick off the NFL Experience, an eight-day fan festival preceding Super Bowl 50.
“Every day, more than 340,000 FedEx team members around the globe help deliver a wide variety of special packages to our customers,” said Patrick Fitzgerald, FedEx’s senior vice president of Integrated Marketing and Communications. “It’s an honor for FedEx to deliver the iconic Lombardi Trophy to football fans in the Bay Area in advance of Super Bowl 50.”
The trophy’s journey started at the NFL’s New York offices where it was crated Jan. 25 under the supervision of league security and then handed to a FedEx Express driver, who delivered it to Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey. From there, FedEx flew the trophy through its Memphis hub and on to San Francisco with the crate monitored for such environmental factors as temperature and humidity, as well as light detection, which would indicate whether it had been opened prematurely.
Once in San Francisco, a white-gloved security person from the NFL is with the trophy at all times, except for the few minutes when awarded to the winners. It will then be whisked back to Tiffany & Co., the luxury jeweler that customized the sterling silver trophy, to be engraved with the champion’s name and then delivered to the organization’s headquarters.
Unlike the NHL’s Stanley Cup that gets passed along to championship winners, a Super Bowl trophy is created each year.
The Lombardi Trophy features a regulation-size football crafted out of sterling silver, is 22 inches high and weighs nearly 7 pounds.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said just about every visitor to the league’s offices is drawn to the trophy. “It’s the hero display,” McCarthy said of the trophy and the rings given to the winners. “We’re very particular about who can touch the Lombardi Trophy. It gets white-glove treatment. It’s truly priceless.”
The league hasn’t yet disclosed which figure from its history will make the presentation along with Goodell, who relishes the moment each year.
“It’s the high point of every season and such a privilege to be up on that stand seeing the incredible joy and feeling of accomplishment in the Super Bowl champions, their families and fans,” Goodell told Transport Topics.
Given that this is the 50th Super Bowl, McCarthy said to expect an extra special ceremony in Santa Clara.
