San Francisco 49Ers

Reid's long wait for a championship ring ended thanks to Sunday's 31-20 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in Miami.

It was Reid's 222nd win in the NFL, and it proved to be the biggest.

Reid, who spent his first 14 seasons as a head coach with the Philadelphia Eagles up until 2012, has spent the past seven campaigns in Kansas City.

A career spanning 21 years, Reid's teams had made 15 playoff appearances, winning 10 division titles and reaching seven conference championships.

The Reid-led Eagles reached the Super Bowl in 2005 but fell 24-21 to the New England Patriots in Jacksonville, Florida.

But the popular 61-year-old finally had something to celebrate at the second attempt – Reid's Chiefs overturning a 10-point deficit inside the final seven minutes.

The Eagles even congratulated Reid, tweeting: "Time's yours, Andy".

His place in Canton's Pro Football Hall of Fame will surely be assured if he can claim a first Super Bowl ring by leading the Kansas City Chiefs past the San Francisco 49ers in Miami on Sunday.

Until he gets that monkey off his back, Reid has the most victories among NFL head coaches who have not won a title in that role.

Here we take a look at who else features high on that list.

ANDY REID - 207 regular-season wins, 14 playoff wins

There is a Super Bowl ring in Reid's collection, but it came when he was the Green Bay Packers quarterbacks coach and assistant to Mike Holmgren at Super Bowl XXXI.

Since being elevated to the top job with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1999, Reid has had 16 winning seasons, including seven in a row in Kansas City.

Yet his only previous appearance in the Big Dance was at Super Bowl XXXIX, when the Eagles were beaten by a New England Patriots team wrapping up a dynasty.

MARTY SCHOTTENHEIMER - 200 regular-season wins, five playoff wins

A head coach with the Cleveland Browns, Chiefs, Washington Redskins and San Diego Chargers, Schottenheimer had no problems getting teams into the postseason.

Yet he had a 5-13 record in the playoffs and never made it to a Super Bowl.

His teams went one-and-done nine times in the postseason, including San Diego's 2006 Divisional Round home loss to the Pats - after Schottenheimer's Chargers had gone 14-2 in the regular season.

DAN REEVES - 190 regular-season wins, 11 playoff wins

Had the distinction of taking two teams to the Super Bowl like Reid, but both the Denver Broncos and Atlanta Falcons came up short under Reeves' guidance.

His career as an NFL head coach spanned 23 seasons and three teams - the Broncos, New York Giants and Falcons.

Reeves took the Broncos to three Super Bowls in four years and guided a 14-2 Falcons team all way to Super Bowl XXXIII, yet on each occasion, he was on the losing side.

JEFF FISHER - 173 regular-season wins, five playoff wins

Fisher's teams had sub-.500 seasons in each of his last six seasons as an NFL head coach, but a decade of success with the Tennessee Titans ensured he amassed the wins.

The Titans first reached the playoffs in the 1999-00 season, winning three times before losing to the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXIV, when Kevin Dyson fell one yard short of scoring and potentially forcing overtime.

Like Reid, he does have a Super Bowl ring, with Fisher on injured reserve when the 1985 Chicago Bears and their much-vaunted defense won the Lombardi Trophy.

BUD GRANT - 158 regular-season wins, 10 playoff wins

A Pro Football and Canadian Football Hall of Famer, the only thing missing from Grant's resume was a Super Bowl ring.

He got close - replicating Reeves and Marv Levy in getting to the showpiece event four times but never getting over the hump as his Minnesota Vikings team lost to the Chiefs, Miami Dolphins, Pittsburgh Steelers and Oakland Raiders in the 1970s.

However, Grant did win four Grey Cups in Canada, guiding the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to the showpiece game in five times in six years.

MARV LEVY - 143 regular-season wins, 11 playoff wins

Levy's Buffalo Bills endured a stretch of Super Bowl heartbreak that has never been matched. From 1990 to 1993 Buffalo were the class of the AFC, only to come up short in the Super Bowl in four consecutive seasons.

Scott Norwood's infamous missed field goal with four seconds left - a play now simply known as "wide right" - denied them victory in Super Bowl XXV against the Giants, but the subsequent year's game with the Redskins and a pair of clashes with the Dallas Cowboys ended in blowouts.

Levy did win two Grey Cups with the Montreal Alouettes, but the Pro Football Hall of Famer was never able to add a Super Bowl ring to an otherwise magnificent resume.

His Kansas City Chiefs team beat the San Francisco 49ers 31-20 in Miami's Hard Rock Stadium to capture the franchise's second Super Bowl, and their first in 50 years.

No head coach had won as many games as Reid without winning a Super Bowl title, yet his 222nd victory across the regular season and playoffs finally delivered a ring.

Asked how he planned to celebrate, Reid said: "Well, I joked about it but I'm going to have a double cheeseburger tonight, with extra cheese!

"I'm going to enjoy it with my family and the team, that's what I'm going to do. That's exciting."

The 61-year-old almost certainly secured his place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame with the victory.

Yet Reid, who lost a Super Bowl when head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, said he was uninterested in what impact the win would have on his legacy.

"You know, I don't care about that, man, I really don't," he insisted.

"This is a pure team sport, I love that part of it, that's why I got in it - I didn't get in it for any other reason than to win games and to win them with great people.

"And so we bust our tail to do that as players and coaches, that's the part that I think needs respect.

"You take care of that and everything else happens and the other stuff? That's not really where my mind goes. It really is the last thing on my mind."

One thing that will be on Reid and his Chiefs players' minds soon will be whether to accept the customary White House invitation for the Super Bowl champions.

In previous years some players and even entire teams have swerved the visit due to their opinion of current White House tenant, US President Donald Trump.

Reid, though, intends to attend if invited.

"I haven't even thought about that. [but] I'll be there," he said.

"They're inviting us, I'll be there. It's quite an honour, I think."

He was a 20-year-old glazier in Western Australia, slowly getting back to normal after suffering from dengue fever in Bali.

The voice on the other end of the line had little sympathy, though.

"Mitch, are you done messing about in Bali?" John Smith asked.

"Stop wasting your life."

It was the first time Wishnowsky had spoken to Smith, the head coach of Prokick Australia, an organisation set up to help those Down Under have a career in American football.

"[He was] yelling at me, basically," Wishnowsky told Omnisport.

"Told me he'd change my life, [to] quit my job tomorrow, move to Melbourne. I was sold."

His parents, at least initially, were not, but on Sunday Wishnowsky will be punting for the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV.

It will be the realisation of a life-long dream... Sort of.

He had grown up playing soccer and Australian rules football, though shoulder injuries meant he had to give up the latter.

Wishnowsky had been urged to try American football - the flag variety - by some friends and it was when he was "messing around" punting that he caught the attention of someone who knew Smith and his colleague Nathan Chapman - both of whom spent time in the NFL.

"I always dreamed of being a pro athlete," Wishnowsky added.

"I was 20 and I had to give [Australian rules] away. I was devastated. I'm 20, I'm not going to be a pro athlete, time to move on.

"Randomly, this came out of the blue, this was my last chance."

From Melbourne, Wishnowsky went to a junior college in Santa Barbara and onto college in Utah, and in 2016 he won the Ray Guy Award, given to college football's best punter.

The NFL beckoned and the 49ers selected Wishnowsky in last year's draft, the rookie establishing himself as the team's starting punter in their run to the Super Bowl, where they face the Kansas City Chiefs in Miami.

He may be one of the few from his country in the NFL, but those who do hail from Australia tend to be punters.

Michael Dickson, Lachlan Edwards, Jordan Berry and Cameron Johnston all hold starting jobs in that position, and Wishnowsky puts the influx of Australian punters down to their grounding in Aussie rules.

"We just grow up from whatever age – five, four – punting a football," Wishnowsky added.

"If you ask us to throw it, we're useless because we didn't do it."

Jarryd Hayne and Valentine Holmes were not required to throw the ball, just run it, but neither was able to replicate the type of success they had as NRL players.

Rugby league star Hayne impressed enough to make the 49ers' roster in 2015 but lasted only half a season, while fellow Australia international Holmes returned to the NRL in November after a year on the New York Jets' practice squad.

"Even when Jarryd Hayne came over, I thought there are incredible athletes in Australia, [but] he's going to struggle, so just to do what he did was incredible," Wishnowsky said.

"Some of the athletes that are over here are incredible, so fast, so quick, cut up.

"They will eat pancakes and maple syrup every meal and they will just be cut. They are just different. I think it is a tough thing to get into."

Wishnowsky has had no such problems making the transition, though, and on Sunday he will achieve something beyond even his wildest dreams.

"I didn't even consider this," Wishnowsky admitted.

"My dream was to play in the NFL, it's almost a new dream to play in the Super Bowl."

The Chiefs overturned a 10-point deficit inside the final seven minutes as Kansas City claimed their first title in 50 years with a 31-20 victory in Miami on Sunday.

Mahomes led the way for the Chiefs, crowned Super Bowl MVP thanks to his two touchdowns against the 49ers at Hard Rock Stadium.

The youngest player to be named NFL MVP and win a Super Bowl in their career at 24 years and 138 days, Mahomes – the 2018 MVP – told Fox Sports afterwards: "We never lost faith. That's the biggest thing.

"No one had their head down. We believed in each other, that's what we preached all year long. We had this guy right here [referencing Reid] to get us here.

"We had to jump in. Defense had some big stops for us and we found a way to win in the end.

"Keep firing, keep believing in your eyes and throwing it. It gives me the confidence to do what I do."

It was also a monumental moment for Andy Reid, who finally celebrated his first Super Bowl triumph as a head coach.

Reid earned a championship ring, having first been appointed coach of the Philadelphia Eagles in 1999.

Asked if it was worth the wait, the 61-year-old said: "Absolutely, absolutely. Love this guy right here [Mahomes] and the other guys. This is what it's all about. What a great team and coaches. Appreciated every bit of it."

Reid continued: "I'm good. My heart is racing. I'm getting older. I can't let it race too much."

The 24-year-old was not seen as a sure-fire lock to prosper in the pros when he came out of Texas Tech in a draft class that included fellow quarterbacks Mitchell Trubisky and Deshaun Watson.

The Chicago Bears traded up to the second pick to land Trubisky, a decision Mahomes reminded them of when he celebrated by counting to 10 - the spot where Kansas City moved up to select him - during the Chiefs' Week 16 win at Soldier Field.

While Trubisky has struggled, Mahomes has thrived, something he attributes to the situation at Kansas City, where he sat behind Alex Smith for a year before becoming the full-time starter last season.

"I think I ended up in the perfect place," said reigning MVP Mahomes, who has led the Chiefs to Super Bowl LIV.

"To have coach [Andy] Reid and these coaches around me, to have Alex Smith in front of me for a year and be able to learn from him, and then obviously to have all the players I have around me.

"I'm in a place where the team was already a winning team, a team that had a lot of success and I came in, was able to be who I am, and ended up being able to win a lot of football games early in my career."

Mahomes' success in 2018 meant the Chiefs were considered one of the leading contenders to reach the Super Bowl, unlike the San Francisco 49ers, their opponents in Miami on Sunday.

However, an appearance at the showpiece for the first time in 50 years looked unlikely when Mahomes went down with a worrying-looking knee injury during a game against the Denver Broncos in October.

He was diagnosed with a dislocated kneecap and avoided ligament damage, only missing two games despite initial fears that it could be a serious problem.

"I for sure had those thoughts a little bit whenever I had the injury," Mahomes admitted.

"The biggest thing was I looked down and I knew my knee didn't look right and I thought the worst.

"But, at the same time, when I got back to the locker room and talked to the doctors, they were very positive.

"The next few weeks, with the training staff, they worked me hard to go out there and rehab and do everything the right way and it helped me to come back fast."

The 11th year veteran was a healthy scratch for Andy Reid's team, not making the 53-man gameday roster along with linebacker Darron Lee and cornerback Morris Claiborne.

McCoy, who has the 27th most scrimmage yards of all time in the NFL, joined the Chiefs this offseason but has played just one snap since Week 15.

Tevin Coleman and Dee Ford were, as expected, both active for the San Francisco 49ers despite some initial concerns over their injuries, while wide receiver Dante Pettis was a healthy scratch having not had a target since Week 10.

Running back Jeff Wilson was surprisingly active for the 49ers, though, suggesting Coleman's dislocated shoulder could restrict him at Hard Rock Stadium.

Speedster Hill, nicknamed 'Cheetah', ran a sub 10-second time for the 100 metres when he was in high school and he remains one of the fastest players in the NFL.

The Chiefs themselves are renowned for their speed on offense, with rookie Mecole Hardman having clocked 4.33 seconds for the 40-yard dash at the combine last year.

San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh described the Chiefs offense as like an "Olympic relay team" ahead of Sunday's Super Bowl and Hill, 25, revealed he has contemplated returning to compete on the track having starred as a 200m runner in college.

"Hopefully after the season, if I'm healthy and my mind is still in the right place, I really want to try and like try to qualify for some Olympic teams, even go to Penn Relays, give that a try," Hill said.

"Maybe get a few guys off the team and see if we can put a relay together, and show these track guys that football guys, we used to do this back in high school, man, we still got it, you know?

"I just want to have fun with it, like keep the guys together."

The necessity to bulk up for the rigours of the NFL means Hill would need to change his build, though.

"I have [given it serious thought]," Hill added of the Olympics.

"The thing is I'm weighing 195 (pounds) right now. Back in high school when I ran a 9.9, I was 175.

"If I do it, it'll be like me changing my whole diet, changing everything that I've been doing to get to this point where I am now."

The Niners threw away a 10-point lead midway through the fourth quarter, Patrick Mahomes throwing touchdown passes to Travis Kelce and Damien Williams to put the Chiefs ahead.

Garoppolo got the ball back with 2:39 to go on the San Francisco 15 with the Niners four points down, and a touchdown drive would surely have quelled the doubters who believe he is not a franchise quarterback.

However, Garoppolo could only get his team to midfield, missing Emmanuel Sanders on a long-third down throw and then being sacked on fourth down.

Williams ran in another score to put the result to bed and Garoppolo threw a second pick to Kendall Fuller in a game where he finished 20-of-31 passing for 219 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.

Asked about being unable to deliver a game-winning moment, Garoppolo replied: "Those are the moments you dream of and everything.

"We got rolling on a right note and just couldn't finish it off. 

"It is tough but it's been a hell of a year with these guys. Everything we have been through from the start, it's an incredible story."

Garoppolo was a two-time Super Bowl winner as Tom Brady's backup with the New England Patriots, but this time he was on the losing side as the starter in San Francisco.

"It's tough, I mean, I've never had this feeling before," he said.

"Kind of an unreal feeling."

San Francisco, and their swarming defense, had appeared in control of the contest before Mahomes delivered some fourth-quarter magic.

Tight end George Kittle, who finished with four catches for 36 yards, added: "It's pretty brutal.

"It just honestly sucks. It's not really anything you can wrap your head around. I feel like I wish I had another half to play, but I don't.

"We didn't take advantage of our opportunities. I wish we had another page in the book. We just didn't get it done."

Even those with a passing interest in the NFL are not too surprised. The Kansas City Chiefs have been slow starters in these playoffs. They spotted the Houston Texans a 24-point lead in the Divisional Round and then trailed the Tennessee Titans by 10 in the AFC Championship Game.

Ethan Cooperson, a senior research analyst for the broadcast support team at Stats Perform, knows the estimated 40 million listeners tuned into Westwood One's play-by-play caller Kevin Harlan and analyst Kurt Warner desire more than just an observation that it takes Mahomes and Co. a while to get going.

On this occasion, Cooperson and the team have trawled the Stats Perform database to recognise a pattern: Kansas City have now gone three-and-out on each of their three opening drives in the playoffs having done so only twice in the regular season, when they were the NFL's best at moving the chains on third down.

It is one example of the type of data nugget that Cooperson, sat next to Harlan and Warner in the upper reaches of Miami's Hard Rock Stadium, writes down on pieces of paper to pass across to the Westwood One commentary duo throughout the 54th edition of the Super Bowl.

"You have to think quickly, think on your feet," Cooperson tells Omnisport before the game.

"You react to those things and figure out what's important, what trend is happening, what record might be broken or what might have happened that hasn't happened in a long time."

This game is a classic example. The aforementioned Kansas City running back Williams - who had fewer than 500 rushing yards in the regular season - ends up being a key part of the Chiefs' 31-20 success over the San Francisco 49ers.

Stats Perform's historical database can quickly identify Williams as the first player in Super Bowl history to have over 100 yards on the ground, a rushing touchdown and a receiving touchdown.

"People want to know, 'Well, how many times has this ever happened?'," Cooperson, who also works alongside the CBS broadcast team of Jim Nantz and Tony Romo, explains.

"People want to go deeper into those historical numbers. It's not enough anymore to be able to say, 'How many times has it happened this year?' We want to know, 'How many times has this ever happened?'"

He adds: "We're trying to look beyond what much of the media already has, digging into the Stats Perform database, the historical database, trying to find interesting trends that the public doesn't know about."

One of Cooperson's favourite recent examples was when running back Derrick Henry became just the fifth player in NFL history to score a touchdown on his birthday, doing so in Tennessee's Wild Card Round win over the New England Patriots.

Cooperson had an inkling that might happen, but it was a case of quick-thinking two weeks later when he worked out Titans tackle Dennis Kelly (321 pounds) was the heaviest man to catch a postseason touchdown in NFL history, a stat which got him a namecheck from Nantz on the air.

"I think back to when I first started doing TV with CBS in 2000 and some of the things that we got on there at that time, that we thought were really interesting and deep... Well, frankly, someone now in fourth grade could get access to some of those numbers," he says.

"So what we thought was great back then is very easy and simple to come by now.

"There's more demand, [we have to] dig deeper, find more stuff that goes deeper into the historical trends."

In the end, a rather mundane game came to life in the final quarter. The Chiefs scored the joint-most points (21) in the fourth quarter of a Super Bowl while becoming the first team in NFL history to overturn 10-point deficits in each of their three playoff wins.

Just like Mahomes and the Chiefs offense, Cooperson has to make adjustments as the game wears on.

"You don't want to get so involved in things that you have prepared or looked up prior to the game," Cooperson admits. 

"You very much want to react to what's happening."

While McGregor plies his trade in blood-and-thunder five-round contests in the UFC Octagon, the 49ers operate in an NFL world where almost cinematic sporting dramas play out over around three hours in gargantuan stadia.

Yet there is one parallel that runs through McGregor's dominant recent victory over Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone and the Niners' surge to Super Bowl LIV in Miami on Sunday, and it relates to their shared use of a postural therapy method.

The Egoscue Method, created by founder Pete Egoscue, is a form of therapy used to eliminate chronic pain and increase functional mobility.

Jack Nicklaus said Egoscue "totally changed my life" following his well-documented back problems, and should the 49ers lift the Lombardi Trophy by beating the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, two former Egoscue staff members now employed by San Francisco will be among those celebrating.

Niners general manager John Lynch, who joined the team along with head coach Kyle Shanahan in 2017, knew Egoscue from high school, and their long-standing relationship led to the team hiring Elliott Williams and Tom Zheng as functional performance staff.

Brian Bradley, Egoscue's vice president of brand development and strategic partnerships, worked with the 49ers into Lynch's second year in charge but distanced himself from taking credit for San Francisco's success in 2019.

He told Omnisport: "I've worked with John since his college years, into his pro years and then afterward when he was an analyst, and then when he became GM, we knew we were going to do something together because he knows he has the best interests of every player at heart and he knows Egoscue has the foundational movement for that.

"They're in their third year and the reason why this kind of stuff is successful is because John has built a congruent organisation.

"They're not in the Super Bowl because of Egoscue, they're in the Super Bowl because they've drafted five number one draft picks for defensive line. They have an amazing quarterback, they have amazing running backs, they have a great tight end, they have a great team and the athletic trainers and the medical staff work very well with the strength staff, and then the functional performance coaches, who are right in between there, are doing an amazing job.

"They [Williams and Zheng] used to work for me and I hired them but I won't take any credit for anything other than that. They're just good guys."

However, the aforementioned tight end, All-Pro George Kittle, was effusive in his praise when asked about Williams and Zheng ahead of the Niners' seventh Super Bowl appearance in franchise history.

Kittle, who recently revealed he has played with a torn labrum since 2018, told reporters: "I've worked with them almost every single day since I got here. They've been one of the most important parts of my recovery every single week, just from a function movement standpoint.

"After a game when you get hit a bunch of times, your body's kind of out of whack and they always help me get it back to square one which allows me to play week in, week out.

"They're incredible, incredibly professional, they have a great time doing what they do and the amount of guys that they've helped in the three years I've been here has been uncountable."

Getting the body in the right alignment is a key tenet of the Egoscue Method, and Bradley's influence in assisting McGregor in that regard was a factor in his devastating 40-second win over Cowboy.

Bradley said: "I got hooked up with Conor because, after the Khabib [Nurmagomedov] fight, I lost my mind about it.

"The minute I saw the fight with Khabib, I'm looking at it on my television saying, 'This is an unfair fight', and nobody knows that it's unfair because the way that Conor was aligned with his head position, upper back and hips, he wasn't able to drive punches from his hip.

"He was driving from his shoulder and he was trying to breathe with his shoulders, just watch him in the first round and the second round, he's heaving his shoulders up and down to try to breathe.

"My good friend and colleague [motivational speaker] Tony Robbins got a hold of him, and I took pictures of the TV and sent these to Tony and said, 'You've got to get these to McGregor somehow because something in his camp has gone wrong'. About six months later, he says 'Look, I'm meeting with him'.

"The idea of being a hip-driven athlete fully resonated with him [McGregor] because he said, 'I felt like I wasn't getting enough power out of my punch and I couldn't breathe, and I see by the pictures that you took when I was fighting, I see the cause'.

"I gave him five things to do 12 days out from the fight [with Cowboy]. I gave him a more resilient, hip-driven movement so that no matter what he was doing, you weren't going to see a kid who was out of breath in this fight.

"When he was fighting Cowboy, he drove his shoulder into his face four times, he didn't just raise his shoulder up, he drove from the leg through the hip, through the shoulder and up into his face. He won the fight with four punches off his shoulder and one kick to the head."

It is unlikely the 49ers will land such a quick knockout blow against the Chiefs, but if the stars align for them at Hard Rock Stadium, it will be in part because their functional performance staff got their bodies in the right position.

Not since the 1969 season had the Chiefs won the Super Bowl but Kansas City ended that drought on Sunday, hoisting the Lombardi Trophy thanks to a 31-20 win over the San Francisco 49ers.

The Chiefs overturned a 10-point deficit inside the final seven minutes in Miami, where tight end Kelce and Kansas City denied the 49ers a record-equalling sixth championship.

Led by star quarterback and Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes, five-time Pro Bowler Kelce had no doubt in his mind that the Chiefs would reign supreme at Hard Rock Stadium.

"It was a mindset," Kelce told ESPN. "I could look at every guy in the huddle and I knew we all had one goal in mind. I knew we wouldn't be stopped, that is the greatest feeling in the world, knowing you can't be stopped.

"Hopefully we have all these guys coming back next year, because it's exciting."

"They came out and played exactly how we thought they would. A little bit more shell coverage, takes us longer to develop routes," Kelce added.

"But it was Pat Mahomes being Pat Mahomes, staying composed in the pocket, trying to throw a few in there. We have all the faith in the world in him."

The Chiefs clinched their first Super Bowl title in 50 years with a 31-20 comeback victory over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.

When Ibrahimovic left the LA Galaxy late last year before agreeing a return to Milan, part of his message on Twitter read: "Now go back to watch baseball."

Inspired by that, the Serie A club congratulated the Chiefs on Twitter and a graphic read: "Now let's go back to watching AC Milan."

Ibrahimovic has scored two goals in five games since returning to Milan, who are eighth in Serie A.

The Kansas City Chiefs will face the San Francisco 49ers at Hard Rock Stadium exactly a week on from the shock death of Bryant and his daughter, Gianna, who were killed in a helicopter crash in California.

Bryant, a five-time NBA champion and 18-time All-Star with the Los Angeles Lakers, was a role model for many of the NFL players that will take to the field on Sunday.

Shakira, who will perform during the interval at the Super Bowl as a co-headliner with Lopez, revealed her long-time boyfriend, Barcelona defender Gerard Pique, was also deeply affected by the news and said she will be thinking of Bryant when she performs on Sunday.

"Gerard, my partner, called me with the sad news, he was affected because he knew Kobe and I knew him too, he went to one of my shows," Shakira said.

"I can't imagine the pain that his family must be going through right now. Life is so fragile and that's why we have to live every moment as intensely as we can.

"I think we will all be remembering Kobe on Sunday and we will be celebrating life and diversity in this country. I'm sure he would be very proud to see the message that we are going to be trying to convey on stage that day.

"I think it's a very important moment for the Latino community in this country. The Super Bowl is a very American event, it's as American as it can get, and I think it's going to be very nice that it's also going to be a reminder of the heritage of this country, which is one of diversity; that's what we will be celebrating on Sunday."

Lopez posted an emotional tribute to Bryant and his family on Instagram and she was choked up discussing the impact it had had on her and her fiancee, MLB great Alex Rodriguez.

"I was in the middle of rehearsing and talking about this show and Alex came to me with tears in his eyes and he said, 'You're not going to believe what happened'," Lopez explained.

"He was devastated. He knew Kobe very well, they came up together and entered sports around the same time. He was just devastated. I knew Kobe and Vanessa more in passing. He had come to my last show in Vegas, the both of them, as a date night. We had a beautiful night that night.

"I think it's affecting everybody so much because it's just reminding us again how fragile life is, how we have to appreciate every single moment, how we have to love people when they're here and not wait. How we don't get the opportunity – it can be taken away from us so easily. 

"Then I think about Vanessa as a mum and losing her best friend and partner, and losing her child. I think how awful that must for her be right now. I just wanted to send her a message and just been praying that God guides her through every moment because she has three more babies to take care of.

"Just wishing that the nightmare was over but it's not going to be and that's life, we have to carry on but at the same time it affects us and will affect us forever. Hopefully we will remember this moment and what we're trying to do is spread love, kindness and bring everybody together.

"In this week, this happening has a sound around the world that we have to love each other, and we have to be together and support each other. We can't be so at odds all the time and that's part of our mission and message too."

Brady and Garoppolo were colleagues in Foxborough but the former's evergreen play meant the latter was traded to San Francisco in 2017 before he became a coveted free agent.

Long viewed as the Patriots' heir apparent, Garoppolo is instead blazing his own trail for Brady's boyhood team and this Sunday he will bid to win the Niners' sixth Super Bowl ring when they face the Kansas City Chiefs in Miami.

Six-time Super Bowl champion Brady, normally preoccupied with work during this week, has been in touch with Garoppolo to offer some simple advice on the NFL's showpiece event.

"He shot me a text, just, 'Good luck', and everything like that," Garoppolo said.

"Just go handle business. Wasn't too complicated or anything, just 'Go win'."

Garoppolo was a two-time Super Bowl winner himself as Brady's deputy, a role he occupied for three years.

He believes his time spent working with arguably the greatest quarterback of all time has served him well now the spotlight is firmly on him.

"He was awesome," Garoppolo added.

"Everything he did, I never tried to be much of a pest and ask too many questions, but just watching him from afar how he went about his business, how he handled off-the-field things, on the field, whatever it was, he always did it the right way.

"So he gave me a good example when I was young."

Garoppolo witnessed Brady engineer fourth-quarter comebacks against the Seattle Seahawks and Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowls, and marvelled at how cool he could stay on the biggest stage.

"I think just how calm he was," Garoppolo added of what he learned from Brady.

"Everyone says you've got to treat it like another game, [but] just the way he actually did it.

"I was up close and personal, picking up everything I could, seeing how he went about his business."

The Niners quarterback is not the only one to have been receiving advice from someone close to him ahead of the Super Bowl.

Rookie defensive end Nick Bosa's brother, Joey, plays for the Los Angeles Chargers, who faced Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes twice a season.

The younger Bosa therefore made sure he got some tips from big brother about how to slow down one of the game's most unique signal callers.

"He definitely told me you can't rush as a single rusher," Nick Bosa revealed.

"You have to rush as a unit, stay in your lanes and not let him get out of the pocket."

The Chiefs' 31-20 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in Miami was Reid's 222th across the regular season and playoffs, and it ended his long wait for a Lombardi Trophy as a head coach.

Mahomes, named the game's MVP, was instrumental, rushing for a first-quarter touchdown and then throwing two late scores as the Chiefs overturned a 10-point deficit midway through the fourth quarter.

"I had two goals when I became the starting quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs," Mahomes explained in his MVP news conference.

"The first goal was to win the Lamar Hunt Trophy [AFC Championship]. I wanted to bring it home, the one that has our founder's name on it. I wanted to bring it to this family and this organisation.

"And the second most important thing was to get coach Reid a Super Bowl trophy. He's one of the greatest coaches of all time.

"I don't think he needed the Lombardi Trophy to prove that. But just to do that, it puts all doubt aside, and he's going to be listed as one of the all-time great coaches in history whenever he wants to be done, which I hope is not any time soon."

Mahomes, who finished with 286 passing yards, two touchdowns and a pair of picks, became the youngest player to ever win the NFL MVP award – which he did last season – and claim a Super Bowl ring.

Given their quarterback is only 24, the Chiefs could dominate the NFL for the foreseeable future in the same way the New England Patriots and Tom Brady have in winning six titles over the past two decades.

"It's pretty amazing, the dynasty or whatever you want to call it the Patriots have had these last 15 or 20 years," Mahomes admitted.

"So for me it's about taking it one year at a time. We came up short last year. We understood how hard of a challenge it was to get to this position again and we found a way to do it.

"We understand next year that when we come back it's going to be the same amount of tenacity and dedication every single day if we want to be here.

"I think we just take it one year at a time, one day at a time and try to put together great years, and then at the end of it all we will have no regrets on where we are at."

Mahomes helped the Chiefs produce a fourth-quarter comeback at Hard Rock Stadium, winning their first Super Bowl title in 50 years with a 31-20 victory.

The quarterback, the 2018 NFL MVP, threw his two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter, while he rushed for a score in the first.

Mahomes finished 26 of 42 for 286 yards, two TDs and two interceptions as the Chiefs won their second Super Bowl title.

The 24-year-old became the youngest player in NFL history to win an MVP and Super Bowl.

The San Francisco 49ers' swarming defense and punishing ground attack versus the Kansas City Chiefs' lightning-fast offense, led by perhaps the NFL's best quarterback in Patrick Mahomes.

We asked current and past NFL greats for where they thought the game might be won and lost at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on Sunday.

Hall of Fame defensive tackle John Randle: "San Francisco's front, that defensive line, is going to be putting a lot of pressure on Mahomes. If they can continue to do that, keep Patrick Mahomes from running down the field, I think they can come out with the victory."

Five-time Pro Bowl center Travis Frederick: "I think you're going to see offense, offense, offense. The 49ers defense has been so good and you have such talent on the Chiefs defense, but those offenses are both really good. I think whoever has the ball last is going to win the game."

Hall of Fame offensive lineman Bruce Matthews: "I'm a big Patrick Mahomes fan, I like the kid a lot, the way he carries himself, what he does in interviews, obviously what he does on the playing field and the way the Chiefs have responded in their two playoff games. I like the Chiefs but it's a great matchup. Kyle Shanahan, I know, will have the Niners ready to play and they're a pretty solid team on defense."

Las Vegas Raiders running back Josh Jacobs: "The 49ers are a complete team, I feel like. That defensive front is crazy, that front four, front seven. But they're going against Patty. It's never a certainty of a win when you're going against him. It's going to be a good one. I'm thinking all the time that system [the 49ers rushing attack] would be a great system to be in. I'm proud of them guys, they're making the running backs look good. They're bringing the value and love for running backs back."

Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott: "If you look at the entire defensive line of the 49ers, that's real. Those guys make it hard to throw. They're going to make it hard for the Chiefs passing game, I imagine. I'm sure [Chiefs head coach] Andy Reid will have a great plan. Andy and I worked together in Philadelphia for 12 years and so expect his team to be well prepared for it. [San Francisco] will bring a lot of heat from that front four."

Pro Bowl outside linebacker Shaquil Barrett: "In order for the Niners to win, it's going to come down to their receivers other than Emmanuel Sanders and George Kittle, they’re going to have to step up and do everything. For the Chiefs to win, they need that defensive line to keep the pressure on Jimmy G [Garoppolo] and everybody to play their run gaps. If you can't stop the run, they're going to eat you alive."

Baltimore Ravens cornerback Brandon Carr: "It comes down to quarterback play. Both defenses are solid, both offenses are explosive. It comes down to the quarterback who can make the most plays and keep the momentum going for their teams."

Hall of Fame offensive tackle Anthony Munoz: "You've got to look at the Kansas City tackles. Those are the guys that, when I was playing and when we were going into a big game, the head coach would say, 'The hat would go on you'. We have two hats and those are going to be on the two tackles, [Eric] Fisher and [Mitchell] Schwartz, those are the guys that if we can see them do a pretty good job, you're going to see some points by the Kansas City offense."

Former San Francisco 49ers head coach Steve Mariucci: "I have loyalty with the team I used to coach for several years, the 49ers. I've got a lot of respect for that organisation. They've got five Super Bowls, looking for number six. But I also have loyalty with a friend, Andy Reid, we cut our teeth together 28 years ago with the Green Bay Packers. Friendships never die, right? So I have part of me that's really rooting for his success."

Five-time All-Pro linebacker Bobby Wagner: "I hope Sherm [49ers cornerback Richard Sherman] has five interceptions."

The 2010s has seen three World Series trophies and three NBA titles come to the Bay, with the 49ers and San Jose Sharks also enjoying postseason positives alongside the dominance enjoyed by the San Francisco Giants and Golden State Warriors.

Sunday's showpiece in Miami, which brings to an end a magnificent 2019 season for the 49ers, will mark the 11th championship decider to feature a Bay Area team since 2010.

The 2019 Niners will hope they can add the finishing touches to a remarkable 10 years, and here we look at the teams that have gone before them in reaching the biggest stage in their respective sports in a decade that has brought plenty to celebrate.

2010: San Francisco Giants – Won World Series

The Giants moved from New York to San Francisco in 1958, but the city's fans had to wait 52 years to see the franchise win a World Series title as a west coast team. That drought was finally ended in manager Bruce Bochy's fourth season in charge.

The Giants beat the Texas Rangers in five games, with Edgar Renteria hitting a three-run home-run in a decisive 3-1 victory secured when Brian Wilson's strikeout clinched the first of three titles in five seasons for Bochy's men.

2012: San Francisco Giants – Won World Series

On the back of consecutive home defeats in the National League Division Series against the Cincinnati Reds, the Giants' hopes of regaining the World Series looked slim. However, after winning game three in extra innings, San Francisco claimed that series in five games thanks to NL MVP Buster Posey's grand slam in the decider.

They pulled off another comeback in the Championship Series, recovering from 3-1 down to defeat the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games, but the World Series proved a routine affair as the Giants swept the Detroit Tigers to take the trophy back to San Francisco.

2012: San Francisco 49ers – Lost Super Bowl XLVII

Having suffered an agonising overtime loss to the New York Giants the season before, the 49ers went one better and, thanks to Colin Kaepernick's emergence and the play of a dominant defense, made it to the Super Bowl in New Orleans.

There would be more heartbreak for the Niners, though, as – in a game remembered by most for the power outage that caused a 34-minute interruption in play – Jim Harbaugh's team were unable to complete a comeback from 28-6 down. John Harbaugh won the battle of the brothers, his Baltimore Ravens clinging on for a 34-31 win.

2014: San Francisco Giants – Won World Series

Few would have expected the Giants to improve on their heroics of 2012 when they made the postseason as a Wild Card team but, after crushing the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Wild Card game, they embarked on another improbable run.

The Giants saw off the Washington Nationals and then won the NLCS against the Cardinals on home soil in Game 5 thanks to Travis Ishikawa's walk-off homer. An epic World Series with the Kansas City Royals went seven games, with Madison Bumgarner's Herculean pitching effort the decisive factor.

2014-15: Golden State Warriors – Won NBA Finals

Golden State spent much of the first season of their dynasty listening to questions about whether a "jump-shooting team" could win the NBA title. Those questions were emphatically answered time and again over the coming years by one of the most dominant teams in NBA history.

In Steve Kerr's first season after taking over from Mark Jackson, Stephen Curry claimed the MVP award as the Warriors went 67-15. They eventually progressed to the NBA Finals against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, with the Warriors ending a 40-year wait for a title in six games thanks in large part to the tireless efforts of Andre Iguodala, who was named Finals MVP for his defense on LeBron.

2015-16: San Jose Sharks – Lost Stanley Cup Finals

Having formed in 1991, the Sharks' quarter-century wait to experience a Stanley Cup Finals series was finally ended when they overcame the St. Louis Blues in six games to win the Western Conference.

The Cup did not make its way to the Bay for the first time, however, as the Pittsburgh Penguins prevailed 4-2 in an absorbing finals series that featured two overtime games. San Jose have yet to return to the same stage and the Sharks' wait to reach the top of the mountain in the NHL goes on.

2015-16: Golden State Warriors – Lost NBA Finals

The Warriors appeared destined to secure back-to-back titles throughout the 2015-16 campaign, which they started with an astounding 28-game winning streak, the second-longest in NBA history.

Behind a unanimous MVP season from Curry, the Warriors broke the record for regular-season wins by going 73-9 but, in the postseason, they made history for the wrong reasons. Golden State overturned a 3-1 deficit to the Oklahoma City Thunder to reach the NBA Finals, but they ended up on the other end of a comeback as LeBron delivered on his promise to bring a title to Cleveland with the Cavaliers. The Warriors became the first team in history to lose a Finals having led 3-1.

2016-17: Golden State Warriors – Won NBA Finals

Golden State's response to their heartbreaking defeat to the Cavs was to add one of the best ever to take to the court to the roster. Kevin Durant had been on the Thunder team undone by the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals, but he controversially made the move to join his conquerors, and it was one that paid huge dividends.

The Warriors did not put the same effort into the regular season as they had done when in pursuit of the record in 2015-16 but, with Durant in the line-up, they were unstoppable in the playoffs. Golden State lost just one game in the postseason, swatting aside the competition and defeating the Cavaliers 4-1 in the Finals. Durant averaged 35.2 points per game and added the only two things missing from his glittering resume: an NBA title and the Finals MVP award.

2017-18: Golden State Warriors – Won NBA Finals

Though the second act with Durant on the team may not have been quite as impressive as the first – the Warriors had to fight back from 3-2 down to beat the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference Finals – LeBron and the Cavs still proved powerless to stop them marching to back-to-back NBA crowns in a Finals sweep.

Such was the Warriors' dominance that the biggest question of the Finals was whether it would be Curry or Durant who would win Finals MVP. Durant won that debate, further vindicating the decision that caused so much consternation two years earlier.

2018-19: Golden State Warriors – Lost NBA Finals

The Warriors' addition of DeMarcus Cousins in the offseason following their third title in four seasons gave them the possibility of starting five All-Stars. Rarely did a line-up of Curry, Durant, Cousins, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green see the floor at the same time, however, and injuries eventually became too much for Golden State to overcome.

Durant missed a large portion of the postseason with a strained calf and attempted to return in Game 5 of the Finals with the Toronto Raptors. His decision proved ill-fated, though, as Durant ruptured his Achilles in what proved his final game for the Warriors. Golden State pushed the series to Game 6, but Thompson's torn ACL effectively ended their hopes as the Raptors won the title for the first time.

2019: San Francisco 49ers – ???

It has been an incredible turnaround for the 49ers who, after going 6-10 and 4-12 in their first two seasons under Kyle Shanahan, are a win away from a sixth Super Bowl title.

Legendary Niners coach Bill Walsh went 2-14 and 6-10 in his first two seasons before, like Shanahan, going 13-3 in his third in 1981.

The Niners went on to win the Super Bowl and start a dynasty under Walsh and, throughout an emotional rollercoaster of a season in which they have won several nail-biting games, Shanahan's men have felt like a team destined for glory.

Their challenge now is to turn destiny into reality.

Defensive end Bosa was considered the best prospect in the 2019 NFL Draft and, after the Arizona Cardinals selected quarterback Kyler Murray first up, the San Francisco 49ers took him off the board with the second pick.

The son of former first-round pick John Bosa and brother of two-time Pro Bowler Joey Bosa, the youngest Bosa has already lived up to the family name with nine sacks and an interception across his debut campaign earning him a Pro Bowl nod too.

Bosa will almost certainly be named the NFL's Defensive Rookie of the Year on Saturday, 24 hours before he plays in Super Bowl LIV against the Kansas City Chiefs in Miami, and fellow defensive lineman Buckner feels his team-mate will only get better.

"I don't think there is a ceiling yet," he said. "I can't wait to see next year what he can do.

"He's been one hell of a talent and one hell of a hard worker.

"It's just been unbelievable to see that as a rookie, his technique, most of all, throughout the season has just got better.

"His win rate pass rushing-wise on a consistent basis has been unreal. I've never seen a rookie so polished coming out."

Prior to this season, Bosa, who, like his brother, went to Ohio State, had not played since September due to a groin injury sustained while playing for the Buckeyes.

That prevented him from impressing Buckner straight away, though the reason why the Niners drafted him so early on soon became clear.

"He was a little rusty obviously in OTAs, training camp, especially because he hasn't played football in a while," Buckner explained.

"But as we were getting closer and closer to the season starting you could see him really getting back into it.

"It was kind of like riding a bike again. Just to see him throughout the season skyrocket in his play has been unbelievable to see."