Super Bowl Opening Night 2026 Best Moments and Twitter Reaction from Media Day

Let the festivities begin.

It never truly feels like Super Bowl week until Super Bowl Opening Night, and the latest edition of the annual event arrived Monday. The New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks faced the media and embraced the spotlight at the San Jose Convention Center ahead of Sunday's clash for the Lombardi Trophy.

It was the first chance for the players and coaches of both teams to address the media after arriving in the Bay Area, and here is a look at some of the more notable quotes and moments after the Patriots took the stage first ahead of the Seahawks.

New England Patriots

To the surprise of absolutely nobody, Patriots quarterback Drake Maye was a popular figure ahead of his first Super Bowl:

It wouldn't be Super Bowl Opening Night without plenty of light-hearted moments, including when Maye gave some love to his wife's baking and his brothers' impact on his journey to football's biggest stage in what will be a full-circle moment for him:

Eventually, Maye will have to get down to the business of taking the field and competing for a Lombardi Trophy, and his health has been something of a storyline after he was limited in practice with a right shoulder injury and then an illness.

But he told reporters he will be good to go for Sunday.

He also received some advice from one of the greatest champions in sports history, which is surely music to the ears of Patriots fans, and offered his respect for his Super Bowl counterpart and Aaron Rodgers:

Other notable moments for the Patriots included Mack Hollins arriving with his signature look and Stefon Diggs facing quite the poster:

Diggs also got to open up about his cereal of choice:

Even with Maye and Diggs leading the way on offense, the Patriots are seen as the underdogs entering the game.

But that's not a problem for head coach Mike Vrabel, who also cleared up the pressing question of whether the Super Bowl is a must-win contest:

With the must-win game ahead, the two teams then shared the stage before the Seahawks took their turn in front of the media:

Seattle Seahawks

While Maye generated much of the attention during the Patriots' session, fellow quarterback Sam Darnold drew plenty of attention of his own when it was the Seahawks' turn.

After all, he led Seattle to the Super Bowl in his first season with the team and was able to do so while feeling at home:

He also had plenty of praise for his counterpart, opened up about his familiy and is surely looking to create some of his own Super Bowl memories like the Devin Hester kick return he enjoyed when he was younger:

There were memories to be made Monday before the game, and he certainly did with some light-hearted moments that included a head-turning hat, a shoutout for a bird-calling app and a little superstition talk:

Ideally for the Seahawks, that superstition will lead to plenty of touchdown passes from Darnold on Sunday.

If it does, Jaxon Smith-Njigba is sure to catch at least one of them after leading the NFL with 1,793 receiving yards. While his breakout season made him even more of a household name as one of the league's top receivers, he envisioned the entire journey coming into place:

And perhaps the next thing he can envision making a reality is a trip to the Olympics with some of his former college teammates:

Smith-Njigba talking about dunking on C.J. Stroud wasn't the only humorous moment for Seattle, as Ernest Jones had quite the interaction as well before getting serious about the team's dominant defense:

Even the mascot got a chance behind the microphone:

There were serious football discussions as well, including when head coach Mike Macdonald talked about the decision to bring in Darnold:

The fit with Darnold certainly worked out well for the Seahawks, and now he has the chance to become a franchise legend if he leads the team to a Lombardi Trophy in his first season with the team.