Super Bowl Opening Night 2019: Best Moments and Twitter Reaction from Media Day

Before the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams faced each other with the Lombardi Trophy on the line, they had to face the media during Monday's Super Bowl Opening Night.

The official kickoff to the Super Bowl LIII festivities in Atlanta took place in State Farm Arena and saw the two teams gather for the annual event that always produces memorable moments and noteworthy answers to questions.

This is old hat for the Patriots at this point, seeing how Sunday will mark their third straight Super Bowl appearance and ninth since they drafted Tom Brady in 2000. However, the Los Angeles Rams stand in stark contrast and will be making their first Super Bowl appearance since the 2001 season—when they were still based in St. Louis.

The new faces took the podium first, as 33-year-old Sean McVay, 24-year-old Jared Goff, 24-year-old Todd Gurley and the rest of the Rams had their media session before the Patriots.

Rams Take the Stage First

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is known as the one who wears hoodies in the NFL, but his Sunday opponents showed up in a familiar style:

The most notable part of the entrance was Gurley's lack of a limp, considering Fox's broadcast of the NFC Championship Game captured him riding the stationary bike. He had just four carries in the win over the New Orleans Saints and was overshadowed by C.J. Anderson in the running game.

Los Angeles will likely need Gurley—who was an MVP candidate for stretches this season—to play at a much more effective level if it is going to beat the Patriots, and he told Deion Sanders his health was "good" (h/t Joe Curley of the Ventura County Star).

Gurley's lackluster showing in the NFC Championship Game was overshadowed by the non-pass interference call on Nickell Robey-Coleman down the stretch, and he pointed to the responses he received from Saints fans, per Curley: "These last eight days from the New Orleans community have been crazy... I've gotten a lot of social media traffic. But I ignored it. LA showed me so much love that I haven't really been too focused on it."

Most of the Rams were looking ahead, though, and McVay didn't hide the fact that he is sometimes in awe of the opposing quarterback:

He also had nothing but praise for his veteran counterpart:

McVay wasn't the only one to praise Brady, as Anderson called him the "GOAT," per Jori Epstein of USA Today. It's hard to argue with him, considering no franchise will have more Super Bowl rings than No. 12's six if the Patriots win Sunday's game.

Brady surely knows what is important at this stage of the year, and the younger Goff was open to suggestions:

Brandin Cooks has caught passes from both quarterbacks the last two years, and he knew his current signal-caller is the one who would listen to Taylor Swift:

While Goff is listening to Swift, Rams defensive coordinator Wade Phillips is apparently taking in some Future. He told cornerback Aqib Talib he has "been poppin' since my demo," and that was perfectly clear based on how he arrived in Atlanta:

His interviewer was looking good as well:

Attention naturally turned to the game as well, and Aaron Donald said the Rams will put enough pressure on Brady, per Curley: "You got myself. You got Dante. You got Brockers. You got Samson. You got Suh. That's a lot of guys you gotta worry about so we're going to do our job getting after him."

The Rams defense will have to do just that if it is going to prevent Brady and the Patriots from adding another Lombardi Trophy to their list of accomplishments.

Patriots Join Rams and Then Take the Spotlight

The theme of respect was clear during the Rams' portion of the evening, especially when the players and coaches discussed Brady and Belichick as legends of the game. It only felt right, then, that some of the Patriots, including the quarterback and coach, joined the NFC champions on the stage before their session.

It was nothing but respect between the two coaches, but Brady wasn't ready to just give his counterpart free advice with the championship on the line:

Brady also dished out compliments to former teammate Talib and suggested the defensive back could have been a formidable wide receiver if he wanted:

The quarterback was joined by his own wide receivers and the rest of his teammates following the joint session, but the Patriots were introduced as a team rather than individuals. It was a notable decision since they were introduced as a team prior to Super Bowl XXXVI, which was a victory over the Rams that jump-started their modern-day dynasty.

It was also the first of what could be a record six Super Bowl rings for Brady, and the all-time great was already focused on the task at hand even if he did receive quite the gift and got to talk about the "haters" with a young reporter:

Brady wasn't the only Patriot to field questions, and tight end Rob Gronkowski made headlines by admitting he wasn't sure if Sunday's Super Bowl will be the last game of his career during an interview with NFL Network's Michael Irvin.

Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk noted the 29-year-old has dealt with a number of injuries throughout his career and contemplated retirement following last year's Super Bowl loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, so it isn't particularly surprising the five-time Pro Bowler isn't yet sure what he is going to do at the conclusion of this season.

If Gronkowski does retire, he will have plenty of time to work on his dance moves:

The tight end turned heads with his dancing, while wide receiver Julian Edelman captured attention with his beard-growing skills:

While Brady's pass-catchers were in joking moods at media day, the pressure will be on them to keep up with the Rams come Sunday. Belichick said, "It's easy to see why they've scored as much as they have," when discussing Los Angeles in an interview with NFL Network, and pointed to the NFC champions' ability to move the ball through the air and on the ground behind a stout offensive line.

As long as New England's defense keeps that offense in relative check like it did to Patrick Mahomes in the AFC Championship Game, Brady will have the opportunity to add to his Hall of Fame legacy with another ring.