Right around the time he got a tap on the shoulder Thursday night, Dean Rickard knew it would be a special week.
It was the first of five days in Las Vegas at the NFL’s behest for Lahainaluna’s party of eight honorary Super Bowl game captains who would perform the pregame coin toss. There was Rickard, his fellow co-coach Garret Tihada, veteran coach Bobby Watson, four Lunas co-captains and the school’s athletic director Jon Conrad.
Rickard had settled into his chair at Thursday’s NFL Honors banquet when a Marcus Mariota-narrated video was shown to the audience, laying out the destruction of their hometown from the Aug. 8 wildfires and the team’s perseverance to play out the subsequent 2023 season.
As it concluded, the party of eight got a standing ovation. They were easy to spot, as they were garbed in aloha shirts with lei while all others sported suits and ties. Rickard soon was tapped on his shoulder by Mel Blount, the legendary Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback, who was sitting right behind him and wanted to shake his hand.
“He was thanking us for what we did to make sure the kids were able to complete the season,” Rickard recalled to Spectrum News in a phone interview Tuesday. “So it was just an honor for me to shake hands with him.”
Next to Blount, there was Joe Theismann. And over there, Seattle Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner. New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley introduced himself to Lunas players Kaulana Tihada, Teva Loft, Morgan “Bula” Montgomery and Kuola Watson. So did Puka Nacua, the breakout Los Angeles Rams star receiver with strong Hawaii ties, along with Nacua’s mother.
“They would actually come up and tell the kids that they're an inspiration and provide them words of encouragement and actually listen to their personal story,” Rickard marveled Tuesday, soon after returning home to Maui. The captains, he said, were excellent ambassadors for their community and, when people asked how they could help, directed them to fundraisers like the Luna Strong campaign run by the Downtown Athletic Club of Hawaii.
Lahainaluna was contacted by the NFL about two and a half weeks ago, Rickard said, and school officials quickly accepted the invitation. The team captains were summoned to the principal’s office and invited on a Zoom call with Mariota himself a short time later.
On Sunday, the Mariota Lahaina video played pregame at Allegiant Stadium and the group walked out to midfield in their uniforms, greeted by a loud ovation to begin what would be the most-viewed telecast in U.S. television history.
“They got to have the hugest audience and what better way to showcase or highlight what’s going on in Lahaina than at the Super Bowl with its worldwide broadcast,” Rickard said. “So yeah, it was almost surreal. And there aren’t enough words to express our deepest gratitude to everybody involved with making this happen.”
Among the honorary game captains, Watson, who has been with the Lunas program for 45 years, was a no-brainer to do the honors for the pregame coin toss.
“It was a quality flip,” Rickard said. “And we were kind of joking around with him to say, Hey, Coach, you know, don't get all nervous. He goes, ‘NAH, I’m gonna do a backhand flip.’
“He's just kind of joking around, which is very unlike Coach Watson,” Rickard said. “If anyone knows Coach Watson, you know, he's a very stern-looking guy, but he's got his (other) side, he really cares about players. He's got a tough love, so to see him smiling the entire five days we were up there was absolutely incredible for the kids, because they got to see a side of him that they never really get to see.”
Once the game started, they settled into their end zone seats seven rows up for a classic contest between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers. When Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes led the game-winning drive in overtime, capped with the 3-yard winning pass to Mecole Hardman, the group had a clear view.
“We saw it firsthand,” Rickard said. “We saw that thing opening up; we saw the receiver getting cleared. And we knew that game was over as soon as Mahomes released his pass.”
The celebrity treatment extended through the Super Bowl and even to Harry Reid International Airport as the group prepared to head home Monday. The players and coaches paused for photo after photo.
“It was something once in a lifetime, and just an incredible experience for all of us,” Rickard said.
Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.