A week from now Super Bowl 52 activities will be in full swing in Minneapolis with numerous things to do. Ever since it was announced that the Super Bowl would be in Minnesota I began making plans to be a part of it and one of those things includes volunteering with Crew 52. This is basically a hospitality group, with 1,000’s of people on any given day, during Super Bowl week welcoming fans to the Twin Cities.

There are those that look at this with distaste saying the NFL makes enough money that people are idiots for volunteering and making more money for this very profitable organization. In reality the NFL has very little to do with Crew 52 and the  places and events we’ll be at. These are Minneapolis and Minnesota sponsored events to welcome and entertain fans traveling here for this epic game. I’m more than happy to support my local area and help those not from this area in order to provide the best experience for them possible. Many people have helped me and my family when traveling to make our visit to their area more enjoyable and memorable and I want to return that hospitality for this Super Bowl.

For me this all started with the last Super Bowl in Minneapolis 25 years ago. I had the opportunity to be part of the Pre-Game crew where my job was to inflate and hold the tunnel for players to run through during introduction. The energy and excitement for a Super Bowl was something I’ve never seen before and it was such a fun experience that I absolutely wanted to be a part of it again this year. To fulfill this I began searching for information and websites shortly after the announcement of Minneapolis hosting this game.

I found the Crew52 website before they even had anything put on it so I saved the address and continued to monitor it every now and then until it was live and I could apply for Crew 52. To be a part of this I needed to fill out the online application, go through an in person interview, approve a background check, attend an orientation, and participate in training. This training covered where we’ll be stationed, working with homeless in Minneapolis, child exploitation, and terrorism and what to do in these situations. Ohh ya, we also received shirts, jackets, hats, mittens, and a scarf so we’ll be easily recognizable to visitors to ask questions or have us take their pictures and the number of sights for Super Bowl 52. In addition to this I’m a part of the set up and take down for the half time show which I’ll write about another time.