MIAMI – Beginning on Tuesday, Sept. 5, the NFL will roll into South Florida with three days of events and festivities to help kick off the 2006 season and the journey to Super Bowl XLI.
The events in South Florida lead into the first game of the NFL season when the Super Bowl XL champion Pittsburgh Steelers host the Miami Dolphins at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, PA on Thursday, Sept. 7 at 8:30pm ET on NBC.
At 3:15pm ET on Sept. 5, the countdown to kickoff begins with the “NFL Kickoff Parade: GMC Hits South Beach.” Thirty-four of GMC’s new line of Sierra trucks, branded with the NFL shield and NFL team logos, will parade along Ocean Drive in South Beach, from 5th St. to 10th St, before staging at the NFL Tailgate Zone at Lummus Park.
Former NFL greats including MARCUS ALLEN, JAMAL ANDERSON, MARK DUPER, DESMOND HOWARD and ANTHONY MUÑOZ will ride in the trucks along with Miami Dolphins cheerleaders and stars from Telemundo Novela. A brief press event with the players and GMC representatives will follow.
From 4:30 to 6:00 pm ET on Sept. 5, the NFL will be hosting the “One World Celebrating Diversity” Town Hall Meeting at the NFL Youth Education Town (YET) in Ft. Lauderdale.
Allen, Anderson, Howard and Muñoz will lead the group of more than 300 Broward and Miami-Dade County children in a conversation on issues and solutions relating to the subject of diversity. The players will share personal stories about how their careers afforded them opportunities to learn about and play with people of different races, religions and cultures, and will help the children unveil a unity mural they created prior to the event.
On Sept. 6, former Miami Dolphins great NAT MOORE will lead children from Metro Miami Action Plan and local NFL YET Centers in football drills, fitness activities and NFL flag football games. The following day, former NFL players WAYNE CHREBET and Desmond Howard will each lead teams of kids and their parents in an NFL Pepsi Punt, Pass and Kick competition.
Then, on Thursday, Sept. 7, gates will open at 3:30 for the free concert on South Beach as part of “NFL Opening Kickoff 2006 Presented By Sprint.” Three-time Grammy winner Diddy will join Cassie, Yung Joc, Danity Kane, Ozomatli and Tego Calderon to perform for fans on a specially designed stage adjacent to Ocean Drive at 7th St.
The concert will begin at 5:00pm ET and run until 8:15pm ET, with portions of the event airing on “NFL Opening Kickoff 2006” from 8:00-8:30 PM ET on NBC and leading into the season opener between the Dolphins and Steelers at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, PA at 8:30 PM ET, also on NBC.
Along with the performances from Miami, “NFL Opening Kickoff 2006” will feature festivities from Heinz Field, which will include a performance by RASCAL FLATTS and a tribute to the Steelers. MARTINA MC BRIDE will sing the national anthem.
This is the third consecutive year that the NFL has saluted the Super Bowl champions with the opening game in their stadium.
In addition to “NFL Opening Kickoff 2006” presenting sponsor Sprint, top tier sponsors for NFL Kickoff events include Campbell’s, Canon, Coors, EA Sports and GMC. Associate sponsors are Gatorade, Pepsi and Visa.
