With the Super Bowl coming to New Jersey and the Jets not representing the AFC, the team representing the AFC will use the Jets’ practice facility.
That means it’ll be Peyton Manning and the Broncos.
“It could be worse,” coach Rex Ryan said at Monday’s Senior Bowl practice, via Brian Costello of the New York Post. “It could be New England.”
Ryan reportedly was joking. Deep down, however, he’s surely glad that the Pats won’t be invading the Jets’ space and then potentially winning an NFL title on the Jets’ home field.
"[I]t does put a little sting in you that golly, somebody is using our facilities,” Ryan said. “That bothers you and it should bother you.”
It’s a common occurrence. No NFL team ever has played a Super Bowl in its home stadium. In early 1985, the 49ers came the closest, beating the Dolphins in Stanford Stadium.