Super Bowl 2022: Pregame show's strongest moment is profile on Tom Coughlin and his wife, Judy

Super Bowl pregame shows traditionally range from silly to banal, with occasional flashes of insight or inspiration filling in the margins.

In NBC’s case, one of those positive moments came relatively early in the five-hour runup to Super Bowl LVI, at about 2:39 p.m. on Sunday.

That was when the network presented a three-minute piece on two-time Super Bowl-winning former Giants coach Tom Coughlin and his wife, Judy, who suffers from a brain disease called progressive supranuclear palsy.

It robs people of their abilities to speak, walk and show emotions, a particularly cruel turn because in more than a half-century of marriage, Judy was the effervescent contrast to the famously intense Coughlin.

"I don’t use these words often to describe people," former Giant Justin Tuck said in the piece, "but Judy’s an angel on Earth."

Coughlin said he wears his Super Bowl rings only on special occasions, but he choked up when saying of his wedding ring, "That stays on."

Coughlin was shown making Judy’s daily morning smoothie, an important part of her routine.

"Our children and our grandchildren, they would all like to have her hold them in her arms, look them in the eye, call them by name and tell them that she loves them," Coughlin said. "She can’t do that anymore."

Coughlin, 75, conveyed a message from one caregiver to others, saying, "The idea of being a caregiver is a very, very difficult thing. It’s mentally and physically exhausting. Don’t be afraid to say: Can I have a little help?

"I’m willing to spread the word. Whatever it takes, I’m going to do it."

The show began with host Mike Tirico welcoming viewers to "sunny Southern California," followed shortly by former Patriots safety Rodney Harrison reporting from the Rams’ locker room.

Harrison said he had to stop watching television in his hotel room for fear of repeatedly seeing video of his failed attempt to break up a pass from the Giants’ Eli Manning to David Tyree in Super Bowl XLII.

Speaking of Giants Super Bowls, NBC’s Chris Simms said he always roots for both quarterbacks to throw early incompletions to preserve his father Phil’s record 22-for-25 passing day in Super Bowl XXI.

Tim Layden delivered an essay on the 1939 UCLA team that featured two players who later would re-integrate the NFL in Kenny Washington and Woody Strode, and another who integrated a different sport: Jackie Robinson.

Washington, Strode, Bill Willis and Marion Motley — also known as "The Forgotten First" — were honored on the field shortly before the game for the 75th anniversary of the re-integration of pro football.

Starting at 3:55 p.m., NBC spent nine minutes reporting on and discussing Brian Flores’ suit against the NFL and, more broadly, the lack of minority head coaches in the NFL, giving serious attention to a serious topic.

NBC also did a feature on three Los Angeles-based doctors (and Rams fans) who saved the life of a woman in distress on a flight home from Super Bowl LV in Tampa last February.

Beyond that, there was the usual mixture of generic interviews, X’s-and-O’s segments, music, cross-promotions on NBC’s Olympics coverage and prime-time entertainment programs and whatnot.

The pregame closed with seven of eight NBC prognosticators picking the Rams to win. At 6 p.m., NBC opened the final half-hour leading to kickoff with an entertaining segment hosted by Halle Berry that celebrated the history of football in the movies, featuring star players of the past, including Joe Namath.

By Neil Best

Special to Newsday@sportswatch

Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.