Senior Alyssa Warren cheered on Bruno Mars and The Red Hot Chili Peppers up close and personal at the Super Bowl.
Warren said she was cast as a fan in the Super Bowl halftime show after her volleyball coach at Seton Hall forwarded her an email sent from the casting director. The director sought out groups at the University to participate.
"At first I was not going to do it because I didn't really think it would be possible," Warren said. "I didn't think I could get a group of people to do it. After some thought, I decided to contact my teammates and some other athletes to ask if they were interested."
She said as group leader she was responsible for gathering information from all her teammates to sign them up and make sure they could make rehearsals. Fourteen other athletes participated.
"The initial signup was just for groups who were interested, but it did not guarantee we would be picked," Warren said. "We then waited and they told us that we got picked."
She said she had to attend three mandatory rehearsals, the first at Morristown Armory, the second and third at MetLife.
According to Warren, everyone had to practice which tunnels to go in and out of, where to run, the timing of everything, having energy, right placement on line and on the field, and also listening to the music so could learn some of the words.
She said a highlight of the show was meeting Flea and Chris Rock.
"To me it almost feels like it never happened because we were escorted during the game, went on during halftime and were escorted back before the game was even over," Warren said. "So it seems like a dream."
Warren said her favorite moment was a combination of waiting in the tunnels and the unknown of what the actual performance would be like.
"Running onto the field and hearing them announce the Pepsi Halftime show and then cheering for the artists was the best part of the whole thing," Warren said. "I always watched the halftime show and wondered how those people had the opportunity to be in it, but now I know and I got to be in that position."
She said being a part of the show was even better because she got to share it with friends.
"I still cannot believe that we were 6 feet from the stage in front of millions of people for such an iconic event," Warren said. "I will never forget it."
Lindsay Rittenhouse can be reached at lindsay.rittenhouse@student.shu.edu.
