Christie, NFL Reps in Newark to Launch Super Bowl Week

Putting aside Bridgegate and the other scandals that have swirled around him the last several weeks, Gov. Chris Christie appeared in Newark Monday to help kick off the week of events leading up to the Super Bowl in East Rutherford Sunday.

Speaking at the Boys and Girls Club, Christie, referring to the arrival of the Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos, touched on the short shrift New Jersey has gotten from many commentators who refer to Super Bowl XLVIII as coming to New York for the first time.

“I was watching them arrive Sunday night, and they didn’t land at LaGuardia. God knows they didn’t land at Kennedy. They landed at Newark Liberty International Airport.”

“The Super Bowl is being played in New Jersey,” he added, drawing applause from a crowd that included dozens of young club members.  

Christie joined a delegation from the National Football League, including commissioner Roger Goodell, representing the NY/NJ Snowflake Youth Foundation and the NFL Foundation, a charity that has sponsored community improvement projects in the regions hosting the championship game.

The charities—along with corporations as well as the Mara and Tisch families, owners of the New York Giants, and the Johnson family, owners of the Jets—donated funds for major renovations to the 43-year-old club. The welcome area, aquatics center, gym and other facilities at the Avon Avenue clubhouse were all upgraded with the grant funds.

Other projects throughout the New York metropolitan area have also been funded, including renovations at the Hoboken Boys and Girls Club, construction of a playground in Belmar and a football field at RISE Academy in Newark.

“I’m so glad a game that has so much global attention can have such a direct impact on the lives of the children of Newark, New Jersey,” said Brandon Moore, who played 10 years for the Jets.

“This is just another proof point that when we work together we can make the dreams and aspirations of the children come true, no matter where they are, no matter what their zip code,” Christie said. “I believe each of these children is a gift from God."