Kahuku High alum Aaron Francisco, an Arizona Cardinals safety, provides insights as he prepares for the Super Bowl.

Tampa here we come! Our team was scheduled to fly out this morning at 9. As we arrived at the Phoenix airport we were greeted by hundreds of die-hard Cardinal fans cheering us on as we continue our journey to the Super Bowl.

Excitement and energy were in the air as we got off the bus and players got out their cameras and camcorders to capture every moment. Kurt Warner and Bertrand Berry took the stage to give a little speech to the crowd before takeoff. Four hours later we touched down at the Tampa Bay airport. Reality is really starting to set in for me now. I will be playing in the SUPER BOWL!! The biggest stage on Earth! It was so unreal until now. We checked into the Grand Hyatt Hotel where we were given our room keys and car keys. There are hundreds of media cameras following and watching every move we make. We are the center of attention in the sports world at the moment.

The hotel has a very nice setup for us. There is a players lounge where everyone hung out shooting pool, played air hockey, and video games. We all enjoyed ourselves for a little bit before heading down to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers facility, where our practices for the week will be held. Their facility is AMAZING! It's like we all died and went to football heaven. We had a 30-minute practice while news helicopters hovered above our field. We did use today's practice to get our minds back on football and away from all the attention. After practice we were given the rest of the night off to enjoy ourselves.

Aloha,

Aaron Francisco