I woke up well-rested for my 2nd day in London as Virgin Atlantic’s Red Hot Reporter. We started with brunch at an Italian Restaurant near our hotel – St. Martins Lane is in a “happening” spot, literally steps to several cafe’s, restaurants, shops and points of interest! Then, the first activity on the agenda was a trip to Trafalgar Square where the NFL was holding its “Fan Rally.”
T is from Chicago, so he suited up in his BEARS gear…and I did too for the occasion! 😉
The place was packed with British and American fans. Thousands of people flooded the square, and it was really cool to see the NFL getting so much LOVE in London! And even though it was technically Tampa Bay’s “home game” in London, there were clearly more BEARS fans in the crowd. BTW, did you know the Bucs owner also owns Manchester United, hence a great UK tie-in for them! **NOTE: I kept thinking if the RAIDERS ever get to play in London, I KNOW the RAIDER NATION would be out in full force and England would be covered in Silver and Black!
We caught this moment of the Chicago Bears making a brief appearance at the event…
One of the main attractions were the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Cheerleaders…they can’t get enough of the NFL Cheerleaders in London! And — since the BEARS are one of the few NFL teams who do not have Pro Cheerleaders, the spotlight was squarely on ladies from Tampa Bay! I had the opportunity to interview a few of the ladies before they got on stage to perform, that will pop up On The Flipside soon!
At the same time I bumped into the cheerleaders, I also got the chance to meet NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. He was very cool and took a few moments to chat with me about being the Red Hot Reporter and what I was doing for Virgin to share my NFL London experience with my peeps on social media..he was into it! 😉
The rally was a cool experience, I met many NFL Legends, including members of the 85 Bears, as well as fans who trekked from the U.S. and other parts of Europe to experience the festivities.
Uhm, did I mention I was interviewed for NFL Network?? I have no idea if this has aired or what they are going to do with the footage, but I’m sure someone will let me know if they catch my interview!!
After the rally, the excitement did not stop as we did a quick wardrobe change and set off for the NFL London Bash!
It was a swanky “invite only” event with some “celeb” sightings…
Jerome Bettis (Above) & Cuba Gooding Jr. (Below)
I haven’t talked too much about the cuisine in London, and they are NOT known for it, but one kind of “interesting” dish they had at the party was a beef meatballs with tomato sauce over mashed potatoes dish…not bad! :/ hehe
The highlight of the evening was a performance by London native, now international superstar Estelle!
All in all, a FUN night, overall GREAT day..and the best is yet to come!! At this point, the credentials are stacking up and I needed to get a good night’s rest for the big game at Wembley Stadium.
DAY 3 of my Red Hot Reporter RECAP is coming up tomorrow!!