NFL fans offer a look at both sides of the Super Bowl as kick-off approaches

There are only two more sleeps until Super Bowl Sunday, the biggest event of the year for fans of the National Football League.

The matchup pits the both top seeds in the NFC and AFC, in the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs.

But how are fans of the two teams gearing up for the game?

Matt Kelm, for instance, has been a fan of the Chiefs for 18 years. His love for the team started in 2005 when he was in Grade 9.

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“My buddies used to play Madden 05 on GameCube,” said Kelm. “There was a rushing attack mode where you could be a team, and I really liked the Chiefs and for some reason that just stuck with me and I just continued to like them throughout high school.

“They had some pretty epic players, Tony Gonzalez and Priest Holmes.”

Dylan Earis, a local Eagles fan, has Kelm beat by one year in terms of their fandom.

“It was 2004. I was in Philly, went to training camp, saw a guy named T.O. catch some passes, and it was intense — there were 3,000 people there,” said Earis.

“Also Jevon Kearse was in one of the fan tents, and I’ll never forget it. A guy yelled, ‘Welcome to the Eagles Jevon.’ ”

As far as superstitions go when it comes to watching their teams, both gentlemen have unique ones.

“This will really get the ladies banging on my door, but I don’t think this jersey that I’m wearing now, Nick Foles, my personal hero, has been washed this entire year. They haven’t really lost so I have to keep this going, man,” said Earis.

“Three days before the game, I never shave, that’s one thing. And then another thing is cleaning my house. I always have to clean the day of the game. Before the game I tell my wife Brittany that we have to get cleaning, and it has to be a good cleaning, like two hours of scrubbing,” said Kelm.

The two fans do have one thing in common, though, and that’s who they believe will win the game.

Earis is worried about the slipperiness of Chiefs MVP quarterback, Patrick Mahomes.

“It’s Mahomes man, he just does Houdini things. I always say he puts Crisco on himself when he sits there and plays quarterback, because you’ll see sometimes he’ll be sacked and then he’ll just slip out and run around and then chuck a 50-yard bomb to some no name receiver. So it’s going to end up 31 to 27 for the Chiefs,” said Earis.

“I’ll say 27 to 24 for the Chiefs. Kansas City will hit a field goal in the final few minutes, then Philly will have a chance and the Chiefs defence gets a stop, said Kelm.”

Only time will tell, when the big game kicks off at 5:30 this Sunday night from State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.