Rutgers and Newark welcome the Super Bowl

Newark might not be the site of football’s biggest event, Super Bowl XLVIII –that’s taking place across the Passaic River at MetLife Stadium - but that doesn’t mean Newark is out of the game.

The Rutgers Office of University-Community Partnerships is co-sponsoring “A Super Celebration of Jazz Saxophones” on campus on Tuesday, Jan. 28, at 6:30 p.m. This free public concert will feature The Kenny Garrett Quintet led by internationally renowned, Grammy® Award-winning saxophonist Kenny Garrett.  The event is at the Paul Robeson Campus Center, 350 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

The concert also will include saxophonist Leo Johnson, a Rutgers alumnus and longtime Jersey boy who was named one of 75 of the “Greatest Jazz Musicians from New Jersey” by the Star-Ledger. Jazz House Kids, a New Jersey-based youth jazz performance group, also will perform.

The Jan. 28 concert coincides with Super Bowl Media Day, which is in Newark, at the Prudential Center; the event is open to the public, with tickets on sale at superbowl.com.

“Newark’s Largest Indoor Tailgate Party” also takes place on Jan. 28, at the Newark Museum, beginning at 2 p.m. In addition to dining on tailgate-style food and beverages, visitors can get a look at the Vince Lombardi Trophy, the original Super Bowl trophy from 1967, which is on display at the Newark Museum through March 30. The trophy was manufactured in Newark by Tiffany & Co., when it had a silver factory in the city.

To help the campus get ready for some football, a number of students, staff and alumni tossed around a football for a “Rutgers University-Newark Super Toss” video.  You can watch their antics on YouTube  or at the Newark Visitors and Convention Bureau website. Special thanks to Mark Papianni, John Cotton Dana Library, for filming, directing, and editing the video, and to the good sports whose passing and receiving skills aren’t quite ready for the NFL!