DALLAS — Marisa Miller is a fairly attractive young lady. You probably know that. And/or can see that above.
But she’s also a HUGE football fan (she’s from NoCal, so she got the not-to-horrible experience of rooting for the 49ers while growing up). I was lucky enough to catch up with her at the Super Bowl and chat about football, how to make your ladyfriend love sports, and the program she and the old Captain Morgan are working on in order to help raise money for the Gridiron Greats program.
(And, while you’re here, why not upload your Captain’s pose to Facebook. Seriously, do it. It’s for a good cause.)
Will Brinson: Alright, so it’s early and the morning and let’s get right to the booze — you’re doing some work with Captain Morgan, right?
Marisa Miller: It was really important for Captain Morgan to partner and do an initiative that benefited the community, so we came up with the ‘First Mate Fund.’ And it’s great because the month of February all the proceeds are going to the Gridiron Greats which helps all the hardships after they play football.
Captain Morgan has a huge fanbase and loves to have fun, so if you go on Captain Morgan’s Facebook page and upload your ‘Captain Morgan pose’ — for every pose we get, we donate $1. We’re trying to get a million poses, we’ve got 75,000 right now. And it’s just a really great cause and a lot of fun as well.
WB: Have you got any celebrity poses?
MM: By the end of the day, I’m definitely going to get one …
WB: You’re obviously a big sports fan, so let me ask you this, because my fiance kind of hates football …
MM: How does she hate it?!?
WB: Well, it actually works out pretty well, because –
MM: It’s your alone time?
WB: Right! I mean, well, ummmmm it’s work. And I have to be really have to be focused and stuff. But do you have any advice for any guys who have girlfriends or significant others who aren’t into football but want them to be, or even maybe girls who aren’t into football but would like to be? [Ed Note: I am in no way saying I want my fiance to get into football. Let's be very clear on that, honey.]
MM: For me, it was always a big part of the family social gatherings, so even if you don’t like it, there’s an aspect of it that, maybe the wives can get together and they can learn together.
And if you really sit down and watch and learn and get into the stories of the players — I like watching a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff because you follow the guys and what their story is.
Healthy competition is a really good thing, too — I’m very vocal when I’m cheering for a team and it just makes for a fun environment. And I cook a big meal and my family and I all sit around and argue and yell at the TV and it’s fun.
WB: And you’re a Niners fan, so I’d assume you’re a big Joe Montana fan?
MM: Yeah, I started watching the Niners when I was 10 years old and my dad would take me to Candlestick and that was our bonding time. And when your team is killing it, it’s a great time to love football!
And the guys I grew up watching — Montana, Jerry Rice, Steve Young and Roger Craig — they’re still legends today. So that was my first impression of it and it was bigger than ever, and the excitement of it was just so impressive.
The key is you always have to have faith in your team no matter what.
WB: Well on that note, what do you think about the Niners hiring Jim Harbaugh?
MM: I think it’s awesome — we have a lot of talent on the team and it’s just about putting it together …
WB: And getting a quarterback!
MM: [Laughing] Well, I thought Aaron Rodgers was going to go to to the Niners, so …
WB: Oh man, yeah, so how tough is that to watch him playing so well and thinking what could have been?
MM: I know, right? What could have been … but that’s what’s great about the Super Bowl this year is seeing a guy from Northern California that I followed and seeing him in the Super Bowl. It’s just awesome — Green Bay’s played so well and to be the wild-card team and they played such tough games to get here.
Even though Pittsburgh’s a really tough team and has so much experience on their side and they’ve won more Super Bowls than anyone in the league. But you never know … you see the Patriots have an undefeated season and the Giants take it.
So it’s going to be a good game on Sunday.
WB: Alright, well, I’ll get you out on this — can you give me a prediction for Sunday?
MM: I think Green Bay’s going to kill them.
WB: Kill them?
MM: Oh yeah.
WB: Like, more than 2.5 points …
MM: I think it’s going to be 24-10 Green Bay.
WB: Alright, well I had 24-21 Green Bay …
MM: Well, you’re in the right direction!