SAN JOSE, Calif.— Opening night of Super Bowl week always brings out the unique and unusual questions, from favorite Gatorade colors to topics surrounding bird-watching and the Revolutionary War. The Patriots are in this year's Super Bowl, so the latter was slightly relevant. The topics are off-the-wall, meant for viral moments that trip a player up, which they often deliver.

So when Patriots linebacker Robert Spillane was asked Monday night who his favorite player was growing up, the genuineness of the question was the most shocking part. But it also made it that much easier to answer.

"It's Luke Kuechly," answered Spillane without hesitation.

"Luke Kuechly is somebody I love. Just the way that he went about his work and his craft and dedicated so much to the game," he continued, referencing the chance for Kuechly to be announced as the newest member of the Hall of Fame class on Thursday. "I hope he gets it. He's deserving."

If Kuechly is named as part of the 2026 Pro Football Hall of Fame class, he will become only the third Boston College alum ever to be inducted, and the first since 1969. For those fellow Eagles, like Patriots linebacker Harold Landry Jr., the possibility would become a point of pride for more than just Kuechly.

"That'd be super cool," smiled Landry. "I don't think BC gets enough respect for the amount of high-quality players they put into the league, and him obviously being at the top, so I mean that would be super cool. Hopefully, it gives BC some more notoriety."

Spillane and Landry have both been in the league for several years, playing at the same time as Kuechly for a while. But for those a bit younger, like Seahawks linebacker Drake Thomas, even with the biggest game of their life on the horizon, the chance to see one of their heroes go into the Hall of Fame will still be a moment worth stopping for.

Because without Luke Kuechly, Drake Thomas isn't sure if he's here this week.

"I remember going to a Nike camp in high school, and he was there helping. It was in Charlotte," recalled the Wake Forest, N.C., native, who went on to play at NC State. "I was 16 years old at that point.

"He was helping the linebackers and going through drills with us, and it was really cool. It was a great experience. That was like one of my first; it wasn't a national camp. It was more of a regional, but that was one of my first big camps, and I hadn't really met anybody like that before.

"I mean to be in those settings and those situations around those types of people, it's a huge blessing…I mean, he's arguably the best ever, honestly, in the position."

Gonzalez always knew McMillan would be special

When Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez suited up for the first time this season, after nursing a hamstring injury the first few games, it was Week 4, and New England was facing the Panthers.

Gonzalez was lined up opposite the rookie receiver, Tetairoa McMillan, in only his fourth game, a matchup that on paper would seem to favor the Pro Bowl corner. By game's end, though, McMillan had gone 2-2 for 31 yards against Gonzalez.

"Yeah," recalled Gonzalez Monday night ahead of the Super Bowl. "I knew he was going to be special."

The former Pac-12 corner has started all 34 games in which he's appeared since entering the NFL, a labrum tear shortening his rookie season. Regardless, he's seen a lot of some of the best receivers the league has to offer. But dating back to 2022, McMillan's freshman year in college, and Gonzalez's final college season, the corner knew what the future could hold for McMillan.

"I played against him in college, his freshman year, I was at Oregon. We played against each other and, from there, I knew he was going to be good," shared Gonzalez.

"And, I trained in Arizona. He was doing combine training in Arizona, so we've crossed paths, and I've always known what a good talent he is, and he's a great dude. He's very faith-based, very family-based, and that's very respectable."

McMillan is a finalist for offensive rookie of the year on Thursday night, but regardless of what happens then, Gonzalez has always known this success was McMillan's destiny.

"He's a great dude. So I mean, if he wins, I'm happy for him, and he's going to have a great career."

Charlotte natives on Panthers' memories and resurgence

Much has been made the past two weeks of Drake Maye's only other Super Bowl memory, when the Charlotte native attended the last Super Bowl in the Bay Area, featuring the Panthers versus the Broncos.

"It's full circle," Maye told reporters after the AFC Championship game. "My dad, when I was maybe in seventh grade, said if the Panthers made it, we were going to go. It was heartbreaking; they lost to the Broncos. But no, it was a good experience for a kid my age who loved football, loved quarterbacks. That was Peyton [Manning]'s last game. What a [Pro Football] Hall of Fame career he's had.

"Pretty cool to be full circle, going back here 10 years later, and I think it's just a special moment for this whole team."

His starting center, Garrett Bradbury, is also a Charlotte native, but "(Drake's) a little younger than me," the seven-year NFL veteran laughed. "I'm more his older brother's ages."

And while Bradbury wasn't in the Bay Area for the Panthers' Super Bowl appearance 10 years ago like Maye, and jokes he spent more time as a college fan growing up, he's proudly watched from afar the last year as the city he calls home has become a proud sports town once again.

"When they were winning, I was a Panthers fan because you could not be," joked Bradbury, before continuing, "Charlotte's a funny place because when they're winning, it's a great football town. When they're not winning, it's tough, and so when they were winning it was, it was a lot of fun to be a part of.

"But (even) the Hornets are on fire now too, so, I mean, there's a sports city there waiting, that's for sure."