UWRF senior given opportunity to assist, attend ‘08 Super Bowl

On Super Bowl Sunday, UW-River Falls senior Ryan Stridde had a prime seat at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., where the Super Bowl was played.

Stridde arrived in Arizona Jan. 27 and worked with NFL Films the week leading up to the Super Bowl getting audio equipment set up.  All audio transmission went to a trailer outside of the stadium full of audio equipment during the game.

Inside the stadium, Stridde helped set up microphones and audio receive sites. Audio receive sites are frequency boxes with antennas that pick up audio from the game, patch it through to the camera guys and record audio to the cameras. 

On game day, Stridde “miked up” Patriots’ coach Bill Belichick and a referee. Stridde also “jammed all the time codes” so that the audio devices and cameras were in sync with each other.

“It makes synching all the video and the audio and the editing process a lot easier,” Stridde said.

Stridde also met with the radio guys from each team in the press box to pick up radio tapes that were recorded during the game for NFL Films.

During the downtime that Stridde had, he sat in a camera spot behind the Patriots end zone watching the game.

After the game, Stridde helped pack up the audio equipment and was able to walk on the field.

“It was definitely a busy day—a lot of people—but everything went well and that was nice. It was a really cool atmosphere,” Stridde said. “Just seeing all the players and all the commentators that you see on TV, seeing them in person was awesome.”

Stridde has been working with NFL Films since last summer when he was recommended by film professor, Evan Johnson, to help with a film.

“Ryan, like all five of the digital film and television students that we had working with NFL Films this summer, has talent, works hard and has a great attitude,” Johnson said in an e-mail.

NFL Films was on campus last summer to film a Kansas City Chiefs episode of the HBO series “Hard Knocks” while the Chiefs were training.  During this time, Stridde was an audio production assistant and worked on setting up audio for the film, including putting microphones on the coaches and players.

That was Stridde’s first time working with audio. Since then his interest in film has broadened. Stridde has learned everything he knows about audio while working on the field with NFL Films and continues to learn each time he works with them.

Stridde was also part of the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings game Sept. 30 at the Metrodome. 

“I sat right behind the end zone that (Favre) made the touchdowns in,” Stridde said.

Not only did Stridde have a prime seat during the game, he also was able to hear everything that Favre said during the game because the microphone in Favre’s helmet was connected to the audio receive site that Stridde worked at.

On Thanksgiving, Stridde received an e-mail from NFL Films in which he was offered an audio job at the Super Bowl. 

“I was excited and nervous at the same time because I knew I’d be missing the first week of classes,” Stridde said.

Stridde talked to his spring semester professors and they were very supportive of him and what he is doing. Although Stridde knows that it might be tough to catch up at first, he’s thankful for his professors’ support.

Although Stridde is a health and human performance major and a film minor, now that he has gotten into film, he finds himself rethinking his future.

“It’s hard to think about because I always thought film would be hard to get into,” Stridde said.

Stridde is thankful for the opportunities that he has gotten as a result of Johnson’s recommendation this past summer.

“Without Evan, none of this would have been possible,” Stridde said.