PHOENIX (AP):

A historic Super Bowl finally arrives. Tomorrow, the Seattle Seahawks go for a second straight NFL title, seeking to be the first team to repeat since the New England Patriots a decade ago.

A victory, particularly a convincing one, would stamp the Seahawks as one of the great teams of the Super Bowl era.

Meanwhile, New England's coach and quarterback chase a record-tying fourth Super Bowl ring.

Yet, as has been the custom this season, major distractions have taken the focus away from the field.

As much as the Patriots' Bill Belichick and Tom Brady and the Seahawks' Pete Carroll and Richard Sherman might want the spotlight to shine only on the game itself, much of the build-up has been about anything but.

From the New England deflated-balls saga, to injuries for defensive backs Sherman and Earl Thomas, to Marshawn Lynch's code of silence with the media, the 49th Super Bowl has taken on a circus atmosphere.

That seems fitting, given all that has gone wrong for the NFL off the field, even as American football remains as popular as ever in the US.

Just finding any comments about the match-up of the dynamic defence from Seattle and the potent offense from New England has been a chore.

At least Seahawks cornerback Sherman insists the left elbow he hurt in the NFC Championship will not be a factor.

"If I had to slap my brother, I'd be able to do it," he said jokingly. There hasn't been much light-hearted stuff coming from New England. Not much football talk, either.

Belichick, who can equal Chuck Noll's four Super Bowl championships as a head coach, has endured grilling about the air pressure in a football, not about the pass pressure Seattle can bring on his quarterback, Brady.

Brady, in turn, has been cross-examined about the weight of the footballs, not about the weight of trying to reach Joe Montana/Terry Bradshaw territory with a fourth Super Bowl triumph.

As for Lynch, he has hardly said a thing. He has been docked $100,000 for violating the league's media policy, and was fined $20,000 last week for an obscene gesture in the NFC Championship win over Green Bay.

To get back to the machinations on the 100-yard gridiron, there's a key showdown between Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski and Seahawks safety Kam Chancellor, perhaps the only defender who can somewhat match Gronk's power and speed.

Can Seattle avoid the pitfalls that plagued it for much of the NFC title game when it fell behind 16-0 to the Green Bay Packers?

How will high-priced Patriots cornerback Darrelle Revis perform in his first Super Bowl after seven seasons of falling short (on the field if not at the bank)?

There's also what some have dubbed 'Pete's Revenge', recalling how Carroll was canned by the Patriots after the 1999 season and replaced by Belichick. Carroll went on to phenomenal success at the University of Southern California, even as his successor was turning New England into a powerhouse.

Yes, maybe it's time to move on from all the tangential stuff and concentrate on what the Super Bowl is supposed to represent: American football.