BIG BEN

When it comes to securing one of the NFL’s iconic symbols, Arlington resident Ben Nix is the man with the plan

By Steve Pate

Thursday, July 29, 2010 - 11:03am

ARLINGTON — The Lombardi Trophy, awarded to each NFL champion on Super Bowl Sunday, is made of sterling silver.

It’s difficult getting fingerprints off sterling silver. Takes a special rag and chemical.

A few years ago, the network televising the Super Bowl wanted head shots of each team’s starting lineup with each player and the trophy.

Nobody could keep their hands off the thing. There were fingerprints galore. So while the Super Bowl game was unfolding on the field, Ben Nix and his security staff had to call in professional polishers to remove all of those clammy claws.

Such is the quirkish life for the security staff on Super Bowl Sunday. The biggest sporting event in the world requires an all-star cast in all areas of security.

Ben Nix knows. He’s been overseeing the safety of professional sporting events in North Texas for three decades.

And he’s also become a part of Super Sundays. He’s the guy holding the trophy on the sideline at the end of the game.

The South Florida Super Bowl at this season’s end will be Nix’s sixth. The one after that, Super Bowl XLV in 2011, will occur in Nix’s own backyard, making it that much more spectacular.

“There’ll be a lot of people in the stands that I know,” Nix said. “I live in Arlington. I’m a citizen of Arlington. To have the stadium here, and to be able to help with the overall process of security, working with the Arlington Police Department and FBI and others, it’s quite a project.”

In his own way, Nix qualifies as a four-sport letterman. He has been in charge of NFL security in North Texas since 1981. He ran security at Dallas Stars home games in the franchise’s early years, and was the Dallas Mavericks’ head of security from 1985 until a few years ago when he finally had to concentrate solely on the NFL. He still does some investigating for major league baseball, as well.

“This has not been a record that I was trying to keep,” Nix said, “but I have not missed one Dallas Cowboys home game since 1981, including preseason games.

“It’s been an interesting run, and the Super Bowl will certainly be the icing on the cake.”

Nix not only played football (1958-62) at TCU under Abe Martin, he was an All-Southwest Conference wide receiver back in the days of two-platoon football.

He spent seven years with the FBI, then got back into sports in his own specialized field. His long tenure with the Cowboys led to the Super Bowl gig as well.

For Super Bowls, one NFL security official directs the activity inside the stadium on Game Day. And then Nix not only babysits the trophy on Game Day, he coordinates all the events outside the stadium during Super Bowl week — including the team hotels, the practice facilities, the NFL headquarters, the media center, the NFL Experience and so on.

“I cannot emphasize enough what a cooperative effort this is among federal, state and local law enforcement agencies pitching in,” Nix said. “We work hand-in-hand with the lead law enforcement agent and also the Homeland Security people.

“Homeland Security will name a federal coordinator to coordinate all the federal resources. Without that coordination we would not be nearly as efficient as we are.”

The trophy is like a treasure all its own.

“The trophy generally arrives the Saturday the week before the Super Bowl,” Nix said. “Tiffany’s makes the trophy and brings it in by Brinks.

“We take possession of the trophy then, and it’s displayed at various locations throughout the city or region that’s hosting the Super Bowl. We’re in charge of making sure there’s security around it, and then Game Day we bring the trophy to the stadium early that morning and are responsible for taking it out to midfield after the game for presentation to the champion.”

Just prior to the two-minute warning, Nix himself carries the trophy to the sideline and holds it for the football legend — Joe Namath, Don Shula, whomever — who will present it to the winning team at midfield.

Since the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001, Nix has been among a handful of NFL security people who go into the Super Bowl host city or region in early January and remain until the game has been played in mid-February.

“2001 changed the whole thing — for all professional sports,” Nix said. “It changed the entire way you look at the stadium and the making of the events. We obviously take it very seriously.

“The Super Bowl is an NFL event; the NFL is in charge of the game.”

And so they turn security over to steady hands, like that of a former TCU wide receiver. Just keep your clammy fingers off Ben Nix’s trophy when there’s a champion to be crowned.