Bon Jovi: Jon Bon Jovi is just fine with a cold Super Bowl

I'm still bitter this morning, you'll have to pardon me if it takes me awhile to put on my happy face.

Jon Bon Jovi is just fine with a cold Super Bowl

BY CHRIS JORDAN • STAFF WRITER • JANUARY 24, 2011

A Super Bowl in the snow?

No problem, said Jon Bon Jovi in reference to the big game coming to the New Meadowlands Stadium in 2014.

"Football's meant to be played in the elements,'' said Bon Jovi, a Sayreville native. "The greatest football game ever was played at Yankee Stadium,'' referring to December 1958, when the Baltimore Colts defeated the New York Giants for the NFL championship in the pre-Super Bowl days.

"I'd perform at halftime in the cold weather,'' said Bon Jovi, a noted football fan and friend of NFL stars such as Patriots coach Bill Belichick. "It reminds me of the playoff game when the Giants went to Green Bay (in 2007 for the NFC championship) in those arctic temperatures. My wife and kids were in the place.''

"We have played exotic temperatures to both extremes, hot and cold. I've played on a ski slope … the idea of playing out in the cold and the rain doesn't scare us. I can do it … not a problem.''

The NFL announced in the spring that the New Meadowlands Stadium, home to the Jets and Giants, will host the Super Bowl in February 2014.

This year, the Jets are still in the playoffs and will travel to Pittsburgh to face the

Steelers for the AFC championship, which airs at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday on CBS.

"I think it's great for the economy, I think it's great for the stadium, I think it's great because New York can show off its best,'' said Bon Jovi of a Meadowlands Super Bowl. "There isn't any city that has as much to offer. I've been to a number of Super Bowls, and there have been some boring ones. It would also be great for the economy of New Jersey.''

The upcoming Jon Bon Jovi and Friends benefit show on Thursday at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville should be good for the economy of the Parker Family Health Center in Red Bank.

Bon Jovi, who has a home in Middletown, is a longtime supporter of the clinic, which offers free health care to Monmouth County residents who lack medical insurance and/or the means to pay for care.

A few tickets, $250, have just been released.

Remember Bon Jovi played out in the cold to close the Olympics in Salt Lake City in 2002.