Larry Fitzgerald has been on both sides.

In 2008, he was part of a Cardinals team that made an improbable run to a Super Bowl, eventually reaching Tampa, Florida and taking part in the circus that is Super Bowl week (before suffering a heartbreaking loss.)

A little more than a year ago, Fitzgerald was named executive board chair of the Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee. His perspective of a Super Bowl, safe to say, is now different.

"You have no idea what goes into what the Super Bowl is," Fitzgerald said Monday during the "Welcome to Super Bowl LVII" press conference at the Phoenix Convention Center. "I remember vividly, you get on a plane, you land (in Tampa), the busses are there, takes you to the hotel, the room keys are there, you come down to eat and the food is there.

"But now, being in this position the last year it's been a transformation for me, because I got a chance to see how the sausage is made, how everybody is able to enjoy such a wonderful game and all the work that goes on behind the scenes."

The press conference, which featured Fitzgerald, Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill, Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee CEO Jay Parry and Governor Katie Hobbs among others, was the official starting point for a week of Super events – including Sunday's game.

The game means more than just football, with Bidwill emphasizing the "the tsunami of economic benefit" over the next 10 days as well as long-term benefits as the region works to tangibly sell the area to companies looking to expand.

It is the fourth time the Valley has hosted a Super Bowl. Super Bowl XXX was at Sun Devil Stadium to cap the 1995 season, with the Cowboys beating the Steelers, 27-17. Super Bowl XLII after the 2007 season featured the famous David Tyree "helmet catch" and allowed the Giants to upset the previously undefeated Patriots, 17-14. Super Bowl XLIX to finish the 2014 season ended when Malcolm Butler picked off Russell Wilson at the goal-line in the closing minute, allowing the Patriots to beat the Seahawks, 28-24.

There will be a bid again in the future for Arizona, that is certain. But Bidwill, trying to get game LVII underway, said the focus is on the week to come and the Chiefs-Eagles battle on the weekend.

"The best way for Arizona to get another Super Bowl is for us to do a great job on this one," Bidwill said. "We say in football it's about finishing and we need to finish here. We have not had the game yet, and the game won't end until the people are back home.

"We want their experience to be an awesome one, we want Arizona to put its best foot forward and I think we're going to do a great job."

Hobbs, in her first month of her administration, embraced the idea of walking into the office right when the state is in the national spotlight.

"What an exciting way to showcase how Arizona is a great place to visit," Hobbs said, "but also to live, work, raise a family and retire. Isn't that right, Larry?"

Fitzgerald, sitting in the front row at that point, grinned.