Super Bowl Security Stepped Up

N E W  O R L E A N S, Feb. 1 -- The security measures for Sunday's Super Bowl XXXVI game between the St. Louis Rams and the New England Patriots are so unusual and extraordinary that even the players are having trouble getting around the Big Easy.

It is the first time the Secret Service has been called in to take the lead in protecting a sporting event. The agency conducted 11,000 background checks on journalists, food vendors and halftime performers. And for the first time, everyone working the Super Bowl must wear a photo ID.

"We've requested that they put some safeguards into their credentials that will make it more difficult to counterfeit the credential," says Mike James, the Secret Service special agent in charge.

The Secret Service is coordinating the work of 48 government agencies in the record multimillion-dollar security