Indianapolis • When Carson Butler ventured to a Target store last week, the 24-year-old free agent tight end wasn't shopping for a trip to the Super Bowl, but he returned home with just that. While perusing the aisles and gathering a few household goods, Butler received a phone call he will never forget.

Butler's agent told him he would once again be a member of the New England Patriots' eight-man practice squad — where he spent the bulk of the 2010 season, but was waived last September — and would soon be bound for Indianapolis. None of the practice players will play on Sunday, but Butler said that being able to be on the sidelines for the game, and all that surrounds it, is a thrill nonetheless.

"When I first came back I got a real good welcome. The guys made me feel good and we carried on like I never left," he said. "I won't step on the field Sunday, but at the same time [practice squad players] go in and put in the work and lift weights and pay attention in meetings. It's our job to get [the starters] prepared."

Anyone who has donned shoulder pads and heard the distinct click of their cleats against concrete has undoubtedly yearned to step onto the sport's biggest stage. The practice squad players who traveled to Indianapolis with the Giants and Patriots this week will fall six feet — the width of an NFL sideline — short of that goal. Many admitted they ache to step over that line, which divides obscurity from the national spotlight.

"Obviously we want to get into the game," Patriots practice squad defensive end Alex Silvestro said. "I guess it's a little disappointing, but I'm not mad about it or upset. I'm definitely enjoying the experience."

Unlike most of his peers, Silvestro has tasted live game action for the Patriots, albeit briefly. He played a smattering of snaps against the Dolphins in Week 16, and remembers running onto the field for the first time more vividly than any single play.

"I was running out there — full adrenaline — I almost completely forgot what I was doing because I was so excited I was able to play," he said.

There won't be a comparable surge of adrenaline for Silvestro or any other practice players on Sunday. However, they can take solace in the fact that they stand to win a ring identical to those that will be awarded to the likes of Eli Manning or Tom Brady. The practice players maintained that those rings won't be tarnished by not playing one snap or shedding one drop of sweat during Super Bowl XLVI. And a loss, they said, would be as devastating as a win is rewarding.

"It's going to be significant, lose or win," Mike Rivera, Patriots practice squad linebacker, said. "Either way, I've invested time with all these guys. I won't be on the field, but it's still very important to me."

Giants rookie practice squad wide receiver Dan DePalma played at Division II West Chester University and was overshadowed by his Division I contemporaries. He went undrafted. He was cut in the preseason by the first team—the Jets— that took a chance on him.

Despite those hurdles, on Sunday he'll find himself standing a mere six feet away from a game that may be mused over for decades to come. The enormity of the moment isn't lost on him.

"A lot of the greats never had a chance to be on this stage," DePalma said. "To know that I have contributed even a small amount as a practice squad player is just amazing. I've had a long road to get here, overcame a lot of obstacles, [shed] a lot of sweat, a lot of blood, a lot of tears to get here. To hopefully get that ring and get to wear it makes it all worth it."