More than 70,000 fans packed NRG Stadium for Super Bowl 51 on Sunday, but elsewhere in Houston the atmosphere was much less celebratory.
Hundreds of protesters marched from city hall to the NFL Experience — a fan festival area a few miles from the stadium — before kickoff, carrying signs decrying U.S. President Donald Trump, capping off a week of anti-Trump protests in the host city leading up to the Super Bowl.
"With the world media watching Houston, we wanted to show the world that we do not accept what is coming out of the White House right now," local democratic party chair Lane Lewis said in an interview with the Houston Chronicle.
"They will be around to protest and exercise their first amendment right as long as it doesn't interfere with any security operations," Victor Senators, spokesman for the Joint Information Center, told Reuters.
Trump predicted the Patriots would beat the Atlanta Falcons by eight points, according to The Washington Post. The Patriots won by six points in overtime.
Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, team owner Robert Kraft and coach Bill Belichick are all reportedly close with Trump, who described Brady as "a really good friend of mine," according to The New York Times.
Brady has avoided openly expressing his support for Trump, but has been known in the past to keep a "Make America Great Again" hat in his locker.
The friendship didn't go unnoticed by protesters. One dissident carried a sign reading "Tom Brady supports fascism," shown in a photo published on Yahoo Sports. Another read: “Lifelong Pats Fan No More, Dump Trump."
It was an opinion echoed by many on social media.
Some fans decided to use the occasion to raise money for a good cause, rather than protest the game they love. People on Twitter pledged donations to organizations like Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union for every touchdown.
Advertisers also brought a political message to the Super Bowl this year. Companies like Audi, AirBnB and Budweiser used their commercial time to champion messages promoting immigration, feminism and diversity.
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