When the Super Bowl LI kicks off in Houston, the mandarins of the National Football League will be hoping the championship game between the New England Patriots and the underdog Atlanta Falcons will be a politics-free, all-American celebration of competition, consumerism and razzmatazz.
Some hope. Like just about every other aspect of American life in the era of Donald Trump, it will probably be dominated by protests, immigration, race and sexual politics.
Even before the game starts, Houston will see no fewer than five separate protests, with groups protesting at Trump’s suspended travel ban, his views in general, and a range of racial and religious issues. Among those planning to participate are members of Black Lives Matter, religious leaders, the local Democratic party, and anti-circumcision activists.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has refused to be drawn into the fray. He said he was “singularly focused” on the game, adding: “We have a unique position to have an event on Sunday that will bring the world together.”
But can it? The New England Patriots have a reputation for being one of the whitest in the league but also hailing from the state – Massachusetts – where every county went for Hillary Clinton. The Atlanta Falcons are from the city of John Lewis, the civil rights hero and Democrat congressman who refused to endorse Trump as a “legitimate president”, triggering a Twitter tirade from the president-elect.
But the Patriots have a reputation for tampering with the football, and for owners, coaches and players being prominent Trump supporters. The team’s 39-year-old quarterback, Tom Brady, is a friend of Trump, who showed a press photographer his “Make America Great Again” cap in his locker room. The team’s head coach, Bill Belichick, and owner Robert Kraft, are also Trump supporters.
In the early part of the season, the media was obsessed with San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who refused to stand for the national anthem to draw attention to racial inequities. As Kaepernick, and players from nearly a third of the teams in the league knelt, raised fists or stood with arms locked, there was a backlash, with police unions threatening to boycott games.
No Boston-based Patriots made that gesture, though players Martellus Bennett and Devin McCourty raised their fists after the anthem. At the same time, the Falcons hashtag #RiseUp is also being used by opponents of Trump’s executive order on immigration.
Players pressed to express an opinion have largely sidestepped politics-tempered questions. “Well, I’ve been doing a lot of reading on it and I don’t think it really matters what I think,’’ said the Patriots’ Nate Solder, referring to Trump’s “Muslim ban” order.
But the Super Bowl is nothing if not patriotic. Former president George HW Bush is handling the pre-game coin toss. The players run on to a gigantic stars-and-stripes flag, and the air force stages a flypast. Even Falcons head coach Dan Quinn embraces military principles. “The military means a lot to [the] coach but those ideas have been big for us, too,” defensive lineman Tyson Jackson said. “It has opened our eyes. It is about how you handle testing situations, when you have to get the best out of yourself.”
The only Muslim in the game is the Falcons’ wide receiver, Mohamed Sanu, whose parents emigrated from Sierra Leone. Sanu dodged the subject of Trump’s immigration orders last week, saying: “I just pray that us as a country and a world can be united.” He added that it’s “really hard for me to talk about this right now”.
The extreme political temperature has put Lady Gaga, selected to provide the half-time entertainment, in a bind. The normally outspoken pop star is a prominent Clinton backer. After Trump’s victory, she was photographed outside Trump Tower in New York with a sign that read “Love trumps hate”.
But the singer hasn’t said if she will refer to Trump during her performance. In the same slot last year, Beyoncé dressed her dancers in all-black outfits in a tribute to the Black Panthers.
According to Entertainment Tonight, Lady Gaga was told by the NFL that “she cannot say anything or bring anything up about the election, or mention Donald Trump.” But a spokesperson for the NFL called this “nonsense from people trying to stir up controversy where there is none”.
But the league’s choice of performer has already led thousands to sign a petition declaring the NFL a “leftist propaganda machine”. All the Born This Way star has said is “I believe in inclusion” and that she will not make any statements beyond “the ones that I’ve been consistently making throughout my career”.
But in terms of political action, nothing will be as closely watched as the TV advertisements. A 30-second spot now costs around $5m, which goes to broadcaster Fox.
Last week, a Budweiser commercial from Anheuser-Busch InBev showed the brewer’s founder Adolphus Busch’s journey to St Louis from Germany. It was meant to convey a message of hope and perseverance, but even that was deemed by some viewers to be overtly political and either an implicit criticism of Trump’s immigration crackdown or an implicit endorsement of his heritage.
In another spot, 84 Lumber, a building materials supplier, shows a Mexican mother and daughter working their way toward the US border. An Audi advert is drawing attention to the gender pay gap.
Against this backdrop, protesters are reportedly using encryption to prevent authorities from intercepting their communications. Blake Stroud, who created a group called #ResistHouston, told USA Today: “They’re going for the element of surprise.” Local lawyer Brian Harrison told the publication he’d been preoccupied with protest arrangements. “Meanwhile, there’s a game being played on Sunday. I haven’t had any time to pay attention to it.’’