Sports

Political Football: For Some, Super Bowl Reflects US Divide

Maine Public | By Philip Marcelo - Associated Press

Published January 27, 2017 at 5:46 AM EST

In this Oct. 21, 2012 file photo, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, left, and businessman Donald Trump, right, applaud on the field before an NFL football game between the Patriots and the New York Jets in Foxborough, Mass.

BOSTON - Not even the Super Bowl is immune to America's deep political divisions.

Patriots fans have spent nearly two full seasons being reminded of the close friendship between President Donald Trump and their team's three top figures - owner Robert Kraft, star quarterback Tom Brady and coach Bill Belichick. That's put some usually united fans at odds over celebrating the chase for a fifth Super Bowl win under Brady and Belichick.

New England plays the Atlanta Falcons on Feb. 5.

Segun Idowu, a Patriots fan and civil rights activist who voted for Clinton, says he has mixed emotions about the game.

But Brian Craig, a Massachusetts Republican who voted for Trump, complains that athletes who support Trump are unfairly ostracized.

The Super Bowl offers easy symbolic foils to anyone wanting to play politics. Atlanta is the home district of U.S. Rep. John Lewis, who boycotted Trump's inauguration.