A game in Katy featuring Doug Flutie is one of many fun events.
Flag football contest in Katy among a slew of events in area leading up to Super Bowl LI
Truitt Penman came to the Celebrity Flag Football Challenge with one goal: to get the autographs of as many celebrities and athletes as he could.
The 10-year-old leaned precariously over the sideline wall at Katy’s Rhodes Stadium, yelled players’ names and thrust out his Sharpie and notepad, hoping someone would scribble their signature inside.
It didn’t matter who took the marker. By halftime, two of the five signatures he had collected were from people he had never heard of.
“But they’re celebrities,” Truitt said. “You never get to see people who are famous. This is so cool.”
With temperatures in the 50s and overcast skies befitting a fall football game, nearly 8,000 fans packed the stadium Saturday afternoon to watch current and former NFL stars and other athletes play two-hand touch football. Former Buffalo Bills quarterback Doug Flutie led his blue team to a 40-35 victory over a red team led by Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins.
The Katy celebrations were among a slew of high-profile events across the Houston area Saturday, as thousands of visitors from around the world descended on the Bayou City for Super Bowl weekend.
Discovery Green and the George R. Brown Convention Center teemed with thousands of football fans eager to ogle the offerings of Super Bowl Live, the fan festival that ends Sunday afternoon, and the NFL Experience.
A two-day NFL Women’s Summit featuring astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson, Olympic gym-
nast Gabby Douglas and female cast members of the musical “Hamilton” continued Saturday, in an effort to empower more than 250 young women from several Houston-area school districts.
“No matter who you are, when you’re doing something that’s breaking ground and out of the norm, you will have naysayers,” Maya Penn, who at 16 is the CEO of her own eco-friendly fashion company, told the gathering. “But what you have to remember is why you’re doing this.”
At the Texas Medical Center Innovation Institute, nine companies presented technologies for communicating with, training and protecting NFL players as part of an event organized by the league and the medical center. Several of the companies showcased products that could help prevent concussions. Events all around
As evening approached, Texans and visitors made their way to the Taste of the NFL’s “Party with a Purpose” at the University of Houston, the announcement and presentation of the NFL’s newest Hall of Fame class at the NFL Honors awards show at the Wortham Theater Center, Taylor Swift’s performance at Club Nomadic, and exclusive parties hosted by (among others) Playboy, Rolling Stone, Maxim, Ebony and Vanity Fair magazines.
But the events weren’t all in Houston city limits.
In Pearland, Two Tons of Steel and RaeLyn played a concert Saturday evening, capping off a week of activities in the suburb.
Sugar Land’s recently opened Smart Financial Centre was to host Maxim’s Super Bowl party, headlined by Houston rapper Travis Scott and DJ Khaled.
Katy, a small city out of “Friday Nights Lights,” seemed the right place to hold the celebrity football game. The Katy Tigers have won eight state titles, and the local school district is building the costliest high school stadium in Texas.
Fans started off the morning with a chili cook-off and tailgate before filing into the stadium for the touch football game, the proceeds of which will benefit the Wounded Warrior Project.
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton, a Katy native who played for the Tigers, came for the coin toss and greeted throngs of fans along the sidelines.
On the field were Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel, Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett, former University of Houston quarterback Greg Ward Jr. and Hall of Fame wide receiver and sports commentator Michael Irvin.
TJ Ward, a safety for the Denver Broncos, said the game was a welcome break in a week full of media appearances.
“It’s nice to do something that’s not all about us,” Ward said. ‘This is so amazing’
The game was decidedly fast-paced, with Flutie launching multiple long passes for touchdowns. As the game clock reached one minute, Cousins and his team made a dash for the end zone in an effort to score a game- winning touchdown. The players scrambled to hike the ball as the clock counted down.
The game ended after the ball slipped through the fingers of Cousins’ intended target as he ran across the end zone.
As players headed to the fieldhouse, 19-year-old Sam Evans clutched a Super Bowl hat and a marker. She said she had been a fan of Flutie’s since she was a child and nearly cried when she saw him walk off the field. The 5-foot-10 Flutie played in the NFL and led multiple Canadian Football League teams to championships but perhaps is best re- membered for his game-winning “Hail Flutie” touchdown pass to lead Boston College over Miami in 1984.
“Doug! Doug! Oh my God please come over here,” Evans squealed. “If I don’t get your signature, I’m going to walk away crying.”
Someone on the sideline took her hat and delivered it to Flutie, now 54. Tears streamed down her face when she got it back.
“This is so amazing, I can’t even believe it,” she said.