It's the second Texans home game of the season and it's business as usual on the Reliant Stadium parking lot -- get the food on the grill, the tailgating party pumping then pack up and head inside for the big match up. But for this game, thousands of fans are getting an early start to the gate and it's all because of the new enhanced security pat downs.
The extra pat downs were recommended by the NFL to all 32 teams. So now Texans fans are getting more than just the usual pat down from the waste up; they are also being check from the knee down. Some fans taking things more lightly than others.
"You've got to do what you've got to do to make sure everybody is safe," one fan said.
"Whatever it takes to keep everybody safe so they can enjoy themselves," another fan said.
The NFL is hoping with this it will help keep weapons, alcohol and other restricted items out of the stadium. But not every fan gives this a thumbs up.
'I think it will be an inconvenience. A lot of people come out here to enjoy themselves, and so if you hadn't had any reported problems I would stay with the regular," Texans fan Franklin Hardeman said.
But for other fans, neither the regular nor enhanced pat downs go far enough.
"I thought it was a joke just because the guy didn't really do anything. It was just a waste of time I think," one fan said.
"If they are really serious about making sure nobody has got any weapons when they come in here, they need to do a real pat down or they need to do metal detectors. What they are doing here isn't really -- if somebody wants to get in here they could easily," fan Steve Berdinis said.
For now fans can expect this at every game, and many are hoping it will be enough to keep them safe.
