Houston receives huge praise in hosting Super Bowl 51

Jeff Ehling Image
Monday, February 6, 2017
Houston receives praise for hosting Super Bowl 51
Super Bowl 51 was one for the record books and Houston is getting praise all around for the effort put in to host the game.

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- The Super Bowl hand-off that happened Monday morning is the last responsibility for Houston. Now Minneapolis is on the clock!

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell went out of his way to thank the city for the last 10 days.

"I don't believe that you could have a team of people who were better prepared, more excited, more enthusiastic, and frankly could not have done a better job. It was just an extraordinary effort, incredible effort. They set a new bar," said Roger Goodell.

The Super Bowl may be over, but the cheering for Houston echoes through out the city.

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Even the usually reserved Patriots head coach, Bill Belichick, paused to express his thanks to everyone involved in hosting a record-setting Super Bowl.

"Just overall I want to thank the city of Houston, the people of Houston, certainly the police and law enforcement officers. They gave us such great courtesy, help and directions when we needed it. It was a great week for us and we thank the city of Houston for their big part of it and it was such a wonderful weekend for Patriots and all of our fans," said Bill Belichick.

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Mayor Sylvester Turner accepted those thanks and pointed out that even with protesters marching through city streets, Houston handled the events of the last 10 days without any major problems.

"This was a time that people did not run away because there was a big event like the Super Bowl coming. Houstonians and people in the region actually flocked and got to the venues. There were a lot that were free and didn't cost people too much and that was a big win. I heard that from a lot of folks," said Turner.

The mayor even said he told Goodell not to wait so long before coming back again. Mayor Turner and the city of Houston want another Super Bowl as soon as possible.