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MEXICO CITY – Fernando Rangel and his girlfriend, Fernanda Balderas, camped out for 22 hours to meet Patriots stars Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola at a mall in the southern section of the city on Saturday. “We looked at the people here already and decided to stay,” said Rangel, a 22-year-old student, after he and Balderas, sporting a Tom Brady jersey, were out in the area for coffee on a Friday afternoon.
“We slept for about two hours; we were too excited.” It was well worth it, the pair said, because they, along with a couple hundred Patriots fans who also camped out, were in position to receive autographs from the two wideouts of the reigning NFL champion Patriots. Once the doors opened, organizers estimated a crowd of 2,000 lined up for the meet-and-greet with the Patriots receivers. Amendola draped a Mexican flag over his shoulders while mingling with the crowd and signing autographs. “Viva Mexico!” yelled out Edelman while the excited crowd chanted "ardilla," the Spanish word for "squirrel," one of his nicknames. “You guys have made us feel at home.” In town to promote their Nov. 19 clash against the Oakland Raiders at the Estadio Azteca, the Patriots wideouts were the latest volunteers on the NFL's extended goodwill mission to a football-crazed city hosting its second regular-season game in as many seasons, and third overall. Other stops in the Mexican capital for Edelman and Amendola included cavorting in the ring with some lucha libre wrestlers. “I've been a fan for about a year,” Balderas said. “I was struck by how well they play, and how great the Super Bowl [against Atlanta] was.”  Others have been following the team a bit longer than the past year. “We've been fans since the [coach Bill] Parcells days with Drew Bledsoe,” said "Pepe" Villanueva, 30. He and his friend, Jose Velez, also 30, said they trekked to New Jersey last season to watch the Patriots play the New York Giants in the final preseason game. “To have the chance to meet them, to see them up close, you don't usually get that from attending a game,” Villanueva said, who said they too had been in line since the previous evening. Steelers delight their Mexican fans Earlier this month, thousands of Pittsburgh fans showed up at Valle de Mexico University campus a few miles north of Mexico City to participate in the team's sixth fan camp event since 2010. Stalwart Steelers James Harrison, Joey Porter and Santonio Holmes were among the main attractions (the latter two are retired). Steelers fan Daniel Sandoval showed off all six of the franchise’s NFL championships tattooed on his right leg, by way of the Super Bowl logos from each game. Below those tattoos, just above his ankle, the Mexican fan sports the team’s logo and the Pittsburgh city skyline. “At a different event in Queretaro, I showed Santonio the tattoos,” said Sandoval. “He was impressed, and I asked him to sign my leg.” The former wide receiver obliged, and now that moment (and ink) has also been immortalized on Sandoval’s body. “I remember that,” Holmes said. “He got that tattooed too? That’s amazing.” The popular Steelers recently completed their sixth visit to Mexico by way of a fan camp that allowed hundreds of devotees to participate in drills with some of their favorite players, including Holmes, the Super Bowl XLIII MVP. Sandoval’s zeal for the team is not uncommon in Mexico. The Steelers, along with the Cowboys, had regular broadcasts of their games on Mexican TV in the 1970s. Their popularity even yielded a preseason game at the Estadio Azteca on Aug. 19, 2000 – when Pittsburgh lost 24-23 to the Indianapolis Colts. The team curates Spanish-language content on its website and operates an official Twitter account in the language (@acereros), and radio broadcasts can be heard in Mexico over terrestrial airwaves. Mexican fans have already shown a willingness to flock to Steelers events. The supporters who engaged in the two-day event with players paid $110 USD apiece. As is the case each year, proceeds supported a local charity. This year's benefited organization was Lucentis Umanita, dedicated to helping lower-income families with children battling cancer and other ailments. The event’s increasingly common nature has not dampened excitement from players and staff alike. Fans gladly stood in lines under the hot sun in order to participate in the drills headed by current Steelers Harrison, fullback Roosevelt Nix and guard Ramon Foster and retired greats Tyrone Carter, Holmes and Porter. “The fan base is real out here in Mexico,” said Porter. “I knew it was strong, but I didn't realize it was this strong. It's a beautiful situation.” “I haven't seen anyone without a smile on their face,” Nix concurred. “It's great to be down here.” Though the drill portion of the fan camp was originally scheduled to last a few hours, many players, including Holmes, stayed beyond their allotted time to interact with fans further. According to a Nielsen Sports Mexico study in 2017, the Dallas Cowboys are Mexico's most popular NFL team, followed by the Steelers, Broncos and Patriots. “It was beautiful," Sandoval said. "The entire city was just covered with black and gold.” Read the Spanish-language version of this story here.
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