Mayor Frey welcomes Philly fans to Minneapolis

MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) - Thousands of football fans braved the winter weather to take in Super Bowl festivities in downtown Minneapolis Saturday. 

Among a sea of Eagles fans, one person stood out. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey worked the crowd, offering the fans from Philadelphia a warm welcome. Frey and Abdirahman Kahin, the owner of Afro Deli, passed out Sambusas, a fried, Somali meat-based pastry. 

“Well we want to welcome everyone including—yes, including—the Philadelphia Eagles fans,” Frey said. “You know, this is a big deal to our local economy here so we’re proud to have them here.” 

The mayor garnered a lot of attention after poking fun of Eagles fans in a video welcoming them to the state. A few weeks ago some Eagles fans got out of hand when the team put an end to the Vikings’ dream of playing in the Super Bowl. 

“For the Eagles fans, don’t worry we’ll be greasing all the lamp posts so you’ll feel right at home. Make sure you come back to visit us again. Are we seriously welcoming the [expletive] Eagles fans?” Frey said in the video welcoming fans. 

“Obviously I was joking, but in reality I was just saying what everybody else in Minnesota was thinking. I stand by it, but it’s still well worth welcoming everybody,” Frey told Fox 9. 

And on the cold winter day ahead of Super Bowl Sunday the mayor was warmly received. 

“It was all in good spirit,” said Eagles fan Margaret Hussey. “We’re just happy to be here and we’re just happy that they’re happy to have us.”