Pigskin politics

STATE COLLEGE, Pennsylvania (CNN) - Last week, President Obama was given a Green Bay Packers jersey before he delivered a speech on the economy in Wisconsin. "They're rubbing it in," the Chicago Bears' Fan-in-Chief then joked, referring to his hometown team's recent loss to the Cheeseheads in the NFC championship game. This week, just days before the Super Bowl, the politics of football may have brought the president to central Pennsylvania, aka “Steelers Nation,” to talk innovation and green energy.The football-following president was good-naturedly booed by the crowd when he referenced his trip to Green Bay last week. He quickly explained he came to Pennsylvania "in the spirit of fairness." The Steelers fans in the room cheered when he assured them, "I've got some love for the Steelers."

But Obama stopped short of saying he'd root for the Steelers. He did, after all, tell a YouTube audience last week that he plans to remain "absolutely neutral" in this weekend's battle between the politically-important battleground states (weighing Wisconsin's 10 electoral votes vs. Pennsylvania's 21, maybe he should pick up a Terrible Towel on the way home).

The president's biggest cheer of the day, however, came when he recognized one of Penn State's own football heroes in the audience, legendary coach, Joe Paterno. "We are!" the audience shouted, "Penn State!"