The wait is almost over. Soon there will be thousands of fans packed into stadiums across the country and people tuning in from every nook and cranny of America to watch the opening weekend of the National Football League. Frankly, this offseason has been even longer than most because of the way the Patriots won the Super Bowl, leaving most of the country sick to their stomachs and deranged with the thought that their teams didn’t win it all last season. Hard hits, perfect throws, dashing moves, incredible speed, unstoppable power… The list goes on and on about what it exactly means for football season to be back.
Although the elements of this great game are spectacular to watch, it is also what the NFL season brings to the fans that truly makes it special. Tailgates, cheers, high fives, beers, jerseys, playing catch, secret game day rituals, and so much more that the fans treasure and have made into traditions. The atmosphere and excitement that a football game brings is electrifying and a sense of bonding like none other. For many fans, blood is thicker than anything, especially if they bleed the colors of their favorite NFL team.
Football allows for so many different things to come about, which is the best way I can describe it because many of them are just things. The NFL has become a way for many to escape the real world and channel everything into a team or a game. The passion of the players and coaches projects to the fans and vice versa, which establishes a give and take that makes NFL games like nothing else in the world. Even if watching from home, you get a feel for the energy of the crowd and the desire of the players and coaches, making you that much more invested.
As an extension, these feelings will cause you to make rash decisions that may or may not be ideal for your situation. For example, buying a curved, 4K TV and the best option of surround sound that Best Buy has to offer so that you can feel as close to the game as possible may not exactly fit your budget. Likewise, throwing out your arm and hurting your back trying to match the level of determination and effort that your favorite players exemplify on game day will likely put you in a doctor’s office, which probably wasn’t a part of the budget either. Oh, and good luck doing anything at all besides watching football on Sundays. I’m convinced that Sunday was made for football. Borrowing from the trailer of the new movie Concussion, the NFL owns a day of the week. But don’t forget staying up later for Monday Night Football and occasionally for Thursday Night Football.
What is there to do the rest of the days of the week when football isn’t on? No worries, that’s why fantasy football was invented. Now we can fill the rest of the week reading about our NFL teams and our fantasy teams, making trades and adding players and dreaming of ways for this to get us into an NFL front office. Now we have one-week fantasy football leagues where we can win money, putting our true ability to the test and pushing us to blow off anything at all that’s important and instead doing research on players and match-ups.
Don’t be too alarmed with the possibility of football taking up too much of your time away from work or school; that’s what the spring and summer are for. Just remember, we are finally on our way to the Super Bowl and making our mark on NFL history. We are ready to be crowned the champion of the office or the king of the school. We are ready to dominate in fantasy and make memories in the stadium or in the La-Z-Boy that we couldn’t afford but bought anyway. Rejoice, the NFL season is coming on Thursday, September 10th.
