I wish I could say that I am not sure where my love of football came from. As I am writing this post I am sitting with a glass of whiskey, sore after a workout, watching the NFC playoffs. But I can tell you two very real reasons why I love the game.
My mother actually enjoys telling this story. How at a very young age, a baby even, my mother found that whenever a game was on tv, I was captivated by it. She thought it had to do with the uniform colors and the constant running. I mean, what 18 month old knows a thing about Zone Defense. But once my mother noticed that I would become silent and actually happy when football was on tv, she began recording games and having them around, just in case I had a fussy moment. Some babies find pacifiers soothing, I found Joe Montana soothing.
The second reason I would attribute loving the gridiron would be my late grandfather. I grew up with my grandparents and my grandfathers’ form of “church” was Sunday football and whiskey. After a family breakfast, we would spend the next several hours watching football. There were no chores, no going outside, no visiting friends, just football. I don’t really recall how it happen, but I began to join him. He and I, and sometimes my grandmother, would spend silent hours, watching the Redskins and his beloved Bears. When he noticed that I started to enjoy the game, he would teach me about football and why in his opinion, there was no greater player or man, than Walter Payton. I loved those times, and still have a soft spot for the Bears to this day.
Fast forward a few years later, a proud Georgia girl, where football and tailgating is life, my love has only grown. Some may call it obsessive, some may call it just a game. In the past, I have always enjoyed dating guys who love football just as much, if not more than I do. Has this been an issue with guys who may not like football as much as me? Yes. But is it enough to go crazy over? No.
In the end, I can appreciate if a guy doesn’t relate to the game like I do. It’s those differences that make a couple click. One may love podcasts, the other reality shows. One, Coke…the other Pepsi. Ok, maybe that’s taking it a bit too far. Either way, appreciate my dedication to all things pigskin, and you will find a woman as loyal to the game as she is to you.
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