Two things about me: I love trivia and I love football. So what better thing to do than ask people football trivia? Not exactly knowing the point I was going to make, I set out to interview some people and ask random NFL questions to see their responses. Mainly it was for fun, but as I was conducting interviews and questioning them that I made a realization about how passion influences knowledge.

• THE CHOSEN ONES

* Note: Names have been changed for privacy

• Newt – Age 20, Econ Major, self-proclaimed football fan
• Meredith – Age 20, Biology Major, strong case of sports apathy
• Anna – Age 20, English Major, enjoys SNF opener and Super Bowl commercials
• Tom – Age 20, Chemical Engineering Major, also a self-proclaimed football fan

• THE QUESTIONS

Q1) How many divisions are there in the NFL?

Q2) How many NFL teams can you name?

Q3) What is a blitz?

Q4) How many teams have never been to the Super Bowl?

• THE ANSWERS

Q1) How many divisions are there in the NFL? (1 point)

N: 8*

M: 5??

A: 8 maybe?

T: 8*

*Explanations/Breakdowns included

Correct Answer: 8

RUNNING SCORE

Newt: 1

Meredith: 0

Anna: 1

Tom: 1

Q2) How many NFL teams can you name? (with explanation of method) (1 point per team)

N: 32 (by division)

M: 6 (who knows? She thought the Penguins was an NFL team)

A: 21 (picturing a map)

T: 32 (by division)

Correct Answer: 32

RUNNING SCORE

Newt: 33

Meredith: 6

Anna: 22

Tom: 33

Q3) - What is a blitz? (1 point)

N: A type of play on the defense where instead of just rushing your defensive linemen, you go ahead and send some other guys as well (linebackers, safeties, or defensive backs) [side note: pros/cons, diagrams, and strategy were also included in the explanation]

M: Where you dart at somebody, wave your arms and yell in their face, and then run away.

A: multiple players from the defense going after one person in the offense.

T: Aggressive defense where non lineman engage in the pursuit of the quarterback

Correct Answer (via google): In American football or Canadian football, blitzing is a tactic used by the defense to disrupt pass attempts by the offense. During a blitz, a higher than usual number of defensive players will rush the opposing quarterback, to try to tackle the quarterback or force them to hurry their pass attempt.

RUNNING SCORE

Newt: 34

Meredith: 6

Anna: 22.5

Tom: 34

Q4) - How many teams have never been to the Super Bowl? (1 point, +0.5 point for each team named)

N: 4 (Lions, Jaguars, Texans, Browns)

M: 7 (N/A)

A: 6 (N/A)

T: 6 (Jaguars, Texans, Chiefs, Chargers, Lions, Browns)

Correct Answer: 4 (Browns, Jaguars, Lions, Texans)

RUNNING SCORE

Newt: 39

Meredith: 6

Anna: 22.5

Tom: 38

• THE RESULTS

1^st place: Newt (with 39 points)

4^th place: Meredith (6 points)

3^rd place: Anna (with 22.5 points)

2^nd place: Tom (with 38 points)

So, the results suggest that the self-proclaimed fans did better than those who don’t watch football or watch it casually. That makes sense. However, the attitude in which they answered the questions - which can’t be portrayed via answers only - was fascinating.

Newt answered everything correctly. He was the crème de la crème of everyone I interviewed. Not only did he answer everything right, but he was fast and thorough in his answers. In questions that stumped him, he aggressively wracked his brain for the answer. I could tell he enjoyed football and had been a fan for a long time.

Meredith came in last. Not only did she answer most things incorrectly, she also didn’t care. She wasn’t wasting brain energy trying to come up with more team names or other information that may or may not have been hidden in the depths of her brain.

Anna was third, but ultimately she seemed to have a general common knowledge of football. While she wouldn’t go out of her way to watch the game, if it happened to be on, she’d watch at least part of it… which I think can be said for a lot of people. So while she didn’t have zero knowledge, she probably wouldn’t consider herself to be a fan.

Tom came in second. Tom showed enthusiasm in answering the questions. In the one question he got wrong, he immediately looked up the correct answer afterwards. Maybe it was just his competitive nature, or maybe he just really wanted to know the answer. Either way, he cared enough about the topic to look it up, to become knowledgeable, which says something.

So, does Passion = Knowledge? Newt and Tom had both passion and were knowledgeable about football, Anna had some knowledge, but little passion, and Meredith didn’t have either. From this small demographic it can be said that Passion = Knowledge. If someone loves or cares enough about something, they want to know more about it and will find out one way or another.