Hey Fans,

Well the time has come…the start of football season! Maybe you are a college football fan, who attends to tailgates to show some school spirit, but is really anxiously awaiting kickoff so you can see your boys take the field. Or you are a professional football fan, where Sunday is the holy day for MANY reasons, but the phrase Jesus, Family, Football is your Sunday motto.

Either way, its a happy time whether you are a guy watching the game with the boys at a sports bar or a girl watching at home with the taco dip, who isn’t always taken seriously when it come to her football knowledge because, lets face it girls, we are a rare breed.

I’m not saying that women are clueless when it come to football at all. Anybody can like and understand football if they want to, but some people never grew up with football being a part of their fall traditions and that is perfectly fine. However, the people who did grow up with NFL Sunday Ticket being on your TV from September to January and trying to keep up with all the pools and fantasy teams that your father and brother have, you eventually need to see what all the fuss is about.

Football is a strange sport because there is so much negativity and pain that comes with watching it. Between the concussions and brain damage the players face after they retire, to the weekly beatings the players take and all the off the field issues, such as arrests, scandal and steroid use. Why would anybody want to hear about that every week, not to mention watch it for 10 hours straight. The answer is not the cute players, but lets face it, any time Aaron Rodgers or Jordy Nelson wants to take off his helmet, I’m not going to complain.

To me watching football is like watching emotions be played out and has taught me things about life that without football I wouldn’t know. For example, you win some and you lose some and the pain of defeat leaves you feeling empty and unsure of what the future will hold (that’s dramatic, but I’m committed and a die hard fan, and we are playing for a Super Bowl ring, so bear with me.) The victories give you a sense of relief and sometimes allow you to believe in miracles (Hail Mary pass by Aaron Rodgers anyone?) I mean the fact one of the most heroic plays in the game is named after a prayer to Mother Mary means Jesus supports sharing his special day with us and wants us to feel the joy, watch the struggle and feel the disappointment because that’s life. Sometimes you are riding a 10 game winning streak and other times you feel like you haven’t caught a break in weeks.

The beauty of football season is at the end of the season, someone emerges victorious and proves that hard work, luck and belief in yourself and the rest of your team (whoever they may be) pays off. To the other 31 teams, its a tough blow whether you never made the playoffs or are walking across the field with confetti falling for your opponent. But that’s life too. Sometimes we don’t get the thing we really wanted, even when we worked just as hard as the winners. I like to think of football fan God (I believe he is sitting up with in heaven watching the game in his armchair), watching his intentions unfold and then listens to the praises (and curses) of his fans and says “It will be ok, it’s just a game, even though I know it feels like your life right now”.

So to all my football fans, enjoy the season! Let these game teach you more than you realizing you are terrible at picking fantasy teams and let it be your gift before the start of a new week. This season is already planned out and you get to see it unfold. May your team emerge victorious (if your team is the Green Bay Packers) and enjoy the season. You know where to find me every Thursday night, Sunday afternoon and Monday night.

Go Pack Go,

A fellow football fan