I never thought I'd be an NFL fangirl, but during the playoffs in January 2013 I questioned why I had never really watched football before when so many people obviously love it.
I decided to give it a try.
With printouts from "Football for Dummies" in hand, I desperately grasped for enlightenment. A full season after finding a favorite team, I think it's safe to say I'm hooked!
Below you'll find some random (and some embarassing!) things that ran through my mind as I tried to wrap my head around "What in the world is happening on my screen?!?"
In no particular order...
Q1. What kind of adult chooses the initals BJ as a nickname for the back of his jersey?
A. In this case "BJ" refers to "back judge," which makes a lot more sense than something boys used to joke about in the 7th grade. Among other things, you'll find these guys standing under the goalpost during field goals to rule on whether the kick is good.
Q2. How in the world did that guy score a touchdown by jumping over, and landing on, the other players in front of him while never touching the endzone?
A. This one was a real mystery and required an immediate text to my sports-loving brother-in-law. (my husband probably knew the answer, but was out of the country and unreachable.) Did you know that when a receiver is not already in the endzone, the ball only needs to cross the line and the player does not actually need to touch that ground? So in this case, reaching the ball past the line while several feet in the air resulsted in another 6 points. I. Was. Amazed. ("that guy" is Cam Newton of the Carolina Panthers, December 2013)
Q3. How does Fantasy Football work?
A. To paraphrase a football fanatic, basically you get to make up your own dream team! okay... sounds cool. This means you follow EVERYBODY instead of just your real-life favorites. Especially if you're in different leagues. um, that's a lot of players.. Instead of cheering for one or two teams, being in a fantasy football league means that any play by any team in any game is potentially thrilling or distressing because your own FF team is comprised of guys from the entire league. ain't no woman got time for that!*
*Actually, some do. Check out www.herfantasyfootball.com
Q4. WTF is a "Brown?"
A. This is an embarassing train of thought to admit, but I was seriously confused about what else it could refer to besides some undetermined ethnicity. With all the talk about the Redskins' name, I wasn't sure why I hadn't heard media chatter about the Browns, too. Apparantly, the Clevelend Browns were named after their innagural coach, Paul Brown. This was a long time ago (1945) so I don't feel bad not knowing about him. Also, it just goes to show (me) that there are teams named after actual people and not just animals and historical professions. (because, you know, Buccaneers, Vikings, and Cowboys were sort of professions...)
Q5. Just how big are those guys, anyway??
A. The above gentlemen are part of the Patriots Offensive Line. When you see them make the other players look like tiny guys, you know they're actual giants. Their stats: #76, Sebastian Vollmer and #77, Nate Solder, are both 6'8" weighing in at a healthy 320 pounds. I couldn't identify #71 but he looks even bigger!
Do you like football? Please tell me you've had strange questions, too!
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