Whenever a significant other decides to break the tie and go separate ways, the person receiving the heartbreak has to understand how to live without the other person. There’s a bond, a relationship that seems unbreakable.
Football fans across the U.S. face this problem everyday and it’s not because of their loved ones. Football is a relationship that us Americans cherish and when it’s gone, the depression becomes a reality.
This happens particularly with the NFL and fans expect to see stronger, faster and more developed players. Plus, there are so many college teams that it makes it much more difficult to find an Arizona fan in Ohio than a Dallas Cowboys fan anywhere across the country.
There’s a mystique about the NFL that everyone loves and it’s probably due to the league being the greatest equalizer to where even though certain players stand out, they aren’t men amongst boys.
If you’re in the shoes of Reggie Bush, JaMarcus Russell or Matt Leinart, playing college football was a cakewalk, but the NFL had other plans. With Bush being a journeyman, Russell drinking codeine cough syrup and Leinart being on DirecTV commercials with Brian Bosworth, the NFL showed just why football fans prefer it over college football.
The problem that NFL fans face is the dog days of the offseason from February to the first week of September. Americans want to see grown men hitting each other at the same velocity of a car crash. So when basketball is in full swing and football is kicked to the curb, Americans go through the breakup stage: looking through old pictures as well as videos, talking about next year’s fantasy draft, even though it’s months away.
Just like any breakup, if the person on the receiving end sees the person who broke the bond with another person, then there’s an automatic switch to despise the person. Imagine how the San Diego Chargers felt when Pro Bowl receiver Vincent Jackson bolted to Tampa Bay. Now, San Diego fans refer to Jackson as “you know who” as if he’s Lord Voldemort from “Harry Potter”.
The offseason is very important if you’re an NFL team, especially because of the NFL Draft, trades and free agency. It’s a marquee stage in the NFL season because it may set up or break up teams’ chances of returning to prominence.
Look at the San Francisco 49ers for example. They went from NFC contenders to only winning the Super Bowl if it’s in Madden NFL. Seeing or hearing news isn’t the same as gossiping about the teams in midseason.
Just like a breakup, it’s preferable to be with the other person rather than hearing about the fun activities they’re doing without you.
The first NFL game is today between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New England Patriots, so the breakup is finally merging into the getting back together stage, which is anxiously waiting for the first date.
Except this time, the first date will result in a Rob Gronkowski spike and the commentators talking about the Deflategate fiasco until the game is over.
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