National Football What?

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Have you ever tried to get into a new sport and no matter how hard you try, you can’t quite grasp all the rules? Well that’s exactly what I’m going through right now as I attempt to get into the NFL. If you’re trying to get into a new sport it’s likely that lots of your friends are fans of that sport. For years now I’ve had tons of friends that are crazy about football as well as play it, and I figured it’s time that I get in on the action that everyone talks about. I’m going to be breaking down my first week of trying to become an avid football fan, American of course.

 

First thing I had to start with was what my favourite team would be. Seems like a good start right? Usually we get into a sport from a young age because our families are into it, and so we tend to gravitate to what’s on in the house. If you’re from Vancouver, I’m sure you’re just like me and was indoctrinated into the Canucks fan base from a young age. However, what if you didn’t grow up rooting for a team, how do you choose? I broke it down into three different categories; team name and city, team colours and jersey, and limited pre-existing knowledge of the teams. Obviously this doesn’t come without a bit of bias as I do have friends who cheer for their own separate teams, but I wanted to pick one for my own. After a lot of time and thought, it came down to two teams, which were the Detroit Lions and the Miami Dolphins. The Lions have the appeal of a young up and coming team (because who wants to wait forever to see their team win) as well as a city with a long interesting history. Meanwhile the Dolphins called to me immediately as their bright teal orange and white drew my eyes like a moth to a flame. It helped that I’ve always had an inkling to the city of Miami as somewhere I’d love to visit in addition to with my limited knowledge of the sport they are led by one of my favourite players in Tyreek Hill. Needless to say I decided to go with the Dolphins.

 

 

You got your favourite team now what? You start watching. Because I’m actually trying to get into the sport as a whole, I didn’t want to just watch my favourite teams games, and luckily for me the first thing I learned is that the first football game of the year is always a big game to draw viewers and that it was. It was a playoff rematch between the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs and the Baltimore Ravens. I tried to follow along but it was a little difficult not knowing all of the rules and often found myself texting my friends dumb questions like; “what’s an onside kick” or “what’s a blitz” but as the game went on I felt like I began to have a better grasp on what it;s all about. It was a little frustrating at times not completely understanding what’s going on which I’m sure you can relate to if you’ve ever been in this position, but it’s all part of the process. By the conclusion of watching my first full football game I now had more knowledge than I did prior, however the real learning would come on an action packed thirteen game Sunday coming up.

 

 

Out of the thirteen games that took place on Sunday I managed to catch probably about four games worth and I gained a lot of knowledge through the nine or so hours I spent watching the screen. From player names like Geno Smith, to positions I didn’t know existed such as cornerback. Even learned some new rules like a lateral. Some of my new found knowledge made a lot of sense and some of it not so much. One of the more interesting ones to me was learning what a safety was. I had no idea that if the offensive line was backed into their own endzone and couldn’t clear it during their down that the play is called a safety and the defending team is awarded two points. Ironically one of my closest friends favourite teams the Seahawks gave up two safeties in their game which was the first time that had happened in seven years! I also learned about a play called a lateral where players can throw the ball more than once on a play, provided the ball is thrown at least a degree backwards and that now pop culture star Travis Kelce is the king of the lateral. I also learned that player stats are measured in rushing and receiving yards, although I’m still not quite sure as to what is a good number for each position to achieve as it seems it’s varying. That was one of the more difficult things I’m still grasping with thinking in hockey terms of shots on goal, or blocked shots. The statline in football seems to be a lot more complicated and when i asked around as to how to know what a good number is for each category, everyone met me with the same answer: “just got to watch and it will come with time”. So I guess for now I’m still in the dark on what good stats are. I’ve also learned a lot of player names that I desperately have been trying to retain from all positions like George Kittle of the San Francisco 49ers or  Matthew Stafford the quarterback who was traded from Detroit to the Los Angeles Rams. It’s been a lot of info to retain and I’m going to need to keep watching every week, oddly enough it’s a lot like studying for school. Have you ever experienced this?

 

 

Luckily I still have another eighteen or so weeks until the big one comes (the Super Bowl) so I’ve set a goal to know everything I need to by the time that comes around because the last thing you want is to be asking stupid questions at a Super Bowl party right? It’s ironic because I now know how my friends who I got into hockey feel, albeit I think hockey is a much easier sport to understand. Football seems like such a whacky concept, the constant starting and stopping, the “O-Line” and “D-Line”. The way flags are thrown and sometimes is a penalty and sometimes is replaying a down?  Why are the plays called downs? Why is the quarterback only allowed to hear the coach for fifteen seconds? These are all questions that I hope you had when you started watching football as well. I’ve found a new found appreciation for people attempting to learn a new sport. It’s not easy and it takes a lot of thinking, time and effort. It makes me feel bad about maybe being a little sarcastic or snarky to people that were trying to get into my sport asking me questions. It might take a few years, but it’s the journey that you’re supposed to enjoy anyways right? Have you ever taken the time to learn a new sport from scratch and how would you go about it?

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