Hi, my name is Ryne and I am a football addict.
Over the years my obsession with football has changed and morphed itself in different ways. I was once addicted to college football; getting up early to watch the pregame show to see what mascot Lee Corso was going to put on his head all the way until the last matchup between Mountain West Conference schools ended at two in the morning. The gathering of family and friends with food and cards is always a good way to spend a Saturday and still is, but like I said before, the obsession has changed.
After watching countless hours of college football, I went from a casual NFL fan to a super fan that needed my fix daily — and still am that way. The difference between the two is what happens inside the lines.
College football is the ultimate family football atmosphere with tailgating, games and marching bands; however, the product on the field is a glaringly worse product than the NFL. In college football, great plays are made usually because of poor defenses. I mean c’mon, watching a Big 12 game is a complete joke when the final score is 52-63. Nobody realized what Patrick Mahomes was doing at Texas Tech was special because the defenses he played were so atrocious and yet more often than not Texas Tech lost with Mahomes.
Trust me, I get it; there’s nothing like being at an Auburn game with the eagle flying around the stadium with 90,000 people chanting and pounding pompoms, but how many times have we seen Auburn play down to the level of the Louisiana Monroes and Jacksonville States of the world, producing a bad product on the field? More times than not, NFL games end in one-possession games because team and individual effort is on another level; it’s the 1% of the 1%.
With the spectacular one-handed catches and performances like Julio Jones had in the Super Bowl, I’ve become callused to the one-foot catches of college football and how easy it is. Not to mention I watched all the players that are currently playing in the NFL in college, so I recognize and have followed their journeys for years. I would highly encourage nonfans or casuals to check up on some of your old college favorites and see how they are favoring at the next level. Who knows, maybe you could become a fan.
The NFL has jumped in popularity over the last couple seasons, reaching new heights thanks to Roger Goodell — who has shockingly turned into a great commissioner after years of dropping the ball.
For me, it’s about the product inside the lines and not the bells and whistles that come with college football because they are merely distractions. Watching Aaron Rodgers throw a 60-yard bomb with pin-point accuracy to a one-handed catch by Davante Adams will always be better than the marching band’s rendition of an AC/DC song, but hey that’s just me. That being said, the marching band puts in a lot of work and I respect them for that.
Getting southerners to watch the NFL is like pulling teeth for some reason but shouldn’t be when half the league is riddled with SEC players you’ve grown to love — and hate. So why not take a peek this Sunday and see for yourself. You can thank me later.
Ryne Gallacher is a sports writer for The Outlook and Dadeville Record.