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5 Tips for Dating a College Football Player

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Chapel Hill chapter.

The air outside is crisp and cool winds tease at the fibers of cardigans, Kenan stadium transforms into constellations of white and blue as paint-stained bodies pack the bleachers. It’s officially football season.

There is something enthralling about football games, an immeasurable feeling that palpitates through the bleachers, a sort of magnetic air that rivets the crowd and connects us all from the moment of kick-off.

But what about the girls who yearn to take this connection beyond the infrastructural constraints of the stadium?

The fantasy of dating a college football player is not a novel concept. Movies like Remember the Titans and Friday Night Lights have long highlighted the romantic entanglements of their athletic protagonists. The consequent inundation of this image in contemporary cinema has made the dream of dating a college football player seem feasible.

And it is.

However, what the movies fail to expose are the inherent obstacles that accompany dating a college athlete. So, for all of you inquisitive ladies out there, we have compiled of a list of 5 To-Do’s for dating a college football player based upon the advice of Carolina native and junior defensive back, Tim Furr:

1. Be patient.
Athletics are exceptionally demanding both on the body as well as on athletes’ schedules, especially at the collegiate level. As Furr explains, “The amount of time we have to devote to our sport can often be an issue because you can’t see your significant other as often as you would like.” So, ladies, take note of this before you decide to embark on a romantic venture with a college football player.

2. Be flexible.
Furr maintains that college football keeps its players relatively busy all year-round. Expounding more upon the temporal exigencies placed on athletes by their coaches, he explains that, “Although during the offseason we don’t lift as often or as heavy, we have practice every day; whereas, in the off-season we lift a lot more and alternate days of practice.” Again, I emphasize to the ladies to be cognizant of the fact that your football-player beau’s availability will be largely delimited by his athletic commitment. Accordingly, if you want to spend quality time together, you will have to be willing to work around his schedule.

3. Trust.
This is an essential component of any relationship. However, it’s unequivocally important in dealing with a college football player, whose status may garner numerous rumors. Furr warns, “Don’t buy into … things you hear and above all, just trust each other.” Simple as that.

4. Be confident.
There’s nothing more unattractive than an insecure girlfriend! Furr divulges this sense of insecurity is one of the biggest impediments to maintaining a successful relationship. He noted that “just getting females to come to terms with the fact that because of our status as an athlete we get a lot of attention from women” was a daunting task in itself. So, ladies, if you’re going to date a college football player, be sure that you have healthy self-esteem.

5. Be sure that you’re ready!
Endeavoring to date a college football player is a huge leap, one that should not be taken lightly. Therefore, you must be certain that this relationship is what you want and that you are both ready to make compromises and trust each other in order to make it last.
 

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Jaleesa Jones

Chapel Hill

Jaleesa Jones is a senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is a communication studies major with double minors in journalism and screenwriting. She is president and co-campus correspondent of the UNC chapter of Her Campus, a Collegiate Correspondent for USA TODAY and a member of the Carolina Association of Future Magazine Editors, Carolina Association of Black Journalists, National Association of Black Journalists and National Association of Hispanic Journalists. Jaleesa loves covering lifestyle, race, feminism and the arts. In her spare time, she enjoys confusing her roommate with alternating sessions of Juicy J and Taylor Swift, imagining her Ramen was pasta, and binge-watching movies - because TV series are so '90s. 
Melissa Paniagua is a senior journalism major at The University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, specializing in public relations. She is currently a fashion market intern at ELLE Magazine. On campus, Melissa acts as the Her Campus president as well as the vice president of the Carolina Association of Future Magazine Editors, UNC’s Ed2010 chapter. In the past, she has been an intern for Southern Weddings Magazine and a contributing writer for Her Campus. Melissa has an appreciation for all things innovative, artful and well designed and hopes to work in marketing for a women’s lifestyle magazine in the future!