I’ve religiously looked forward to Super Bowl Sunday every year for ten years. From the halftime performances to the guest appearances on either dull or wild advertisements to the game itself, the biggest star and circle on my calendar happens to be Sunday when Super Bowl week comes. But, now that the football season is over, I’ve had the time to realize the crazy and wild season that we’ve had. And I couldn’t be more proud to call myself a San Francisco 49er fan.
When I was younger, I used to look at September as a boring month of the year. School just started, homework is vamping up, and there are no breaks to look forward to. But over time, the start of the football season always excited me. Whether it be three hours a week when I can destress, or a day to forget about all the work I have, football has always been a reminder of how great sacrifices are to achieve your dreams. A reminder that not everyone is going to be an all-time great or hall-of-fame player. A reminder that so many of these people, not just players, put their blood, sweat, and tears into making it to the NFL.
I’m not going to lie: the NFL has a lot of problems. From random and completely unpredictable, sometimes even game-ruining, roughing the passer, and holding calls to years of bias and discrimination just to get drafted and start in the league, make a lot of the NFL’s history and present-day extremely controversial. Fans, including myself, get disappointed when their teams lose off of mistakes they didn’t make and favoritism towards teams that make a little more money.
But all of that doesn’t take away from the anticipation of the Super Bowl. This year, I was not very excited about the game. After watching my team lose to the most heartbreaking and devastating injuries, I wasn’t super happy to see two teams who, in my opinion, didn’t deserve to be there. Nevertheless, I rushed home that weekend, eagerly looking forward to Rihanna’s halftime show and to partake in a tradition my family and I have done for the past decade.
During the game, I couldn’t help but remind myself why I love being a Niner fan. From the early injuries we faced, where everyone counted us out of even making the playoffs, the whiplash of the worst defense in the league to the absolute best in a long time, the undefeated streak of rookie quarterback Brock Purdy, and the total dedication and love for the team that Niner fans, have reminded me of why I see football as so much bigger than just a sport. To see the last pick of the NFL draft go from Mr. Irrelevant to an incredible rookie QB. To see the defensive rookie of the year battle back from injury to defensive player of the year. Seeing the coaching staff get hired, once again, by other teams throughout the league because of their outstanding job reminded me that dreams are way bigger than just moving a football down the field to score a touchdown.
To all the non-sports fans:
To all the people who don’t necessarily love football:
To all the people who ask me why I even care to love the game as much as I do and represent my team through win or less:
To all the people who ask me why I wear my Nick Bosa 97 Red Niner Jersey with pride every Monday, rain or shine:
To me, football will always be the cure for my seasonal depression. Football always reminds me that entertainment and dreams go beyond music and TV. Football will be six months, 24 weeks, and four hours every Sunday of forgetting all the problems, schoolwork, and stress I have. But, football is more than a sport. It’s a lifestyle.
And yeah, it’s incredibly confusing, the rules don’t make any sense, and the name barely connects to the game. But, I love it anyway.