The Magic Of Football: Why Do You Watch It?

[The Marshall Plan]

Just guessing, but everybody here has been watching football for years and in most cases decades.

Why do you do it?

You could be doing anything during the games, but you choose to watch football.

For me:

The Bears went through their Super Bowl run when I was a little kid so at a young age watching football every Sunday was kind of imprinted upon me. This was something I did myself. That is what got me hooked.

Football games are fast paced. They don't drag on for me like baseball does. The timeouts and TV timeouts. Whatever. Every game has stoppages except really for soccer where they make it up past the 90:00 mark.

There's a lot to a football game. I think you have to be smart to call the right play. Have the right personnel on the field. Then the players have to execute that play. There's a lot going on there which to me is easily more complex than baseball and at least on the level of basketball or hockey.

Consistent game times and dates. Every Sunday, for the most part, at either noon or 3:30. It's a convenient day of the week and time.

Only 17 games. Watching every game is pretty simple even before the days of the DVR or Game Pass. I can't imagine being able to watch every game in baseball.

It's an excuse to eat some of my favorite foods.

[dplank]

Mostly those same reasons. Although if you haven't watched baseball lately, the new rules changes have made the game significantly better IMO. Games are now shorter than NFL games on average. The pace is much faster, much less downtime.

I think the biggest draw for me is that every game matters when you only play 17. There's a scarcity to their formula that's unique with the major sports, every other sport if you lose a game it's no big deal. In football, it's a big deal.

[duckherd50]

I have been a Bears fan since early 1984 as a 2nd grader when my 2nd grade teacher talked about Chicago all the time. Us boys pretended to be players and many were Steelers fans (living in West Virginia). But, I pretended to be Mike Singletary (reason I wore 50 in school). But, the Bears have an extra special place for me. On January 26, 1986 I watched the Bears win the Super Bowl with my Grandpa as he was in the hospital. He was a huge Cowboys fan, but he rooted for the Bears that night because he knew I liked them. Unfortunately he passed away the next morning on Jan 27. We were off school that next day (parents kept us home) and I was watching as the space shuttle Challenger blew up. So basically its been all downhill as a Bears fan since that night. But, I watch just hoping and praying that we will once again become Super Bowl Champions.

[Shadow]

I became a fan of the Bears in the mid 70's. Growing up in North Central Indiana, the Chicago Bears were the defacto home team for us. Except for that Bandwagoneer, Mark Surber, He was a Fran Tarkenton/Vikings fan. Hey Mark! Vikings still suck! Still no Lombardi!
The Super Bowl year, I got to enjoy while serving in the Army in Germany. As the Bears were the hottest team in football, this was about the only year AFN covered most every game.
So following and watching the Bears has been a large part of my life since I was about 13.

[Grizzled]

All of the exellent reasons guys have already listed. Plus I like the stability of the NFL - much fewer arguments about money, no strikes or holdouts, no totally insane salary cap shenanigans like in the NBA.

[Moriarty]

• Limited games/games all matter
• Finances. The NFL was the first and arguably still the best at getting a cap & floor in place, sharing revenue, and making sure all 32 teams could compete, without any of that 'feeder team' bullshit.
• Plays are discrete, so they lend themselves well to statistical analysis.
• Yet the plays are very complex, with 22 people doing very different jobs that might or do matter. And it's all deeply interrelated. It's not like baseball, where 95% of the game is between 2 people at a time.
• The draft is awesome. You don't draft someone you've never heard of, then next hear about them in 4 years (or never), like baseball. You don't draft 1, maybe 2 guys who matter, like basketball.
• The rosters are big enough, positions diverse enough, and substitutions frequent enough that there's always something to be intrigued by - positional battles, someone's role, playcalling relative to player skills, etc.

[The Marshall Plan]

• Limited games/games all matter
• Finances. The NFL was the first and arguably still the best at getting a cap & floor in place, sharing revenue, and making sure all 32 teams could compete, without any of that 'feeder team' bullshit.
• Plays are discrete, so they lend themselves well to statistical analysis.
• Yet the plays are very complex, with 22 people doing very different jobs that might or do matter. And it's all deeply interrelated. It's not like baseball, where 95% of the game is between 2 people at a time.
• The draft is awesome. You don't draft someone you've never heard of, then next hear about them in 4 years (or never), like baseball. You don't draft 1, maybe 2 guys who matter, like basketball.
• The rosters are big enough, positions diverse enough, and substitutions frequent enough that there's always something to be intrigued by - positional battles, someone's role, playcalling relative to player skills, etc.

All of your points are good, but my favorite one is about the draft. I didn't even think of that. Solid point.

[UOK]

It's kind of odd. I don't associate watching the Bears with watching football. Watching XFL games this year was, for example, me watching football. No real investment, just watching the sport. Same goes for throwing on the occasional college football game. I can't really watch football when I have an emotional investment in one of the team's success.

It's hard to wrap up why I watch the Bears, because I barely watched any of last season. I used that time instead to do yardwork, clean the garage, hang out with my wife and dogs, etc. The Bears are sort of like this little brother I have to foster along a few times a year and hope that one of these years he finally starts making good decisions and turns their life around. But watching football?

I enjoy that each play is roughly 10 seconds of loosely organized chaos. Twenty-two men all dialed into their responsibilities, having and executing a plan for about .5 seconds before it all goes to shit and they have to react to one another. They all hurl themselves at one another, eventually the guy with the ball either scores or the ref blows a whistle and then they have to shake off the mini car wreck they just experienced and do it all again. Ideally these games are played in brisk, chilly weather with clouds and occasionally light snow.

I like baseball for the same reasons but opposite extremes. It's more leisurely, less intense, given room to breathe, but when it's intense? It's extremely high-tension, and there's nothing quite like it. It's got the sunshine, blue skies, green grass, beer and a hotdog vibe.

[wab]

It's hard to pin down why I watch football. I watch the Bears because they are "my" team. I have an emotional investment in them (although that has waned recently and I've found myself caring less about the outcomes).

I think I like to watch football because I associate it with fall and fall is my favorite season. Crisp air (well as crisp as it gets in Texas). Hoodies. Chili. These are things that are endearing to me.

I don't really have a good explanation, but there's just something about having football on TV, even if I'm not actively watching or vested, that brightens my mood.

[spudbear]

Funny how the site admin doesn't watch the games and a moderator caring less over the outcomes still spend a good bit of time on a Bears fan site.
I watch football because I played it when I was a yute and was a Bears fan like my dad. Unfortunately I could not impart that "joy" to my sons. It's also a social thing, where I can enjoy a site like this, talk to family members and friends about da Bears, and even give knuckle-head Cowboy fans at work a hard time. There's Steelers fans here too and they act like they own the world because they have a fairly long record of playoff appearances - wonder if that will change?

Anyhow, it's modern warfare combined with Roman coliseum gladiators, slightly less gore and more cheerleaders (except the Honeybears).

[Arkansasbear]

I watch football, almost any football, as I love seeing how teams exploit and attack the other team. It's an art form. For that reason I tend to enjoy watching games at home more than in person. I have a huge t.v. that lets me see everything in great detail than if I was there and I can rewind to see things I think were great or awful. When it comes to my Razorbacks, Bears (both Chicago and Central Arkansas) and to a lessor degree the Gators, I also am emotionally invested in the outcome and want to see it play out. Regardless I tend to be very fixated on what I'm watching. I don't watch may college or NFL games casually (I do with the XFL).

I watch baseball for completely different reasons. It's an easy watch that requires less attention (granted that means you can easily miss the only play that really matters at times). For that reason, I tend to prefer watching games in person rather than on t.v. It's an event you do with friends. The level of play doesn't have a big impact for me. I can hang out and go with my friends and watch their kids high school game or little league and have about as good a time as going to a minor league or MLB game (granted the food won't be as good and there won't be any beers). But it's about being outside with friends and sometimes peaking in on what is going on on the diamond. I'm not really emotionally invested in any team (I want the Cardinals to win as growing up there AA team was 30 minutes away and went with my dad about weekly to games (he LOVED baseball and the Razorbacks but couldn't care less about the NFL) and twice a year to St. Louis - so they just make me smile thinking about my dad).

So if I had to give up one, it would be the NFL if I wanted to look out for my mental health, but that would never happen and it would be baseball due to the years of emotional capital I've invested in my teams.

[AZ_Bearfan]

I think Dani Rojas on that Ted Lasso show said it best.

"Football is life."

[AZ_Bearfan]

I was a wrestler growing up. We moved to south Texas in junior high and the closest wrestling club was a 2.5 hour drive away. So I gave football a try. By the end of junior high, I worked my way up to playing LT for the junior high city champs. Our team was picked to finish dead last at the beginning of the season and we won it all. I was pretty much hooked from then on.

I like to blow casual sports fans minds when I explain how cerebral football really is. It's a constantly evolving 4D chess match between the opposing coordinators with variables out the wazoo and I find it fascinating.

[wab]

Funny how the site admin doesn't watch the games and a moderator caring less over the outcomes still spend a good bit of time on a Bears fan site.

Maybe we are just here for the sparkling personalities.

[IE]

Funny how the site admin doesn't watch the games and a moderator caring less over the outcomes still spend a good bit of time on a Bears fan site.

Maybe we are just here for the sparkling personalities.

Also sorta taking a flyer on the team becoming good & fun to watch again. I think you guys will allow yourselves to "love again" when it comes around. lol

[wab]

Maybe we are just here for the sparkling personalities.

Also sorta taking a flyer on the team becoming good & fun to watch again. I think you guys will allow yourselves to "love again" when it comes around. lol

I still watch every game. I just stopped letting the outcome ruin my day.

[dplank]

Also sorta taking a flyer on the team becoming good & fun to watch again. I think you guys will allow yourselves to "love again" when it comes around. lol

I still watch every game. I just stopped letting the outcome ruin my day.

I finally managed to get to that point of maturity this last season. And I found it all so much more enjoyable when I finally exorcised that demon.

[Richie]

Just guessing, but everybody here has been watching football for years and in most cases decades.

Why do you do it?

You could be doing anything during the games, but you choose to watch football.

For me:

The Bears went through their Super Bowl run when I was a little kid so at a young age watching football every Sunday was kind of imprinted upon me. This was something I did myself. That is what got me hooked.

Football games are fast paced. They don't drag on for me like baseball does. The timeouts and TV timeouts. Whatever. Every game has stoppages except really for soccer where they make it up past the 90:00 mark.

There's a lot to a football game. I think you have to be smart to call the right play. Have the right personnel on the field. Then the players have to execute that play. There's a lot going on there which to me is easily more complex than baseball and at least on the level of basketball or hockey.

Consistent game times and dates. Every Sunday, for the most part, at either noon or 3:30. It's a convenient day of the week and time.

Only 17 games. Watching every game is pretty simple even before the days of the DVR or Game Pass. I can't imagine being able to watch every game in baseball.

It's an excuse to eat some of my favorite foods.

Even though it's 12:45 AM where I am and I need sleep. I feel the need to respond to this. It's amazing that I would come to this forum for the first time in a while tonight and find this. The reason I came here was because on a walk home today, I found myself in a very deep thought loop and pondering why I love the things that I love. Also, why this damn team fits in and why they do/always will mean so much to me.

The answer is that I don't quite know. This team is more than just a team that I am a fan of. The White Sox are a team that I consider myself a "die hard/hardcore" fan of... but it doesn't hold a candle to THIS. This team, I love them. They're permanently imprinted into my life. PERIOD. I've been dating my girlfriend for over a year now. She doesn't like or understand why others invest into football teams emotionally. It legitimately caused some tension last year. She couldn't understand how this "game" could get into the way of my life and determine my schedule on game days/Sundays.

I think about my childhood and the Bears were there. I don't know when they emerged, but as far back as my memory goes. The Bears were on TV. They were being talked about by the men in my family. They are literally just about my first memory. THEY MATTERED. I remember just falling in love with seeing them on TV. The sound of the announcers. The feel of the game. The atmosphere it created among "the guys" who were adults around me. I fell in love with just seeing the Bears on TV. I remember having a mini helmet collection in the 90's and I used to just love looking at the helmets. The Bears helmet, it invoked a feeling in me. Something pure and right. They SUCKED SO BAD then... but that almost made it more intoxicating to me as a kid during the Wannstedt/early Jauron era. "What if the Bears got to play in the playoffs or super bowl one day? That would be AMAZING!". I remember I fell in love with the Denver Broncos winning back to back SB's. Not because I loved the Broncos, but because THEY WON. That's what I dreamed of for the Bears. I had the VHS tape of the documentary made about their first SB run. I watched it OVER... and OVER. I also watched my Pure Payton, history of the Bears, and 85 Bears VHS Tape OVER... AND OVER. I was OBSESSED.

Then, 2001 happened. I seriously get caught up in the emotions of thinking about it. I can SMELL being at the games that season with my dad at old Soldier Field. I was at the first Mike Brown pick six game vs SF. It felt like my whole world was just PURE AND UTTER JOY at 9 years old being at that game. I mean, nothing else in the world mattered besides that game and that win! THAT COMEBACK! THAT PLAY! Then, the next week... AGAIN! Even more insane, the comeback vs Cleveland and MIKE BROWN AGAIN!

I was so locked in. So utterly euphoric. My school weeks became a process of counting down the days until the Bears played Sunday. My pee wee football team played Sundays and I would have to MASSIVELY rush home to catch kick off of the Bears. I cared more about the Bears outcome than my own teams. lol

That 2001 team, man. That's what did it. Magic. I can still smell the Sunday newspaper. Also, awaiting the Friday newspaper for the breakdown of all the NFL games and looking at the standings/playoff possibilities. I saved all of the papers. When my mom moved from our childhood home, I found a bunch of ones from those years. Amazing.

My dad and I had a special bond. The Bears were a huge part of it. The White Sox, too. But again... something about the damn Bears, man.

As you age and get older. Those feelings of euphoria and being able to totally lose yourself in something like that. It leaves you. You become jaded to things. It's harder to create those moments that came so easy as a kid. Similar to how magical Christmas felt to me as a kid. That's what the Bears were to me. F*king Christmas man.

Now, I'm 31. My dad passed at age 17. My extended family doesn't talk much anymore, sad situation and complicated. Life is hard... is all I can say. I've been through a lot (a lot of us can say that). So have those around me. Life gets overwhelming and I feel numb to A LOT of things. I rarely feel like I did as a kid about things, and I miss it. I admit.

But...

The Bears? It doesn't quite hit me like it did as a kid. But I still feel a connection to THAT FEELING. That MAGICAL CHRISTMAS feeling. I swear, it's all I have left from those days. It's the only pathway back to TRULY feeling the happy/excited kid in me. It's my LAST connection back. It may not feel as strong as it once did. But it's still there... I feel it inside when I watch them.

I have people in my life that I love. I am blessed with that. I have a job that I enjoy and am passionate about. I love my girlfriend. These are all things, though, that I cultivated as an adult. My relationship with my mom and sister are great. I love them. But it's different. We live in different places. No one lives in Chicago anymore. It's changed. Who knows when, exactly... but the feeling of it changes as an adult.

There's only one way back to that kid in the 90's and 00's. The ONLY WAY back to that feeling? Is the Chicago Bears. I wish I didn't love them so much, sometimes. They really torture me most of the time.

But I will ALWAYS keep coming back. Even when I lose it and say I won't. It's the only way that I know how to recapture that kid on Christmas feeling.

The Chicago Bears are the way HOME for me.

Always and forever,

Go Bears

[Atkins&Rebel]

"Football" utilizes so many different comprehensive strategies and individual techniques that what constitutes football in one sense, doesn't really embody another.
Success can come from scheme heavy systems like the Rams with Goff at QB. Every play was tailored to look like every other play, so you don't know what is coming when they line up. You can have individual player talent that teams scheme around or overwhelming player talent where team just try to line up and bully opponents.

Despite all the planning, coaching and obvious talent involved, there is an element of luck and human error that helped coin the term "any given Sunday".
Also there is a psychological element. The Raiders came to Buffalo in the Jim Kelly days. It was pretty cold and the snow was falling during player warmups. Tim Brown and the Raiders were out early trying different cleats but dressed in layers and shivering and stomping their feet to stay warm. Bruce Smith is the first Bill to walk out on the field, shirtless, smiling and gives a "is this it?" kind of gesture to the sky.
-Brian Urlacher described how everyone would put on some Vaseline and keep their arms bare despite how cold it got in Chicago.

Which also illustrates the weather factor and having the right equipment, but being mentally tough enough to focus on the goal and not focus on what is making you miserable. Part of the entertainment of football is watching players rise to the situation or crumble miserably (especially if the failure comes at the expense of your opponent and not your Team). But I also enjoy seeing the different schemes and the nuance strategies that can go into each individual scheme. 4th -1, 2:00 left. sitting at the opponent's 49, up by 2....

[RustinFields]

"Football" utilizes so many different comprehensive strategies and individual techniques that what constitutes football in one sense, doesn't really embody another.
Success can come from scheme heavy systems like the Rams with Goff at QB. Every play was tailored to look like every other play, so you don't know what is coming when they line up. You can have individual player talent that teams scheme around or overwhelming player talent where team just try to line up and bully opponents.

Despite all the planning, coaching and obvious talent involved, there is an element of luck and human error that helped coin the term "any given Sunday".
Also there is a psychological element. The Raiders came to Buffalo in the Jim Kelly days. It was pretty cold and the snow was falling during player warmups. Tim Brown and the Raiders were out early trying different cleats but dressed in layers and shivering and stomping their feet to stay warm. Bruce Smith is the first Bill to walk out on the field, shirtless, smiling and gives a "is this it?" kind of gesture to the sky.
-Brian Urlacher described how everyone would put on some Vaseline and keep their arms bare despite how cold it got in Chicago.

Which also illustrates the weather factor and having the right equipment, but being mentally tough enough to focus on the goal and not focus on what is making you miserable. Part of the entertainment of football is watching players rise to the situation or crumble miserably (especially if the failure comes at the expense of your opponent and not your Team). But I also enjoy seeing the different schemes and the nuance strategies that can go into each individual scheme. 4th -1, 2:00 left. sitting at the opponent's 49, up by 2....

Oh hell yeah. I am sure everyone here, to a man, gets all warm and fuzzy thinking about Mike Vick shivering out there on a cold cold cold Soldier Field. And then Rexy coming out replacing Kyle and throwing a strike to Muhsin?

There's a lot of great logical reasons to love football that have been covered, but also sometimes the universe just decides that a random game is gonna be magical for some out of left field reason. I think because of the complexity of football relative to the other big sports, this just happens more often and you carry these games with you forever.

[The Grizzly One]

I've said it before, so I'll say it again.

To me, Dick Butkus means football. He brought me in. I miss his era.

Well other than the mismanagement, crappy coaches, lack of talent and the losing.

That last point still lives but it's not been as much fun.

[wab]

I still watch every game. I just stopped letting the outcome ruin my day.

I finally managed to get to that point of maturity this last season. And I found it all so much more enjoyable when I finally exorcised that demon.

It's such a freeing hurdle to overcome. I love watching the game and I get the same level of enjoyment when the win, but if they lose I've been able to kind of pivot to "well shit" instead of sulking about it well into the next day. It was kind of unhealthy.

[pus]

I've said it before, so I'll say it again.

To me, Dick Butkus means football. He brought me in. I miss his era.

Well other than the mismanagement, crappy coaches, lack of talent and the losing.

That last point still lives but it's not been as much fun.

Well I'm plenty thrilled to remember Gale Sayers from when I was in grade school.

This has been an awesome thread, by the way. Many thanks to everybody for that.

[mmmc_35]

I grew up essentially in, and live in, cheese land. As a kid my parents gave no fucks about foosball. I moved around a bit from houston to many small places in Wi before moving to the farm i grew up on in elementary school. We got chicago channels on the TV.

I made friends initially by being good (decent) at football in elementary school. We kept stats and had "madden rankings" in 3rd grade, before the game. We had three football books in the elementary school. A Walter Payton book, a book that talked about the form of catching a pass, and basic rules of the game.

Naturally the Payton book made me a Bears fan. 3 decades of Packer dominance has sucked. I've found my attention waning lately. Life is doesn't leave much time for fandom. Along with desirability. I take the hobby much less importantly then I use too. Which has been a good thing in the long run.

[LacertineForest]

I also grew up (and still live) in Cheese land, but my dad was from Marengo, and the Bears were in SB XX when I was just born. All of my dad's friends were from IL and huge Bears fans, and since they were actually good when I was young, I was locked in from the outset. I used to run around my house in my Bears Halloween costume, pretending I was Walter Payton. I knew I wanted to play football from a young age, and loved my time playing in middle and high school. I was also a video game nerd and played every football game I could get my hands on, at least until I got into High School.

I used to watch football with my dad all Sunday. He'd buy the Sunday ticket package and it was a huge bonding thing for us. Even though the Bears lost Super Bowl XLI, I'm glad I had a chance to watch one with my pops (he passed later that year). My interest in the sport has waned a bit, too - not that I don't enjoy watching the games, it's just that I have a full life and I don't have time to just sit around and watch football all day. I definitely put more time into it when the Bears are good, but that hasn't been much of my life.

[docc]

I think Dani Rojas on that Ted Lasso show said it best.

"Football is life."

All the rest is just waiting..