In the past several weeks and months, believe it or not, I have become pretty disgruntled about football. Between the NFL concussions story, the bullying story with Martin and Incognito, and the Jameis Winston sexual assault case, there are parts of me that would love to leave the game. The problem with all of these stories, even if Winston is really innocent, is that each of these stories make the game bigger than it really is. Football is not bigger than having early Alzheimer's and depression. It is not an excuse for the NFL physicians who tried to discredit a fellow physician's findings. It is not the platform to defend bullying. And it will never in hell make it okay to call a woman who says she was raped a whore or a gold digger.
Reading an article written about the Winston case (http://deadspin.com/jameis-winston-isnt-the-only-problem-here-an-fsu-teac-1467707410 if you're interested), really brought it home for me this week. Mainly because I too have been more than guilty about making football bigger than it really is. I've been a jerk to my family and have done my fair share of yelling at someone if they tried to talk to me after a football loss. After reading the deadspin.com article, I realized how much of what is excusable in football is so against the grain of what I find honorable and worthy. I remember asking Tony after reading it, why do I even watch football?
And then Aaron Murray tears his ACL. Now realize I'm biased. I'm a Georgia fan. I loved my college experience, I loved marching with the Redcoat Band, I love the wonderfully eclectic city of Athens, and yes, I love Georgia football. But I was never a huge Aaron Murray fan until this year, and really more so in the past several weeks. Honestly, in the past he's reminded me a little too much of Tony Romo. You can look at that as both a compliment and a criticism. But he's a good kid. There aren't pictures of him online with him holding up a keg with a scantily clad female at a NASCAR race. After the Auburn loss, this is what he tweets: "Would do anything to go back and start playing as a freshmen again. These 4 years have gone by way to fast. I am a Dawg for life!" (No one cares about proper spelling on twitter.) The next day he spent time with kids with development disabilities. http://t.co/65Rs7VrbLr And, as evident by the leakage in his eyes during the senior night pregame ceremony, he loves the University of Georgia.
And then I realized something, what I love about the game is COLLEGE football. I love that Tony and I have this huge game between us every year based on our beloved schools. I love that my best friends cheer for the same school where I studied until 3am for an OChem test later on that day. I love that I have school credits for marching in the Redcoats to basically perform at a football game each week. And this kid, this too short, too small, not-enough-big-wins kid loves COLLEGE football too. For him, it's not about draft stock. It's not about getting "his" at the end of the day. It's about Georgia. And as long as there are kids like him on my team, I'll be a Georgia football fan. As long as there are kids like that playing COLLEGE football, I can watch the game. So is it really more than a game? Maybe not, but in a way, it is.
