In the last 10 minutes of Sunday's 49th Super Bowl championship, by overcoming a 10 point deficit, Tom Brady brought victory to the New England Patriots with a 28-24 win over the Seattle Seahawks.
Sounds like I know what I'm talking about right?
Well I don't.
I have no interest in football whatsoever.
Yet, for some strange reason, I cannot go a single year without missing the Super Bowl.
The excitement and adrenaline of the match combined with the best concert of the year is enough to have me hooked on a sport that otherwise never interests me.
And I know absolutely nothing about football.
Absolutely nothing......
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Fall 1996
"Hey Leo! Wanna join us?? We're going over to the field to play."
I looked over at my roommate who was standing at the front door. He was wearing a track suit and holding up some sort of large and brown ball.
"Ummm. I don't know? I was about to cook some perogies.....and 90210 is about to start...." I waved my right hand towards the TV in order to exaggerate the importance of watching my show.
"Oh come on!! You've watched that show a million times! Let's go! It'll be fun! I'll wait outside for you."
He walked out, and our shotty screen door slammed behind him.
I rolled my eyes as I threw the bag of frozen perogies back into the fridge.
How I hated when my friends tried to get me to work out with them. First the debacle of 1995 when the instructor had to stop the step class in order to walk me through each step while everyone else impatiently watched....and now this.
Football. Ughhhhh.
Well, if I was going to do this....I might as well do it in style.
I quickly ran upstairs, put my long blonde hair in a pony tail, threw on a cute sweater with our university's name across the front, and applied some red lipstick.
The screen door slammed behind me and my roommate stopped throwing the football in the air to look at me.
He laughed and shook his head. "You're too much! C'mon, let's go! Everybody's waiting for us."
Within 10 minutes we were on the field and getting ready to play.
We were given our positions (I forgot mine the second they told it to me) and then someone yelled "Ok! Are we ready? Let's PLAY!!"
I suddenly panicked.
"WAIT!!" I screamed.
My friends all looked over at me.
"What do I do if I get the ball??" I asked nervously.
As if pre-planned, they all simultaneously yelled, "RUN!!!"
The game began. I wasn't really paying attention. I was just running around aimlessly, yelling when others yelled, and getting angry when others got angry.
I found myself screaming at one point "DAMN YOU FOUL BALL! DAMN YOUUU!!!" I had no clue what I was saying.
But then, I heard it. Someone screaming my name.
I looked up into the sky and saw that large brown ball hurdling towards my face.
Gasp!! This was it. This was my chance to prove that I wasn't just a girl. That I could wear red lipstick and be feminine and still score a touchdown (whatever that meant).
This was it!!
I felt like it was all happening in slow motion. I took a deep breath, looked up, raised both of my arms and watched through squinted eyes as the ball connected with my hands.
Oh my God. Oh my God. I did it!
I caught the ball!! I CAUGHT THE BALL!!
I stood there with a huge grin on my face holding the ball tight to my chest. I couldn't believe it! I felt so good. So strong.
I showed them! I wasn't just a girl. I was a FOOTBALL PLAYER!! I could do ANYTHIN.......
"LEOOOOOO!!!!!!!"
I turned around to see who was yelling my name, but was shocked to see an army of people running towards me. They looked angry. VERY angry. Why was everyone so angry in this game??
I looked around in panic and finally caught the eyes of my roommate. And again, everything switched to slow motion. As he slowly (quickly) ran towards me, he was mouthing the words (yelling) "RUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!"
Run?? Run WITH the ball??? He MUST be joking.
Because everything was in slow motion, I had a few seconds to think about things. I could take the ball and run with it and try to score a touchdown (whatever that was) and prove to the whole world (my group of 12 friends) that I was not just a girl and I could actually play a sport.
Hmmmm...?
Nope.
Instead, I did what came naturally to me. I screamed, threw the ball on the ground and ran back home.
I think I'll stick to what I do best when it comes to football. Watching the Super Bowl once a year and proudly announcing to all my friends the following day who won and who made the winning play in the last 10 minutes.
And when it comes to being 'just a girl'.....I'm totally ok with it. Because at the end of the day, you have to define your own path as a girl. My path will probably never lead me onto a football field again. Let me rephrase...my friends will never lead me onto a football field again ;)
Anyway, there are some women out there who kick some serious ass on the football field. And I commend them. But today, I leave you with a video of my own platinum icon who had her own way of showing that she was more than 'just a girl' at the Super Bowl.....
Enjoy ;)
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