When I watched my first football game, Super Bowl 45, at only 8 years old, I did not know it yet but I had just found a passion that would take up a big part of my life. The game took place with the Aaron Rodgers-led Green Bay packers going up against the six-time Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers, led by future Hall of Fame quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. I can still remember to this day being mesmerized by the sheer competitiveness and fire that these two teams displayed that day on the biggest stage in all of sports.

    I feel like this was a perfect first game to watch because it was one of the league’s top offenses of all time, matching up against one of the many legendary defenses produced by the Pittsburgh Steelers over the course of the past five decades. Despite the outcome of the game, this still is one of my favorite games due to the continuous back and forth action throughout all four quarters of the game.

     Ever since I can remember, my entire family has been made up of huge Pittsburgh Steeler fans; this was incredibly relevant and impressionable on a young me witnessing the dominance that the team displayed throughout the 2000s and the better part of the early 2010s. The majority of my childhood memories consist of me racing home after 10:30 Mass to watch the Steelers play the game of football every Sunday. The rest of my Sunday would then consist of me continuously flipping through games and keeping track of all the teams, as well as all the ensuing stories and continuous storylines coming out of each and every Sunday.  Despite my first ever game concluded with the Pittsburgh Steelers falling short at the hands of a young Aaron Rodgers 31-25, this did not at all sway my love for the team in the slightest.

    The game of football is a sport built off of fierce gladiators and tradition. Although the game has continued to change and evolve, those two facts will never change in my eyes. Football was built off of the backs of defensive greats such as Lawrence Taylor, Joe Greene, and Charles Haley and the multi-talented ball halking safeties such as Ronnie Lott, Ed Reed, and Troy Polomalu. Meanwkile, the offensive part of the game has been built off the backs of all-time great quarterbacks like Joe Montana, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. But no matter how great those players were and, in some cases still are, you can’t forget about the arrogant and controversial personalities of Terrell Owens and Chad Johnson, who in my eyes nearly single handedly carried the game of football into the social media age of today throughout the course of the 2000s. 

    It’s nearly impossible to underestimate my love for Football. From big-time hits, to outrageously acrobatic catches, it’s all awesome to me. Of course, my fandom has since graduated to the likes of fantasy football, the Friday night lights of high school football, as well as gaining interest into the prestigious world of college football. But the fact that professional football will forever be my favorite pastime is something that I cannot see changing in the near future, if ever. The thing that initially drew me to the game of football was the explosive offenses of the early 2010s led by the likes of Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Tony Romo, and Ben Roethlisberger. Its the big time game changing plays produced by these types of offenses and teams that will continue to keep me invested and immersed in the game of Football for years to come.