I'm Not Ready for Some Football

Pre-season football has officially started.

As I type the Cowboys are playing the Bengals and David is on the couch, yelling at the TV and wearing a 10 year old Emmitt Smith jersey. He is hyped. He's been waiting all day for Sunday night. He seriously just yelled Yay for football!

Football isn't something that's taken lightly around our house. David is not a fair weather fan. Not even a little. He never misses a game. He is beyond dedicated. The only room in our house without some type of Cowboys paraphernalia is the bathroom. Stupid compromise. Making me have Cowboys salt & pepper shakers.

When the game comes on you can bet he will be watching and wearing something blue in support of the love of his life, the Dallas Cowboys. Even last night, when Emmitt Smith was inducted into the football hall of fame, he tuned in wearing his jersey that he has owned for longer than he has known me. He might've even cried. But you didn't hear that from me.

David immerses himself during football games. He yells at the TV incessantly. How bout them Cowboys? Son of a b*tch Kitna! We got it back! Pick! Jesus Kitna. Roy Williams sucks! Way to go Jason Garrett, call another draw. Come on Columbo!  Boom! TC baby, TC. Nice! He used to lose his voice after every game, but he has learned to yell a little better the past few years. I'm curious to know what his blood pressure is when the game is close. He is literally on the edge of his seat.

He makes deals with the devil just for that victory. And if God forbid they lose, he is depressed the next 24 hours. His loyalty to the Cowboys is so well known at his work that his co-workers and customers all give him crap about last nights loss. His phone will have 20 unread text messages just from people he knows talking crap about football, win or lose.

Thanksgiving is dedicated to football because the Cowboys play every year. Every year for nine years I've been a football widow during that 3 1/2 hours that he spends in the living room at my dad's house yelling at the TV. If we eat dinner during the game he doesn't get his plate until a commercial. We once jokingly told him that he couldn't eat in the living room and he was going to go back to the TV empty handed. He picks football over food.

Then there's the "we". He considers himself an honorary part of the team. He is included in any statement regarding the Cowboys. We just signed Dez Bryant. We are playing the Saints on Thanksgiving. We need to get a first down right here. We need to cut that guy.

My kids are little fans. From birth they have been dressed in fan apparel. They will like the Cowboys whether they want to or not. Alana repeats everything David yells at the TV. Because of this his language has been significantly cleaned up. Ava just claps along.

Even I'm not immune to the festivities. Through spousal peer pressure I usually end up wearing some type of Cowboys shirt. I'm not happy about it, but I do it. I've attended no less than five professional football games, two of them in Dallas. I can't say they weren't fun or that I didn't want the Cowboys to win. If they lose I have to drive home with a depressed husband and get heckled by fans of the opposing team. Then we hear that Had a bad day song and he gets even more depressed.

Win or lose, you can bet David will always be a Cowboy fan. And the rest of us are just along for the ride.

Texas Stadium - 2005

The obligatory stadium tour. How could he pass up an opportunity to go on the field?

Alana was a Cowboy fan before she even left the hospital.

Alana was less than a week old when she watched her first football game.

Sometimes I'm forced to watch football in public while David yells at the TV.

Alana was ready to cheer on the Cowboys. She looks excited right?

Ava is ready to watch her first football game with us. You can watch football crossed eyed right?

Sometimes I even attend football games with my superfan husband. Just cause its his birthday.