Touchdown by Ngina

Drew Brees, Quarterback. Adrian Peterson, Running back, Steve Smith, Wide receiver. For some reason I can list all of these and probably no more than 20 others with little thought. Sunday nights, Monday nights, Pardon the Interruption, Around the Horn, Sportscenter, ESPN Classic, NFL RedZone, NFL Today, NFL Total Access, the Probowl in Hawaii, The Draft at Radio City Music Hall in New York, and an array of random insignificant facts like who in the NFL’s faced criminal charges. This for an guy who watches football is basic information, surface stuff, the type of thing everyone would get correct on a test. However if I mention anyone of these things in conversation or Facebook status it’s usually followed by surprise, considered with apprehension, or the more common, “OK then, I see you knowing about football and what not”.

When I hear this sort of response from a male friend I usually smirk instead of pursuing conversation about why they responded in that way. Instead of challenging the concept that football is a males sport: played by males, understood by males, and discussed (most accurately) by males.

I don’t study the mechanics of football. However, I know enough about how the game works and who plays it in order to entertain a short conversation about the sport. When it comes to making educated predictions and analyzing plays, it is just as foreign of a sport to me as it would be to a person watching it for the first time.

I still however marvel in the experience of being able to drop a name of a not so widely known player. If you’re a girl you are expected to know certain football players. The cute one’s with reality shows (Terrell Owens), the one involved in dog fighting (Michael Vick), the one’s in relationships with admired celebrity women (Reggie Bush, Tony Romo, Kendra’s Boyfriend), and/or your home teams quarterback (Tom Brady, in my case). Now I would never drop one of these names in order to get “respected” or taken seriously by a male who follows the sport. Those are too easy, they undermine my (basic) knowledge of the Nation Football League. This knowledge I acquired by simply observing my older brother’s interest in the game. I was always curious about the sport, always asking questions. “Whose that?” “What team’s he play for?” “What number is he?” I would accumulate the answers to these questions, remember them on random occasions, during the right conversations. Jeremy Shockey, used to play for the Giants, just won the Superbowl with the Saints. Tight end. Larry Fitzgerald, Cardinals, Chad Ochocinco (formerly known as Chad Johnson), Bengals, Brandon Marshall, Broncos. All Wide Receivers. Sometimes I’d even surprise myself when I stated these random facts. I would say a name and it would be right, and I’d give myself an internal high five.

However, I would never outwardly express my pride, that to me would be a sign of weakness. It would make me just like the other girls, who are expected to know nothing, or a few things, such as what I mentioned above.

Two distinct kinds of pressure are created: One from the boys. Boys, including those who play, watch, and study football. Boys who know less that me but pretend in order to fit into this imaginary code of manliness. I’m expected to know less than both of these “types” of boys and this is obvious this whenever I discuss football with them.
The second kind of pressure is from girls. And unless these girls have knowledge that exceeds the criteria mentioned above (and there are some!) the response is the following. “She thinks she’s special because she can related to them about football.” Or “she thinks she’s important because can talk about Monday night’s game.” Or my favorite: “She thinks she’s better than me because she actually knows what she’s cheering about when watching from the sidelines.” And I guess there’s also the girls who stay out of it all together, as they’re expected.

*I will admit that I’m annoyed when its Superbowl XLIV Sunday and every girls Facebook status is “I love Reggie Bush.” Or “Go Saints” or something generic like that, when they know in their heart it’s the first game there watching all season (if they’re even watching it. . . ).

I think I’m somewhat different because I can talk and know what I’m talking about. But I don’t think it makes me any better. Like I said I know the basics, the simple stuff, the stuff that the boy is expected to know. And I wont go making impetuous statements about whose better offensively, or defensively because I usually don’t know. I envy those female Sport casters on the sideline or the girls who play flag football during Probowl Weekend. However, when I do know something, I will make it known to all those who aren’t expecting it. And give myself that well deserved internal high five.