If you are a fan of a sports team, you will have your own reasons for why you favor that team over a different one. Of course, a lot of it has to do with geographical location, although this may not be the case if you’re into your pro sorts. Jack Elway has always believed that there are other reasons for people choosing a certain team. For instance, you may have liked certain team colors, or really enjoyed the team mascot, particularly as a child. Maybe you always followed a certain player from your geographical area, and they were transferred away. There literally are a million different reasons to like one team over another, and they are all valid and justified.
Jack Elway on College Football
College football is very different from pro football. Fans all over the country wear their college jerseys and they take their allegiance incredibly seriously. Some even go so far as covering themselves entirely in body paint to represent their team’s colors, literally wearing nothing else except perhaps a small thong. These are the fans that will have passion in their support of their team whether they are 50 points ahead or 50 points behind. They start to organize tailgate parties, sometimes several days before the game itself, and these parties go on for days. For some, this tradition seems to come from a different planet, but it is one that generations of scholars and athletes have been a part of.
When someone goes to college, they do so as a family. Indeed, it is very common for this to be literal: parents met at a certain college, their children will go there, they meet their spouse at college, and so on. As such, that college truly is part of the DNA of that family. They have sat in the same halls, cheered for the same team, and stood on the same battlefields. They have college jerseys dating back generations and they are brought out on special occasions only. These are the true die-hard fans and any sports promoter would do anything to manufacture that – but they can’t.
One of the things that makes college football so special is that, each year, people wake up on a Saturday and they feel able. They feel able to become national champions and to be a part of that little moment of history. That part of history will stay with them for the rest of their life, and it is something that they pass on to their children and their grandchildren. If this sounds like you, know that the jersey you are wearing today will one day proudly be handed over to your granddaughter or grandson as they enter the world of college.
The passion associated with the team that reflects your younger, student years, is a passion that cannot be replicated. It is real and true, and it reminds you of a part of your life when everything was still possible. In a sense, it is your chance to be forever young.