My favorite time of the year starts tonight as the high school football season kicks off. Football has always been my favorite sport. My first memory of football was watching the NFL with my dad on Sundays. My first favorite player and team was Joe Namath and the New York Jets. I enjoyed watching Monday Night Football with Howard Cosell, Dan Meredith and Frank Gifford. My dad would even let me stay up past my bedtime to watch the games.
My dad also took me to my first football when I was 11-years-old to a Clinch County Panthers game. My dad had attended and played high school there in Homerville, Georgia. I was hooked. A few years later, when we moved to Villa Rica, Georgia this interest was amped up. I started going to the high school football games there and was on the football team in my sophomore year. Later, when I was in the Air Force I was able to move back to Georgia and attended my first Warner Robins football game in 1984. I attended many games since then. On one rainy night in Macon I was in the stands watching Warner Robins play Central Macon when someone asked was my child playing in the game. I told her that I was just a fan. I can't help myself, I have just always been a fan of Georgia high school football.
Of course, I have been interested in college football as well and remember in 1980 when the Georgia Bulldogs won the national championship. I never thought I would see the day when they would win it again as they have the last two seasons. I also still think back to my first trip to Sanford Stadium when I accompanied our newspaper’s beat writer who covered the Georgia Bulldogs on a game one Saturday. I was working part-time for the newspaper and he asked if I wanted to tag along and help him out. On the day of the game I was sick but I fought through it to go when I entered the stadium I was in awe of the place. It was truly an experience I will never forget. I’m still a fan of the Bulldogs.
My NFL experience followed the Atlanta Falcons for many years. I have endured many painful years as a fan. I was a fan until the worst collapse in Super Bowl history when the Falcons blew a 28-3 to the New England Patriots. That ended my relationship with the Falcons. I became a “fan” free agent and jump on board with the Tennessee Titans which is where I currently live. It has been a fun ride.
Today I live about a mile away from Blackman High School and could probably walk to the stadium but I’m not likely going to attend. I will probably listen to the Warner Robins game online as I have been doing since I moved away. It’s my thing. It’s what I do on Friday nights. Hey, there’s some of you that have some of your own things too so don’t think I’m that much different. There’s always a reason and a story behind it. This is mine.
There are so many exciting moments as well as some painful losses I have experienced with my teams. Here I go starting another season. Fridays will be Warner Robins, Saturdays following the Georgia Bulldogs and the hometown Tennessee Titans on Sundays.
It's time for some football! To quote one of my favorite sports guys from WMAZ-TV in Macon, Georgia….”Lehgo!”
