How do you explain love? A sport at that? A sport that is still foreign to so many in Germany, the football country? Most people immediately say: “I don’t understand the rules at all.” In this country, a ball has to be round and eleven men (now fortunately women) run after it. Soccer and football sound so similar – but there are worlds in between. One is quintessentially German and the other is quintessentially American.
Most people still know Tom Brady, the now retired star quarterback. Probably not because he was one of the best football players of all time, but because he was married to supermodel Gisele Bündchen and had just gotten divorced. I lived near New York as a reporter for almost five years starting in 2013. And I learned back then that if you want to get to know a country, you should watch the sport. And football is incredibly popular in the USA and has long since replaced baseball or basketball.
In January and February, there’s no escaping the hype and collective excitement surrounding the Super Bowl. I didn’t even want to, I watched with fascination from the first second. How these fat-packed men run over each other. How there are more men on the sidelines telling the players what to do via a microphone in their helmets. And what their routes are. At first it was total chaos for me. But over time it made sense. Each team has four attempts to advance the ball ten yards. Then there are four new attempts. The goal is to reach the end of the 120-yard field. Called the end zone.
Over time, my nasty confusion turned to excitement. Before my eyes, the game suddenly seemed like a dance. Perfectly choreographed. With beautiful throws that land accurately in the arms of any player. They then run across the field as if they were being pulled on strings. What was confusing at first glance actually followed a grand plan.
Football appeals to basic instincts. It is of course martial when these giants run into each other. After all, these days we no longer go head first, so permanent damage caused by concussions should be prevented. But you often think you can still hear your bones cracking. And no matter how spectacularly someone is run over, in the end most of them are back on their own feet in just a few seconds. And unlike professional football, which is so often so sterile and bloodless today, emotions often run high in football. More bread and circuses isn’t really possible.
Football is much more than just a sport. It is the perfect reflection of the state of a country. It is the battle of overpowering, of being flattened. The USA is an incredibly tough country. The law of the strongest usually applies. If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere, as Frank Sinatra once sang about New York, the epicenter of the United States. That still applies today.
The quarterbacks are the stars of the teams. The thinkers, they say, who pass on the commands to the team. Those who run it. The vast majority are white. Those who figuratively (and sometimes literally) break their bones are overwhelmingly black. They are poorly paid, quickly replaced – but are fighting for advancement. And are often patched up on the sidelines with tape, painkillers and plasters before they are sent back into the game. Imagine this level of hardship for one of the highly paid players in the Bundesliga. Of course, this comes at a price; the average career of such a player usually only lasts a few years. That’s how America is. It’s hard, but when it’s going you can have a great time.
Everything to create a spectacle for the masses. Of course I know that too, I know the price. Nevertheless, football captivated me. I now know countless technical terms: fumble, interception or pass interference, I could go on for hours. And confuse everyone around me. The offside rule in football suddenly seems so simple. But also boring. I know why the football referees throw yellow flags on the field every now and then. I know why the coaches have a red one. I love listening to the American presenters analyzing the plays. Or quote one of their countless statistics. There is nothing that cannot be put into numbers. Heroism becomes measurable.
And football brings people together, because unlike in Germany, fandom in the USA is quite relaxed. No matter which team you are for, there will be a barbecue in the parking lot in front of the stadium before the game. This is called tailgating, there is no German word for it. And just imagine how it would turn out if fans of Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund met for a barbecue.
I also fell in love with football because of players like Russell Wilson. The former Seattle Seahawks quarterback led the team to win the Super Bowl in my first year in the USA. He was one of those young players who didn’t just stand behind the defense and distribute the balls: he faked and danced. And sometimes – to the dismay of fans who feared the team’s star would get injured – he would tuck the ball under his arm and run. Today I cheer when Patrick Mahomes from the Kansas City Chiefs skillfully throws the ball around the corner with his “folded” wrist. Or Brock Purdy throwing one touchdown after another. Although no expert had ever believed anything would happen. Because no team wanted to sign him and he was only hired as an emergency solution, he was nicknamed “Mr. Irrelevant” for a long time. His team is now in the Super Bowl final for the second time. People love stories like these in the USA.
A few years ago I went to Universal Studios in California with my husband and child. I was wearing a T-shirt with the Seattle Seahawks logo at the time, but I actually didn’t think anything of it. But that day I met an incredible number of people. They shouted to me: “Go, Seahawks”, “Russell Wilson”, “Great Team”. Or asked me: “Where are you from?”, “Did you see the game on Sunday” or “This year the Super Bowl will definitely happen again.” Then I knew for sure: I love this sport!
