Surviving the Off Season as an NFL Fan

For those of us who live and breathe professional football, the NFL off-season is a no-man’s land without the opportunity to see any first down. As such, our main source of pastime entertainment needs some substitutes that still keep us engaged.

This article will be a guide on how to survive this barren time of the year. Note that this article will be an opinion piece powered by my personal experience in this off season. May you enjoy your time despite the lack of NFL football!

Engaging With Social Media Content

I have an opening confession to make: I’m a Chargers fan. Yes, you can make a slew of jokes at my expense, state the most deriding things about my team (which might actually be true), and even feel bad for my choice of team. However, our organization does have a peak social media team.

The truth is that most of the teams and fandoms have their own representatives in this side of the internet. Any report, tendency, or rumor in the off season is a source of memes or content that will keep X, Instagram, TikTok, and other platforms full of engaging content. Most of it happens to be absolutely hilarious as well.

When you miss football and run into some of this stuff, I’m sure you’re going to remember why the NFL almost feels like reality TV. It may make you miss it even more, but I’m sure it will keep you connected with the community, sports, and all the surrounding drama.

Keeping Our Ears Close To The Ground

Disinformation is a hell of a phenomenon in this day and age. I’ve seen way too many fake rumors that made my day because I KNEW that there weren’t true but were incredibly funny (looking at you, Barry McCockiner). There are also sources that deserve your trust because they have true insight.

Yes, we all know about the senior insiders like Schefter and Rapoport break news that is as solid as concrete. There are also names like Pelissero, Eisen, and Breer that have all sorts of insight stemming from their connections in the industry. Their content has all kinds of interesting nations that you can find interesting and engaging.

NFL podcasts hosted by former players also have some interesting points that can stem from insider info. Marcellus Wiley, Chris Long, the Kelce Bros podcast, and even Sharpe and Ochocinco’s Nightcap are great forms of content that will have you up to date with the NFL world.

Watching Other Sports

If you’re not into watching too many NFL replays, you may want to watch live sports. Most of the interesting stuff happening in the NBA goes down during the NFL off season. Moreover, baseball, soccer, and even hockey are very relevant if you want some substitute.

For every social media comment that asks for an explanation in NFL terms, there is something to serve as entertainment if you understand it. Give these sports a go and try to understand the culture of each sport if you don’t already know it.

Traditional Media Can Be Entertaining… Sometimes

Ah, yes, the hot take culture that is all around sports talk shows on TV. ESPN and Fox Sports have perfected this type of media, but it can really get annoying. All the platitudes, cheap hate, and idiotic takes can get very annoying if you don’t have a whole lot of patience.

It can still be entertaining. Stephen A. Smith going on a rant is absolutely unmatched when he’s on his A-game. Shannon Sharpe’s analogies are a thing of beauty. When these shows turn into bantery, fun-having television programs that do not take themselves too seriously, they’re really fun. Even if they speak too much about the Cowboys (no offense).

Following Beat Writers

We move on to the internal things happening in each organization. Beat writers are the soul of each team’s coverage. Do you want to know what the franchise thinks about some low-round prospects? How about the way the players do in training camp? You follow beat writers.

This is a very simple thing that will allow you to keep up with your team and know what is up with your team. There’s no better journalism than grassroots journalism in this kind of situation.

The Combine-Draft One-Two Punch

We could spend an entire article speaking about the fandom interacting with the draft. Whether you’re watching Mel Kiper doing his usual NFL draft predictions, creating your own mocks and simulators, or even banging the table for a certain player, the engagement of the NFL draft is the peak of the off season.

Before the draft, we hype up the players and hope to see someone break the 40-yard record, throw the rock with great velocity, or run the most pristine routes. That’s why this year’s combine gave us so much with the Xavier Worthy 4.21, even if he ended up on the Chiefs because the Bills wanted to banish most of us into the shadow realm of football.

Training Camp – Cuts, Signings, The Final Roster

Most of us fans are wondering who’s going to make the preliminary 53, which bust is going to get cut, or who’s finally getting traded. Starting with free agency and going to the waiver claims, many rosters are not static.

Will your quarterback get a new couple of weapons? Mahomes did, not my quarterback. Will that really sluggish tackle finally get given up on (Alex Leatherwood, possibly Evan Neal-type of stuff)? Will there be a new Amon-Ra, a Puka Nacua, or Riq Woolen emerge as a surprise during camp?

These are the questions that keep us on our toes as we feel the enthusiasm ramping up.

The Fantasy Draft

In my opinion, it’s the final build-up that encompasses everything you know, know, hear, and hope about the season. If you live in a state where sports betting is legal, you may prepare your parlay with a free bonus on registration no deposit. If fantasy is all you have, you better get ready for the draft.

I’ve seen all sorts of memes about the fantasy draft being as serious of an event as it gets for all enthusiasts. I can say that I fully understand this behavior, even if I don’t condone leaving your entire life behind for this draft. Some people treat fantasy with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind.

Conclusion

Now that we’ve reached this ending point, we can safely say that nothing beats that hopeful feeling that you have before the first snap of the regular season. At that moment, you feel all the hype building up.

All your hopes are intact, and your team has yet to lose a game. In that instance, it doesn’t matter if your team is bad or a juggernaut. You just want the season to start already. Before that happens, we can thankfully do a thing or two to secure the hype.