The NFL season is here, which still feels surreal.
Are you ready for some football? The start of the NFL season feels surreal, and I suppose it’s spectacular.
I never would’ve imagined a scenario where a league that I’ve dubbed the single most popular thing in the country would sneak up on us, but here we are. (The NFL did account for 41 of the top 50 rated television programs in 2019 after all.)
Now there are a number of factors that led up to this sneaky start: no preseason or other traditional ramp-up events, the NBA bubble playoffs in full swing in September and our perception of the space-time continuum seemingly being broken due to current circumstances.
And while the NFL won’t be playing in a bubble, I’ll give them credit for creating a pandemic information bubble of sorts, where along with incredibly fortunate timing—if everything had happened one month earlier there would have been no Patrick Mahomes Super Bowl or J-Lo and Shakira—Roger Goodell and Co. have been able to successfully keep much of the talk surrounding actual football-related matters.
The league has certainly had to navigate many of the issues currently facing the country but have been able to avoid COVID-19 from dominating the offseason conversation. With that instead shifting to Tom Brady heading to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the virtual draft, the schedule release or Cam Newton joining the New England Patriots.
However, the fact that these things will really be playing out on the field still doesn’t feel totally real. But it isn’t fantasy, there will be football played today.
And I’m sure once kickoff begins with the Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans, I’ll feel right at home. Or Mahomes.