For those of us suffering from PSBS this time of year, all we have is each other…and seven months worth of suffering through off-season and preseason NFL banalities. That’s right, I’m referring to Post Super Bowl Season—the darkest time of the year for most NFL fans.
While football games still continue, even if your team has been eliminated from the tournament, there is a certain vicarious thrill that continues. A hollow ghost of enjoyment that ends completely after the final whistle of the final game. After the champion is declared (assuming that champion is not you), NFL fans enter a season of wandering—a dark night of the fan.
For many, dare I say most, the dark night of the fan is filled with impotent rants over social media and so much fruitless finger pointing. We are, after all, only fans. Our involvement matters none beyond whatever financial contribution we make via merchandise, clicks, and the attention of our eyeballs. We cannot restructure the roster of our favorite team. We can do nothing to eliminate the despicable “tush push” play inflicted against us by the dreaded Philadelphia “Sheagles.” We have no say in the hiring and firing of coaches. We play no role in the evolution of team culture. And no one cares about our hot takes on why we lost and how we can get better.
And the truth of the matter is that it is everyone’s fault but our own. How could it be my fault the Cowboys exited the playoffs early once more and with record-setting flare? I didn’t play in the game. I wasn’t even at the game. Rationally, I know wearing my lucky undergarments inside out does nothing to impact the game.
But in recent years, I’ve come to the realization all this justified finger-pointing and excuse-making does nothing to enrich my life, or my enjoyment of the sport. And yet PSBS mustn’t be ignored. It must be addressed. I hear fans all the time say things like, “I need to take up college sports.” They look to similar gladiatorial arenas to fill the void left behind. Wealthy investors have been attempting to fill the PSBS hole with an alternative pro football league for decades (in order to financially prey off of the dark night of the fan).
All of it disgusts me.
PSBS is a time to seek personal betterment—a time to gain by giving. A time of abstinence designed to deepen the experience. Sure we have the combine, free-agency, the draft, OTAs, and camp. Yes, we have the siren song of social media, podcasts, and the unending cycle of bone-headed-hot-takes designed to override our reason. And it can be okay to stay informed. It is possible to deepen your fan experience by becoming knowledgable of the deeper nuances of the game (if you indeed have the stomach for nuance, rather than the simple hunger for crafting your own bone-headed-hot-takes).
I’m saying we fans should embrace the dark night of the fan with the intent to come through it as a better person, not just a better fan. Address the appetite head on. Take that football-fan-energy and invest it intentionally. Don’t simply look for an acceptable outlet for pining away your Sunday afternoons and Monday evenings until next September.
Learn a skill. Play an instrument. Go on hikes. Explore your city. Volunteer. Maybe you’ll meet someone happy to hear your hot takes or to share in your PSBS misery. Write poetry about felling your divisional rivals. Take up a project around the house and include your team colors (unless you’re a Denver Broncos fan).
Let the dark night of the fan lead you to a place of refreshing rather than bitterness. It will make feasting upon your foes all the sweeter when it finally comes.
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