My Favorite NFL Football Teams

B"H

I love playing football. I also love watching football. But in order to truly enjoy watching football, I need to be rooting for one of the teams in the game. If I don't care who wins, I find that I don't enjoy the game nearly as much.

(At one time in my life, I even created a chart based on my gut feelings when I compared teams to each other -- I compared each team against each other team and put it on a chart. I did this because I find that rooting for a team enhances my enjoyment of the game.)

I started rooting for the New York Giants because I liked the late Doug Kotar. He always seemed like a nice guy, both off and on the field. When he died of cancer at the age of 32, I was very upset. I had hoped that he would make a comeback, but the cancer took that away.

I started rooting for the Seahawks when Jim Zorn was their quarterback and Steve Largent was his favorite passing target.

I used to watch Canadian football (CFL) games when I was younger (I still love the Hamilton Tiger-Cats) and I loved watching a player named Billy 'White Shoes' Johnson who had been a favorite of mine when he was on the Houston Oilers. (I loved the little dance he used to do when he scored a touchdown and I also liked his white shoes) When the Oilers moved to Tennessee and became the Titans, I continued rooting for them. (My brother asked me why I was still rooting for them after they moved, wasn't I angry at them for moving? And I answered, why should I care? I don't live in Houston, I don't live in Tennessee, I've never been to either place, why should I care?)

These three teams, in the above order, are still my three favorite teams.

Congratulations to the NY Giants (ok, I'm a New Jerseyite, so in my book they are the New Jersey Giants) and Eli Manning on their latest Super Bowl win!

Congratulation also to the New England Patriots (my 4th favorite team) for making it into the Super Bowl!

(IMHO, you can't be a "loser" if you made it to the Super Bowl!)

The first time Eli Manning and the Giants were in the Super Bowl with the Patriots, I was in Israel. Add to that, we were leaving for home the next morning. So, I packed up my suitcase Saturday night and Sunday, didn't get much sleep from Saturday (The Sabbath) until we got home Monday night.

I was staying at the home of people who had cable TV that picked up the Super Bowl. I had been enjoying the TV the entire time I was in Israel (since I don't often get to watch American TV in Israel) and I was hoping I could go to a Super Bowl party (I had gone to one once before in Israel when the Steelers beat the Seahawks, but in a town where most of the people come from either the NY or Boston area, more people wanted to see the Super Bowl than the previous time, so there was no room at the place I had been to previously -- where I watched the Super Bowl along with a bunch of 15 year old boys).

Keep in mind, in Israel, because of the time difference, the Super Bowl starts somewhere between 1 and 2 am. So I watched, by myself (though I had invited my nieces to join me). Because of sheer exhaustion, I fell asleep off and on during the second quarter (and during halftime, which is different in Israel, as are the commercials). But I was up and awake during the crucial 4th quarter. I cheered the Giants on from halfway around the world.

When I was watching the Super Bowl this past winter (2012), I thought about that first Super Bowl. I also thought about how much better it was watching in my own bedroom.

July 2, 2017 -- I have been reviewing some articles and I noticed that I like my three favorite teams here as the Giants, the Seahawks and the Titans. These are still 3 of my four favorite teams (The Giants are still #1), but I have also been a Patriots fan (though the Giants still come first!). Recently, two things moved the Patriots up to second place. First of all, my sister told me that the owner of the Patriots supports the "American Football" program in Israel. My niece was on the National Woman's Flag Football team before college (they won a silver metal in Germany back about 6 or so years when my niece was on the team).

The second thing was in November 2015, when the grandson of one of my mother's coworkers, a member of our Jewish community, was killed by terrorist gunfire. I knew his aunt and uncle very well, I also knew his mother (in addition to knowing his grandparents) and it turned out that Ezra had been a big Patriots fan. While on National TV on ESPN, the Patriots had a moment of silence for Ezra.

So, as long as they are not playing against the Giants, I say, "Go, Patriots!!!"

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