thefootballgf

Off to a Rough Start

When I started this blog, I fully intended on posting something every single week during the season… but that quickly changed. We’re three games in and already facing some tough decisions.

Three plays into the first game of the season, my boyfriend was stepped on by a 250+ pound defensive lineman. As a result, he suffered a high ankle sprain. Knowing the kind of man that my boyfriend is, I was already prepared for him to continue playing no matter how much pain he was experiencing. The whole week following the first game he did countless hours of rehab, physical therapy, treatments, etc. to make sure that he was feeling his best for week twos’ game.

In the third quarter of the second game, he was plagued by the same exact fate as the first game. A 300+ pound offensive lineman (on his own team) stepped on his foot. When my boyfriend went to move one way, his foot was stuck under the weight of the guy next to him. Thus, his body went one way, and he foot went the other. Unfortunately, this only worsened the high ankle sprain he had suffered the previous week. Again, I already knew that he was going to grit through the pain and continue playing. Despite the odds being stacked against him, he completed two full games (start to finish, 100+ plays), with a severely sprained ankle.

After week two we prayed that would be the last of the ankle strains and sprains. Thankfully, he made it through the third game with seemingly no issues. He met with the team doctor after game three and the prognosis seemed bright!

Unfortunately, we’d gotten our hopes up too soon.

This past week of practice has been intense. The head coach wasn’t happy with the teams’ performance during the first three games and has been majorly pushing the guys to do better, work harder, move faster, etc. For my boyfriend, this was the exact opposite of what he needed.

Yesterday during practice, he was, yet again, stepped on by a 300+ pound offensive lineman. This time he wouldn’t be as lucky as he had been previously. He said he felt a pop. And not just a ‘normal’ pop/crack like he had been feeling since the initial injury. This time, he needed helped off the field. It took 2 trainers and two of his teammates to carry him to the golf cart. He wasn’t able to walk off under his own will-power. He was carted back to the training room where he was immediately put in a walking boot, given crutches, and sent for an x-ray. The team doctor believes that he has partially torn a tendon/ligament in his ankle. In combination with the high ankle sprain, it has caused massive swelling, and massive pain.

Unfortunately, at this point, his fate is unknown. The doctor has said that as long as there are no broken bones, and he can handle the pain, then he is cleared to play. But, does he play through the pain? Does he risk the rest of his career for this one season? Can he handle the pain week after week?

It hasn’t been the start to the season we had been hoping and praying for. His first season with a solid starting spot and it has been plagued with injuries and unknowns…

This is the side of football that many people don’t have to/get to see. This is the side of football that I ask all of you to keep in mind when you’re watching college football Saturday’s, or NFL football Sunday’s. To many they’re just players on some TV screen. Players that spectators like the nitpick and criticize because they didn’t make that perfect throw, they gave up a critical sack, or they didn’t catch the pass that was right in between their hands.

It’s all well and good to play armchair QB on game day, but until you’re in their shoes, you have no idea the difficulties they may be facing.

Closing Out Camp (Finally!)

Camp is finally coming to a close! My boyfriend has moved back home, yet football is still in full swing. Practice, film sessions, weight lifting, treatment/recovery, and team activities are still slated from 5am to 9pm (and now that he’s moved home, he’s not the only one woken up by his 4:30am alarms). Though the team has moved into their fall housing, the craziness of camp continues right into the beginning of the season. Wow. To think that the football season starts in just ten days! It may sound corny, but it really does feel like the previous season was coming to a close just yesterday…

But with the start of the season, comes the start of the most hectic time of the year for my family. Our life is consumed by football from August through December (and, God willing, even longer!). For us that means lots of time spent in the car traveling to and from stadiums across the country.

Chasing football across the country… sounds like a dream, doesn’t it? Sometimes it is and sometimes it isn’t. The hours upon hours in the car become monotonous. I’m very lucky that my dad is able to go to most of the games with me, so I’m not spending the car rides alone, but we drive thousands of miles together each football season. Over the past 4 years, I’ve learned some helpful tips and tricks to make travel time a little less mind-numbing!

Tip #1:

Find places to stop along the way. Before leaving on the long drives to games, I always scope out places/attractions along the drive that I would like to stop at. For example, two years ago on our way to a game in Buffalo, NY, we left a bit early so we could stop at the restaurant credited with creating the buffalo wing! Not only was it a delicious pitstop, it broke up the drive and gave us some time out of the car (so important on long drives!). This year, we have games in Kansas, Indiana, Michigan, and Buffalo again (thinking we’ll stop at Niagara Falls this time around!), so the pitstop planning has already begun to find some new, entertaining stops!

Tip #2:

Comfy clothes are essential, not only for the drive, but also for game day. All too often I see football wives/fiances/girlfriends trying to ‘show out’ at every single game. They’re dressed to the nines, looking like tens, and doing so effortlessly (no judgement here!). I remember putting in the same effort my first season, too. But two years in I realized that it’s so much better being comfy at games. Rather than spending hours getting ready beforehand, I would rather just throw on a pair of jeans or leggings, one of his t-shirts, and go explore the city pre-game. We’re already sitting in uncomfortable seats or bleachers, so why make ourselves even more uncomfortable because of the clothing we’re wearing? Wearing comfy clothes to the games makes it that much easier to jump right back in the car and get on the road as soon as the game is over!

Tip #3:

The final tip that I’ve learned from multiple seasons of driving to and from games, is that personal hotspots are 100% worth the extra expense on the cell phone bill! This has been a huge game-changer in breaking up the monotony of the drive-time. I always make sure I have my laptop with me, so connecting to my personal hotspot opens up a lot of possibilities (and don’t worry, I would never do this while I’m actually driving! Just to clarify lol). This allows me to watch youtube, check emails, apply for jobs, and (this season) write blog posts while we’re traveling! Despite the slight increase in the cell phone bill, this one is definitely worth it and the distraction makes the drives go by much quicker!

That’s it for this post! Next up: the home opener! I’ll be doing a full run-down of what a game day in the life of a football players’ girlfriend/significant other looks like!

What is your top tip for traveling and long drives? Leave a comment down below with yours!

If you have any questions/comments/recommendations/requests for future posts, please let me know in the comments! And check back on August 29th for my game day post!

Football Season Part 1: Training Camp

The end of July/beginning of August always signify the start of football season in our household. Yes, I realize the season doesn’t actually start for another month or so, but for those of us who are dating/engaged to/married to/related to football players, football season begins when training camp begins.

For my man, training camp means staying in a dorm room for two and a half weeks filled with: meetings, film review, practices, weight training, recovery sessions, etc. etc. And for me, training camp means two and a half weeks by myself.

One of the biggest things that I had to adjust to when I first started dating my boyfriend was the amount of time that I would spend by myself. During training camp, players are sequestered in the dorms/at the football stadium from 5:00am to 9:30/10:00pm, with bed checks at 10:00pm. That means I’m lucky if I get to speak with him a few minutes each day. Now, I know it may sound like I’m complaining a lot about how difficult this is for ME, without taking into consideration how difficult it is for him… trust me, I get it. As a former Division I athlete, I have gone through a few training camps myself. So I understand just how much work he is doing each and every single day. BUT, I feel like the one thing that gets thrown to the wayside, is the effect that it has on relationships. Girlfriends/fiances/wives of football players go through it too. Though we aren’t there every day putting in the physical work, we go through hardships that tend to get overlooked.

I don’t want to play the “woe is me” card. That’s not what I’m trying to do here. I’m simply trying to find an outlet for the things that myself, and hundreds of other women, go through on a daily basis in this world of football. For example, like I mentioned earlier, the loneliness. I am in a city where I don’t know many people, I don’t have a ton of friends, we don’t have any children and (at the moment) I don’t have a stable job to keep me busy. I spend most of my time sitting in our apartment, by myself, watching youtube or applying for jobs. It gets monotonous. It gets mind-numbing. But most of all, it is incredibly lonely. I miss my boyfriend while he’s away, I miss my family who live in a different city, and I miss the stability of a 9-5 job, because football is anything but a 9-5.

For anyone that may be reading this I would like to end this post by posing a few questions: 1) Before reading this, what was your perception of football wives/fiances/girlfriends? And 2) Had you ever thought about the people behind the players on the field? Finally, if you have any questions/comments or any topics you would like me to cover, please feel free to drop a thought below!

Who am I?

I’m not really sure where to begin answering that question because I am a lot of things.. I am a strong woman, mentally and physically. I am a former Division I athlete. I am a current strength and conditioning coach. I am independent, stubborn, hard-working, and sarcastic.

I’m a daughter, a sister, and a girlfriend. A football player’s girlfriend. I’ve tried not to loose all of the aforementioned characteristics of myself in my boyfriends’ life, but that has been a lot easier said than done.

My boyfriend and I are getting ready to begin our fourth season together in this ‘football life.’ I’m sure you’ve seen some of it on social media: the post-game, smiling embraces, the wins, the rings, the playoff games, etc. But what you don’t see is the tough times: the losses, the injuries, the days you just feel like giving up.

Those tough days are the reason why I wanted to start this blog. Football players are real people, they struggle just like everyone else. Despite the perks that may go along with the ‘job’ (because even at the collegiate level, it is very much so a job), every single job has its’ bad days, every single job has its’ tough days, and every single spouse knows how it feels seeing your significant other struggling. Through this blog, I hope to shed some light on the ins and outs of what this ‘football life’ is really like.