Any American football fans here who can come and talk to an NFL noob?

[ReacherSaidNothing]

I watched an old superbowl game yesterday as I've been thinking for a while about learning more about the game and I enjoyed it more than I expected. There seems to be a lot going on though! I'm keen to learn as much as I can by September.

Who is your team and why? Do folk just tend to support their 'local' team?
Does the season only run from September to the Superbowl in February, so no football at all for 5 months of the year?
If you're in the UK how do you watch the games? Need advice on best way to do this!

I'm a Packers fan and have watched every Superbowl since 1994.

Yes it's a short season, it's very physical so needs lots of recovery time, there is about 4 weeks of pre season as well.

Sky sports NFL show the games, but highlights on YouTube. The Superbowl is also shown on BBC and Channel 4, but regular games are only on Sky.

UK fan and largely support Jacksonville as they play at Wembley every year and so we get to see them live but they aren’t my team.
We get the nfl game pass each year to watch the games. I generally watch my teams game in full and highlights for other games.

Thanks for replying - I was watching the game thinking they must be covered in bruises and scrapes after all that!

My head is spinning with how it all works, I think I just need to start watching the games and it'll make more sense.

Thanks also for the info on viewing, I'll look into a sky sports package.

Any classic games you would recommend youtubing?

That's interesting about Wembley @Testingprof , I'm up in Scotland but might be worth seeing if I can get down there for this.

Any other American football fans out there wanting to share their wisdom?

I have friends in Texas and have seen 2 Dallas cowboy games. I don't understand a bloody thing and think the cheerleaders get more of a workout than the footballers.

All the supporters sit amongst each other, everyone is friendly and it's just a lovely vibe.

I'm on this thread to try to understand it myself so no help to you. Sorry!

Chiefs fan here. I started supporting them in the early 90s which was when I started to get into the sport. I picked them because they had just signed Joe Montana.

Back then the only way to watch it was in Channel 4 usually late at night but I was a student so late nights weren't a problem. I joined the university team and played for 4 years which was fun. We had very few players so had to play both offence and defence but got to play a lot of other universities so had a great time.

I haven't played it since I left university in 1996 but still love to watch the game. It's an incredible mix of strategy and athletic ability. I used to go to watch the Scottish Claymores when there was a league in the UK but that's a long time ago.

It's easy to watch the NFL on Sky. During the season Sky shows three live games each Sunday. Sky now shows some college games as well.

Training starts in July and there are exhibition games in August. Generally for most teams the season is Sept to Dec. Playoffs are Dec on to see who gets to play in the Superbowl. As for team favorites - sometimes its locale, sometimes person based, some households have several different team favs. There are some "how to learn about football" you tube videos out there.

My favorite is Kansas City Chiefs and has been for all my life (73). I was born 300 miles away and its the closest team. They are currently the team to beat. As for viewing I'm not sure what's available to stream in the UK, but according to my sons "somewhere online there is something to watch". The NFL has a subscription based service.

My sons (40+) have developed an interest UK soccer. Their favorite team is Arsenal. They have no problem finding matches to stream in the US. They are heading to Philadelphia to see them in the US in a couple of weeks. One has been to London twice this year.

DH is a huge Miami Dolphins fan and we’ve been over to a few games. I’m glad it’s a shortish season as he watches every game- records it and then watches all week. My nominal team is the Green Bay Packers but I can’t pretend to be a loyal fan.

recommend the Wembley games- brilliant fun!

I'm a 49ers faithful and my husband is a Seahawks fan (the teams have a big rivalry as they play in the same division). I started watching at the 2013 superbowl.

I watch Redzone on one of the free Sky sports channels (don't need Sky Sports package) which imo is the best way to watch the matches - just the scores and none of the rest.

DH is a fan but doesn't have a team (I half support the New York Jets). DH and his friends are obsessed with their fantasy football league which, based on the number of podcasts he listens to on the topic and the various spreadsheets he shows me that people create, he is one of many.

There’s a weekly highlights show on one of the ITV channels I think. I often see that and I don’t have Sky, so it must be on a free to air channel.

Thanks for all your replies. It's good to see the variety of teams who have made it to the superbowl over the years, where I am there have pretty much been two teams who dominate the football league and it gets a bit boring if truth be told!

As a fellow Niners fan, LTB.

For me college football is more fun, as when the University of Georgia won the National Championship for the first time in 40 years.

Note: A "pick six" is when a defensive player intercepts a pass (the "pick") and then scores a touchdown (six points).