According to Jeannette: How to Make Football EVEN More Awesome

 

There are a few times in life when you talk about sports with friends and something completely brilliant just strikes you.  I have many discussions with people about sports, more specifically about football.  The majority of the time, these pleasant discussions turn into heated conversations and eventually to people leaving in frustration. Although this happens about 86% of the time, then there are a few times that it becomes a purely enlightening conversation.  This is one of them.

Jeannette thinks that I am a freak. We avoid going to dinner anywhere that  televisions in sight because I end up not paying attention to her and watching the Top 10 plays on Sportscenter…after I had already seen at least 4 times earlier in the day.

Me, at a bar..or any restaurant with TV's

What can I say? Is it something that I do on purpose? No way.  I just can’t help it.  She is convinced that my fascination with football and just sports in general is not natural and which is why a lot of guys have a hard time figuring me out (this is a different issue in itself).  Even with this in mind, she still continues to hang out with me and often texts or calls me when she sees a player on television that she finds attractive.  This often leads to her describing the colors of the uniform and what marking is on the helmet so I can attempt to name the player.

I’d like to think of her as a true friend.

On a random afternoon, Jeannette and I found ourselves discussing her favorite sporting event EVER, the wonder that is WrestleMania.

I’ve never gotten into wrestling.  Perhaps it had to do with my mom being against violent games/shows.  Power Rangers and Sailor Moon apparently did not fit into this category because I was all about those shows.  Often, I tried to figure out what the appeal was of wrestling.  I enjoyed the flair and showiness of it all.  I also liked the clever names they had.  The Undertaker, Triple H, and The Rock.  Diamond Dallas Page was always a good one.  I knew the Hova hand gesture looked familiar… And 3Oh!3, please, get over yourselves.

Come on guys, let's try to be creative here...

So here is where the conversation begins to get interesting.  She states that Wrestlemania is like the Super Bowl of wrestling.  It’s where the matches are just mind blowing and the whole event is a week-long extravaganza.  There are meet and greets along with the ability to even enjoy a meal with your favorite wrestler.  For some reason, I just wasn’t sold on why people would invest $450 for a 3-day event package.

Then, my moment of clarity came.  Jeannette explained that the matches usually consists of the “good” and “bad” wrestlers. Kinda like a good vs evil, Megatron vs Optimus Prime, Tom Brady vs Seyton Manning (thanks Fitzy for this!)  type of battle. As a fan, you pick a side. Epic idea.  Here’s the kicker, you NEVER know who is going to show up! Like a cage match between John Cena and Sheamus and then out of nowhere, Rick Flair shows up!

Sheamus and John Cena, just in case you didn't know..

Ok, here’s where my brain starts churning ideas. Crazy ideas.  Since the majority of my life relates to football, I thought about how this could be translated to the world of the National Football League.

What if during one game every season, a team has the option of bringing in a veteran/retired/hall of fame player for two minutes?

I know this sounds crazy..and highly improbable, but the mere thought of this happening can’t even process in my brain.

So let’s say it’s a season-changing regular season game for, oh I don’t know, the San Francisco 49′ers against the randomly decent Oakland Raiders.  In the 4th quarter, struggling (been struggling) quarterback Alex Smith can’t seem to complete passes to any of his receivers. The pass rush is impeccable and Michael Crabtree is getting more coverage than the Grammys.  How does an offense pull through?  Then all of a sudden, almost with dramatic, slow clap initiating  entrance from the tunnel, JERRY RICE APPEARS! The recent Football Hall of Fame inductee, the 1985 16th overall pick, 22,895 total receiving yards and 197 touchdowns…yeah, that Jerry Rice.  Then, he runs whatever route Jerry Rice feels like and scores the winning touchdown to beat the Raiders!!

Can you imagine how crazy the games would would be?!!?

Incredible.

Is this logical? Hell no. But think of the possibilities! Warren Moon coming in for Vince Young. Sam Cunningham coming to play running back for the Patriots because they’ve needed a great running back since he left -_- .  Of course there would be setbacks.

Ryan Leaf anyone?

So give me your thoughts, am I completely ridiculous for thinking like this?

Or is this one of the coolest things to fantasize about in professional football?

I say the latter.