My teen-age grandson Clay seemed stunned on Thanksgiving Day when he stepped into my family room to spy myself and two of his uncles watching the Detroit Lions and Philadelphia Eagles tangle on TV.
It was 11:45 a.m. and the Wolter clan was only minutes away from serving the turkey, stuffing, potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, brown rice, buns, Jell-O, and pumpkin pie for the annual feast.
“Grandpa!” he exclaimed, looking astonished. “You said you weren’t going to watch any football today!”
Now, it’s the holiday season. And if Clay were 4 instead of 14, I might have been embarrassed to have to fill him in on one of the inevitable facts of life: Like we all must learn the truth about Santa Claus, the younger Wolter family members must come to a realization about football.
And that is, the games must go on, and they must be watched.
I smiled facetiously and said to the little dear, “Well … I changed my mind.”
Clay, that wonderful grandchild of mine whose middle name is my father’s — but who prefers archery to football — had been hoping grandpa might forgo football on Thanksgiving and start a game of Monopoly with him instead. But what he didn’t know was that the lure of football can be powerful, even during the holiday season.
I often chuckle up my sleeve at all those critics of the National Football League who predict the future demise of professional football, citing its violence, the concussions, the drop-off of participation in youth leagues. But I know there are millions of Americans like me for whom football season is one of life’s essential ingredients. And as long as there are fans, there will be football.
Not very many years ago, the NFL annually broadcast two afternoon games on Thanksgiving Day. Now they’re doing three, and the only reason they don’t schedule four or five is because the games would then begin to run into each other like too-thin gravy on mashed potatoes mingling with the green bean dish.
Actually, this year I really did plan to abandon my traditional pursuit of football on Thanksgiving, as I proudly explained to anyone who would listen. But, I confess, in the back of my mind I knew I’d probably wind up in front of the TV like any other year.
I mean, I knew my two sons-in-law, Mike and Nathan, were determined to watch football anyway, and being a good host I just decided to have the game on when they arrived.
That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.
I remember just a few years ago, on Christmas Day, the NFL scheduled another game that was to run through the very time my family had set aside to open presents together. I remember I lobbied my family to allow me to watch the game with the sound turned off. They refused. I relented.
Yesterday, I looked ahead and I saw that Christmas Day 2015 is safe. There is, however, a game scheduled between the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders on Christmas Eve, and another one scheduled between the Washington Redskins and Philadelphia Eagles on the day after Christmas.
Perhaps the NFL is finally getting its priorities in order. I, perhaps, still have a ways to go.
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Nothing goes together like football and holidays
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