If you ask most people in America what the most loved sport is in the country, majority of them will tell you football. Whether it's college football, the NFL, or even high school football, America has a love for it like nothing else. Yes, baseball is known as "America's past time", but football across the nation is definitely more popular. It's the most watched sport and America has had a long love affair with it for many years that I don't know if the rest of the world quite understands. Let us take a look at some of the reasons football is such a strong part of American culture.

Football is the most watched sport in America

We grow up with it

I come from a household like most Americans where every Sunday (sometimes Monday and Thursday too) the only thing that would be on the television was the NFL. It was almost a way at the end of a stressful work week for members of my family to sit down, spend time together, and basically bond while watching the extended member of your family, your favorite team, win or lose. It's like a mini party every weekend, a common place where everyone can get together and enjoy themselves. You don't even have to be at the game. You can just be with your family in the comfort of your own home sharing a common love amongst generations. Also, think about how many schools across America, high school specifically, have football being such an important part of their community. I was a cheerleader watching many games up close and watching crowds of people sitting in the freezing cold to cheer on the high school football team, all of us acting like we were one giant family. Same goes for college football, but with a tremendous amount of fans. All of those people feeling the wins and losses of their team, wearing the teams colors and showing their pride. Somehow, we all have a connection to it.

We become fans young and are forever hooked

Tailgating

I don't think it's a surprise that Americans love their food. The bigger the better. What better way to enjoy your food than to tie it into a party before the game, during the game, and after the game. We love to make anything we enjoy last longer. Why not have a couple of drinks and eat some great food in preparation of watching your favorite team battle it out? There's also a sense of bonding with your fellow fans and community when you tailgate. You can meet a complete stranger in the parking lot of a game and somehow within minutes be talking about how great your team is while sharing a beer and barbecuing together. It's just another way we enjoy the game before the game even gets started.

Football, friends, and food. What more could you want?

It's rough and it keeps our attention

I think this might help people also understand why football is bigger in America than soccer. Let me explain. A lot of people around the world have the idea that Americans hate soccer. We don't at all. In fact, many Americans love playing soccer, we just don't enjoy watching it as much as other sports. We like watching sports like football where the teams are basically every drive trying to advance and score points. It's like every time they have the ball, it's a mini game and it keeps progressing. Most of us don't have the patience to watch a long running game with minimal scoring. That's just how some of us are. Let us not forget most Americans have the personality of needing a lot of excitement and aggression so why wouldn't we want to watch huge muscular men running full speed crashing into each other in a brutal fashion? There's nothing wrong with that, it's just what we enjoy. To each his own. You like what you like.

It's a rough game, but that's how we like it

A Sunday night party

These are just a few of the reasons why us Americans love the game of football so much. Whether it's a high school game or the Super Bowl, it's a sport where strangers can come together like families, best friends can become rivals for the day to support their own team, generations of family can sit together and cheer, and just an overall way to feel that you're apart of something bigger than yourself. We are passionate about it and teach younger generations how to love it like we do and carry on the tradition. We watch players on the field that are fulfilling their dream while also in a way working hard to fulfill ours and give us a win. It makes us a family and connects us throughout the nation. We support our favorite teams and players by wearing their names on our jerseys as if we were cheering on a member of our family. It gives us a reason to not dread Sundays. Football gives us a reason every week to fall in love with it all over again.

Thanks for reading! See you next time!