Friendship, Football, and a Patrick Mahomes Fan

Every Saturday my two closest friends, one living in Utah, one in Dallas, and I in Syracuse would watch specific college football games, texting back and forth on scores, misses, and congratulations on wins. Although we were 50-year-old women, we grew up school mates who played and loved sports. One of us was a Division 1 gymnast, the other a high school field hockey star, and one of us the daughter of two Physical Education teachers and coaches. We were girls and we loved our sports.

When the annual Powder Puff Football game happened at our High School, we tried out of the team. One of us was a fantastic receiver, the other a running back, and the last one a safety. We choose our numbers, practiced with coaches, and played a great game as some of our male friends dressed as cheerleaders with pom-poms on the sidelines. I remember the day like it was yesterday because it was so fun to play football which talented girls couldn’t play even if they were athletes.

When my friends and I entered middle-age, we didn’t stop loving, playing, and watching sports. I ran the Boston Marathon, one skies and golfs regularly, and the other one watched one son play college soccer and the other son Ian play football at Texas Tech. Ian was a Texas High-school football star and ended up rooming with Patrick Mahomes as well as starting with him and receiving his passes on the field as a starting receiver. This is where my interest in watching weekly college football became real!

My other friend and I didn’t have sons that played football – they were basketball and lacrosse players so we lived vicariously through Geselle’s son Ian. Watching the weekly game made me a big fan of both of them. My husband wanted me to watch our hometown Syracuse University Football and my son wanted me to watch his college’s team Boston College, but I only had an interest in watching Texas Tech from far away Syracuse, New York.

Eventually, when Patrick entered the NFL lottery, the football coach’s daughter came out of me when I told my husband a Buffalo Bills fan, and my son a New York Jets fan, their teams should draft Mahomes since they had early first-round drafts; they shrugged not believing I KNEW what I was talking about. I had been an active ‘scout’ for three years. As soon as he went to the Kansas City Chiefs, I became a Kansas City Chiefs fan so I could continue to cheer him on from afar.