NFL Week 16: So we were talking about rules

Tonight's Falcons-Bucs game should be a snoozer so let's look ahead to the penultimate week of the regular season.

Among the games is Bears-Browns, a matchup that saw the first official use of instant replay 31 years ago. It was, of course, a disputed possession call in the end zone.

Anyway, the Bears are going for a sweep of the NFC North.

Colts-Ravens and Vikings-Packers on Saturday. Best game on Sunday looks to be Saints-Falcons. Not the most tantalizing slate this deep into the season. Cowboys get Zeke back and they face the reeling Seahawks. Always nice to watch Seattle get pummeled.

 

I'm going to Bears-Browns and taking my son. It's his first game. It's like taking a kid to "Ishtar" as his first movie.

 

End zone seats?

 

I don't even know. I "won" them at a silent auction, $30 apiece. It was for the non-profit I am on the Board for, and the board chairman was making fun of me for it: You know you could have bought those for like $2 on the day of the game?

 

Maybe you'll see a miraculous comeback like the 2001 Bears-Browns game.

Fox and Loggains better get Howard and Cohen involved early so Trubisky can throw a few routes to receivers who aren't blanketed. But you'll probably end up explaining to your son why Bennie Cunningham is still in the game.

 

I have to say, I doubt I'll take my kids to a football game until they're teenagers. So much of the gameday experience revolves around people getting really, really hammered, I'm not sure when I'll think it's appropriate for them to be around that atmosphere. My last trip to the Meadowlands (Giants/Redskins in 2012) was pretty pleasant, but Foxborough is always a shitshow.

Baseball games have a lot less of the drunken rowdiness, but the batted balls tend to be more dangerous. When I do eventually take the kids to a ball game, I'll either get seats behind the screen, or way the fuck away from home plate.

 

The stadium is 70 percent end zone seats but high-falutin' board people probably get better seats. Hopefully you don't sit near any assholes.

 

Trust me, there is nothing high-falutin' about a non-profit board.

My friend, who is the VP, Operations, for the non-profit, actually donated the tickets to the silent auction, as he and his wife are season ticket holders.

 

I would be willing to take my kids to a game when they're younger if we were part of a large group. But just me and him/her, I doubt it.

 

I was much older for my first NFL game, but it was a similar experience: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/200201070rav.htm

My girlfriend at the time knew I was a Vikings fan, so she got us tickets to this game, which was supposed to be played the Monday after 9/11 but was pushed back to the end of the year with that entire week. The Vikings' quarterback that night was the immortal Spergon Wynn. Our seats were literally in the last row of the stadium, and it was snowing. And we'd both cheated on each other over winter break, and told each other as much. The relationship didn't last much longer after that.

 

Hopefully my son and I will have better luck.

 

You mean just the NFL or any game?