Week 3 of this year’s NFL season has just wrapped up, and the staff members at LTHS are ready for the rest of the season to get underway. 

Usually when people think of football, they solely think of the game and the players but there is more to the game than just the football. Chemistry teacher Madison Syrus described the special part about the Sunday Night Football game on NBC.

“I love sports, and I know everything [about] football, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I look forward to the game Sunday night, where I get to see Carrie Underwood sing the opener,” Syrus said.

Brent Pradia, Varsity Defensive Coordinator, provided his usual game day routine which includes watching his favorite football team as well as watching the many other games occurring at the same time. 

“Having the remote control to the TV in hand is huge,” Pradia said. “If the Texans are not on the TV. I traditionally try to watch as much football as I can by going back and forth between channels. There are typically 2 – 3 games on at a time.”  

Syrus also detailed her game day routine which includes spending time with her family and enjoying the game on different platforms. 

“Well, normally, [on] Sundays we always go to my parents house for dinner, so my dad will smoke whatever meat he’s going to be smoking that day and we just watch it,” Syrus said. “I’ll wear a Cowboys shirt if the Cowboys are playing, but really it’s just sitting and watching, being with family.”

Syrus also provided an explanation of one of her favorite parts about Monday Night Football, watching the Manning brothers give commentary and analyze the game. 

“On Mondays, we love watching whenever Peyton and Eli do their [show]. I love that, because both [of] them are like legends and so you get to hear it from that side. They [also] always have guest hosts. Shannon [Sharpe] was on there last week, and so that was really cool.”

Syrus also detailed how she participated in Fantasy Football this year, which has its struggles at times. 

“I play Fantasy so I look forward to my Fantasy teams doing well,” Syrus said. “Except for, it’s really hard whenever I have a team’s defense and then I have on the other team somebody on their offense, and I’m like “Which one do I want to do better?” But it’s really just seeing the players compete, the level of competition is literally amazing.”

Although Fantasy Football has its advantages and disadvantages, it is also a commitment and some adults may not have time on their schedule to participate in it. 

“I do not participate in fantasy football,” Pradia said. “This could be very time-consuming if you have an end-of-the-year prize involved, a la money, championship belt, pride, etc.. Just not enough time for this football coach.”

Adam Zurbrugg, a LTHS Varsity offensive linebacker football coach, gave his prediction for this year’s NFC and AFC finalists. 

“Yeah, [the] Bills are going to win the Super Bowl. NFC is wide open, I have no idea on the NFC but I can tell you the Bills are going to win,” Zurbrugg said.

Zurbrugg described what has made the NFL a more attractive sport to watch. 

 “They’ve done a lot more fan engagement and customer engagement lately, and so I think it’s a lot more attractive to people than it used to be.” Zurbrugg said. “We’re also kinda coming out of that time where everybody looked negatively at the NFL for the handling of all of the racial issues, and stuff like that, and some people are starting to get back into it. 

Pradia described how the NFL has been taking steps to catch up with the times and market themselves to all ranges of people of any age, football lovers or not.

“The NFL has done a great job in marketing its brand to people of all ages, elementary kids to adults,” Pradia said. “They have also brought an entertainment piece which attracts the non-football types, which gives them interest in one of the teams who may be playing at the time. Remember the Super Bowl is one of the biggest events during the year. The day after the Big Game is one of the days when most [employees] are a no-show for work.”