My First NFL Game

Growing up a 49ers fan in New England wasn't the worst thing in the world. My only football complaint might be that Vermont does have a good amount of Giants fans. The Giants and Niners clashed quite a few times in the playoffs over the years, but other than that I tend to exist peacefully in my own little football bubble.

As an offshoot of living up here, when my team wasn't playing very well over the last 10 years I adopted the Patriots as my "other" team that I would root for. I was always pretty satisfied when they won and it was a small comfort as my Niners would stink the joint up every week. I would never have said I was a Pats fan, per se, but I was able to root for them as a non-conference rival that gave me something fun to watch.

Even though my team sucked I was able to enjoy football, and I would head to my best friend's house to watch games every Sunday. On the off chance that the Niners were televised, Don would root for them with me, and when the Pats came on I would root for them with him. It was a lot of fun and kept us both happy.

Well, last year things got a lot better in my world. The Niners turned things around thanks in a large part to Jim Harbaugh, their new coach. They made a great run and made me much happier to be a Niners fan. And, much like years past, Don and I rooted for our respective teams while secretly hoping for a Super Bowl matchup that would pit our two teams against each other.

One night after the season was over I mentioned that I would have loved to see a Niners/Pats Super Bowl and Don said "Well, the AFC East plays the NFC West next year, maybe the game will be in Foxboro." And at that moment we both agreed that if it was out here we would go. Then a few weeks later the schedule came out and we saw the game...week 15, December 16th, in Foxboro. That night we decided to go.

We bought our tickets months prior to the game, and joked around about how much it would suck if one team or the other wound up being a bust this year. The weeks wore on, and then football kicked off...and Don and I resumed our old roles. I would root for the Pats, and he would root for the Niners as we watched games every week. The season progressed, marching ever closer to Week 15, and our teams were both leading their divisions and arguably the best team in their respective conferences.

The week before the game got interesting for Don and I. For the first time in forever, we started talking a little smack about each other's teams. He pointed out that the Niners would be looking for their favorite outcome, the tie, while I mentioned that Brady hadn't seen a REAL defense yet and would waffle under the pressure.

Finally, Sunday morning arrived. We loaded up the van, picked up our friends and headed out for the game. And the conditions were exactly what you would expect for football in December: cold and miserable. On the way to the stadium from our friend's place in Rhode Island, we started seeing a ton of cars all meandering towards Foxboro. It was all starting to sink in. We were about to see our teams play!

Don and I sporting our awesome hats

My greatest fear for the weeks leading up to the game was focused not so much on the game, but more on the fans. I'm a fan of the Red Sox and Bruins. Have been all my life. And forgive me, but Boston area fans can be some real DICKS. So I was concerned with walking into the Patriots' house with the other team's colors on and getting a hard time.

Upon parking I realized that I wasn't going to be alone. There were a fair number of people there to root for the Niners, and we all hailed each other with smiles and nods when we made eye contact. It was like greeting someone from your country while halfway around the world. It made us feel a little more relaxed and a little more at ease.

The tailgaiting experience was one that I can't wait to relive. As far as the eye could see people were popping canopies out of their trucks and cars and firing up grills. The smell of cooking meat and the sounds of football were everywhere. It was a neat atmosphere, even for someone that was rooting for the enemy. Once game time started creeping closer, we bundled up and headed for the stadium.

While I've always thought that baseball stadiums were big, they can't hold a candle to a football stadium. Gillette seemed massive to me. And our seats? 300 level. Top tier. I was expecting them to suck, but we were right near the front and the action was surprisingly easy to see from our viewpoint. We found our seats, got some food, and waited for the action to start.

The view from our seats

Five minutes before kickoff we took our seats. The rain was light, but steady. The cold was amplified by the fact that everything was getting soaked. The wind in our section wasn't too bad, but a small breeze made the temperature drop even more.

And yet I was in heaven.

I've been to professional baseball games and I've been to professional hockey games. I've defended baseball to people that have called it boring, telling them that they should see it live. I've said that hockey was fast-paced and got the crowd excited. I've listened to people tell me how football was an experience like no other.

Well, they were right.

I've always been a passionate fan, and sometimes I will yell at the TV. My friends will jokingly say "You know they can't hear you, right?" and I'll laugh. Well, last night, there was a chance they might actually hear me! I certainly wasn't alone in that thought process...

The crowd was SO LOUD!! The fans, almost without exception, hung on every play like the game could change in a minutes notice. And boy, did it. The Niners jumped out to an early lead and went into halftime up 17-3. Two quick scores in the third quarter made the game look out of reach at 31-3. Of course, everyone knows how potent the Patriots offense is, and they came roaring back in the second half to tie the game at 31.

And the stadium started rocking. Literally.

The Niners pulled ahead again and finally held on, winning what was one of the greatest games I had ever seen. My heart was in my throat for the entire fourth quarter, and the roller coaster of emotion that I experienced might have taken a couple years off of my life.

 We walked back to the car. I was drenched, but happy. So happy. My first NFL game. My first time seeing the Niners. And they won. It doesn't get much better than that.

Don and I right before the game. Soaked. Nervous. Excited.