The Chance Encounter That Grew Into a Love of Football

The story of how a roll of a soccer ball and the graciousness of a kind family helped me to find joy and fascination into a sport

For many people, their love of the game of football is often inherited. It could be from an older sibling, a parent, or mentor. It’s a story we see portrayed in movies far too often. The pull of such a violent game is relatively odd, but often others show us the beauty in it that helps us to appreciate it more. My fascination with football, however, came to be in an unconventional way.

As we head into a new year, with both the NFL and College Football playoffs ahead of us, I have found myself a bit reflective. Reminiscent of when I was a kid who was falling in love with a game for the first time. More than anything, I remember a day at a park that cemented my love for a game that I now watch ritualistically every weekend.

Organic Exposure

When I lived in Detroit, I worked at an Italian restaurant that was built in 1956 and is still open today. Many of my co-workers lived in the Eastpointe area (a suburb thirteen miles north of Detroit), and they would tell me how they…