… Now I live in America and have my green card, but I never had a team. I was always my own wide receiver and quarterback because the ball wasn’t round, and nobody in Scotland really cared for it. “I think now looking back at it, it’s what started my dream to be an American one day, but I couldn’t find anyone to play with. “I fell in love with the chess of it all, the physicality, the spectacle, the anthem and the fireworks,” he said. By looking at fanatics, McMullen hopes to become a proper one himself. The goal of the series is to find McMullen a team that he can follow. Now he finds himself at the helm of NFL Football Fanatic, which travels to different fan communities each week and documents their unique food, rituals and obsessions. In Scotland, there’s probably a greater likelihood that a child will be interested in soccer (or “football,” to the rest of the world) rather than American football, but McMullen kept his passion going all throughout his formative years. I used to have to go to bed early on a Sunday night because it was a school night, but I had one of these old televisions that you had to tune in using the rabbit ears. “I was a little kid growing up in Scotland, and I became fascinated with NFL football. “It began when I was 7 years old,” McMullen said in a recent phone interview. 1 at 11 p.m., follows Scotland-born Darren McMullen, who has been an American football fan ever since he was a child. NFL Football Fanatic, which premieres Monday, Jan. Photo courtesy of Jace Downs / USA Network.Īs the NFL postseason gears up, and fans begin praying for a Super Bowl berth, USA Network is set to release a new reality show that honors and celebrates football fandom. The Park pub opposite Anfield, home of Liverpool, was rammed with socially distanced fans watching the game alongside cardboard cutouts of their heroes.Īmidst the horros of the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for the return of football fans inside stadiums may seem trivial but for many it brings a crusical dimension to their lives.On the first episode of NFL Football Fanatic, host Darren McMullen heads to Atlanta to enjoy some football fandom with Falcon fans. Swansea fan Lloyd, cycled from his home in east London to The Den, home of Millwall, hoping to glimpse his team through a gap in the stands before being escorted away by security.Īs pubs reopened on Super Saturday, a flavour of the terraces returned, 24 year old Chelse fan, Nicholas, watched the match on TV with friends in a private function room at The Chelsea Pensioner pub a few hundred metres from Stamford Bridge stadium. Siobahn walked her dog Cleo around the ground as she does every match day, waving a hurling stick in tribute to Villa midfielder, Jack Grealish, who played the game as a kid. Unable to access BT Sport to watch the game against Wolverhampton Wanderers, Aston Villa fans Jordan and Jess drove six miles to Villa Park to listen to commentary on their phone within ear shot of their team. 83 year old Joyce, broke her 93 day confinement and got on a bus from her home in east London for a trip around the ground with her son, John. When Tottenham Hotspur played Manchester United on a gloomy Friday night in north London, united fans Michael, Michael and Gaz drove 200 miles to watch the game on an iPad opposite the stadium. Pubs and bars remained closed, strict social distancing was in place. What would the new match day look like and how far fanatical fans would go to create a match day experience?Īs project restart kicked off, lockdown restrictions were stringent. Not every fan complied, the temptation to be close to their idols, too much. Signs advised supporters to leave the area and watch from home. ![]() Police were on patrol to disperse potential groups. The advice was to stay away from football stadiums. Regular outlets for emotional release were denied. Lifetime traditions and habits suspended, maybe gone forever. When lockdown was initiated, fans were abruptly severed from their team. When fixtures are released, fans plot their route through the season with Field Marshall Montgomery precision: how will they get there, what will they wear, what will they eat and drink and with whom? Dates of matches are rapidly cross checked with work and family commitments, the relief palpable when a meeting or christening doesn't clash with a must watch derby. Fortunes have been spent following a team, lifetime grudges have developed, relationships have failed.Ī match day starts months before the alarm goes off the morning of the game. Terrfified parents pull a team shirt over their newborn in the hope they won't choose blue over red. Football undoubtedly brings out the fanatic in the fan.
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