If you are a woman who makes up the 42% of the estimated NFL female fan base, you are bound to run into a guy or two that doesn’t know as much about the game as you do.
But what if you are a guy who happens to fall into the unfamiliar territory of dating a girl who is a bigger NFL fan than you? A newly formed relationship will die a quick death if you don’t at least share a little bit of the passion female football fans have.
But fear not, we have some useful tips for those guys who find themselves in this foreign territory…
Know at least some of the rules of the game
When you are a lady at a game and you don’t know a rule, most of the time you keep your questions to yourself because you don’t want the stigma attached of not knowing enough about the game. As soon as you get home, you google said rule or ask someone you trust not to make fun of you so you can understand the game better.
But if you are a guy trying to holla at a girl who is an avid fan, keep every single question you have to yourself. There is nothing that makes a guy look like an alien from another planet than when a girl has to explain the game of football to them. I’d take a guy wearing skinny jeans who knows football over a guy who I have to explain the rules of the game, during the game.
And I HATE skinny jeans. With a friggin’ passion.
Show up to the game in some sort of team attire
It’s always good measure to show up to a game in the team colors that your girl supports. At the very least (and if you like to play it risky), show up in the away team’s colors to spark a bit of back and forth flirt-fighting.
But never show up to a game dressed like you’re going to any other place but a football game. I had interest in a guy who showed up to the Jaguar vs Browns game wearing a plain yellow shirt and khakis. No team colors what-so-ever. Though he was still cute, I lost interest immediately and never talked to him after that game.
Know how to play the drinking games
Before a football game, the drinking games such as flip cup, beer pong and corn hole are staples at any decent tailgate. If you show up at one of these things and can’t flip or cup or miss the table/board completely and consistently, it’s a complete turnoff.
You see, tailgating is cornerstone to the football culture. And playing games is a major part of that cornerstone. If you lack the athletic ability to be able to make a small ball into a large cup or can’t throw a bean bag properly, I question how well you can perform at other socially acceptable tasks.
Practice at home, search for instructional YouTube videos…whatever you need to do in order to get ready for game day. We take this seriously and want to know our guys do too!
Come to the tailgate area prepared
If you show up to a tailgate spot with no beer or food before a football game, you sir are either a moocher or this is your first rodeo. None of which are good signs for your future dating-a-female-football-fan lifespan.
Bring beer and/or food. Or bring cash to throw down (sort of frowned upon esp if you drink all of my beer). If you don’t bring either of those things, just take yourself to another tailgate spot because you aren’t worth my time.
To recap…know some NFL rules, wear the team colors that are playing that day, show some sort of athletic drinking-game abilities and bring beer/food to the tailgate spot. Otherwise, you may have to start looking outside of that 42% of the NFL female fan population for future date opportunities.
Ladies did any of these ring true to you? Or is there another football code of conduct for dating that I missed? Let us know in the comments….
*This post originally appeared in April. Because it’s December, we are featuring your favorite articles from this year.
