Five Things Not to Say to a Woman Football Fan

Some of my best memories of my father are of him and I watching the Browns' games. I began asking endless questions from the time I was four years old and was old enough to form complete sentences. My father and I bonded over these times, and I developed a love of the game. The following statements aren't more than small annoyances, but I had heard them enough that I felt they needed to be addressed. I'd also like to point out that though these phrases are comments meant to 'attack' female fans, they are ones I have heard from both men and women equally. 

5. "What do you know about football? You're a girl."
Thanks for reminding us of our anatomy down there. Gosh, if it weren't for someone constantly reminding us that we were female, we probably would forget. All jokes aside, this is a terrible thing to say to us when we're expressing our feelings about a game. I see men get into conversations all the time where there is a difference in opinion, and they seem to respect each other. They argue, they disagree, but they don't diminish the other person's feelings. The minute a man states, "What was the quarterback doing!" and a woman interjects, "The quarterback? Where was the center blocking!?" she's immediately shut down. She may not know her stuff, sure. However, chances are if she's comfortable enough to express an opinion, she's got the knowledge to back it up. 

4. ''Why don't you go watch Grey's Anatomy or The Notebook?"
I'm not afraid to admit I cried my eyes out when McDreamy McDied. But I will watch what I want, when I want. I know I have other viewing options, but I chose football for a reason, and it's not because it's the only thing on TV. With 300 channel options, I'm sure that IF I wanted to watch something else, I wouldn't have a problem finding another show. 

3. “You only like football because of your boyfriend/husband.”

Being able to watch a game with your significant other is great, especially when you root for the same team. That doesn’t mean that the only reason we started watching football was to impress a male. Even if we never watched before our husbands, boyfriends, fathers, or friends made us watch a game with them, we still made the choice to continue watching and to learn about the sport as much as possible. There are very few things that a person ‘discovers’ on their own. That TV show you love, your absolute favorite band, or that restaurant that has THE best scallops you’ve ever had were all probably shown to you by someone who said, “Hey, check this out!” It doesn’t make your passion for it any less because you didn’t just happen to stumble across it in the street one day.

2. “Football is dumb. I like REAL sports, like hockey/basketball/soccer.”

It’s only wrong if you’re saying that we love football because we’re bandwagon-ers who never gave any other sports a try. The chances are pretty high that we’ve seen a few basketball games, and probably have even been to a home opener for the Indians. We most likely DO like other sports as well. But when we don’t, please accept that it’s just not something we enjoy. When you tell us our sport is lesser in some way than the one you love, you’re about to start World War 3 to those of us who revolve our lives around Football Sunday for 4 months, not to mention preseason, and the sleepless and exciting weeks leading up to the few days of the NFL draft.

1. "You're so cute when you're mad"
Sure, our nails and our make up are done up nice and pretty with our team's colors. We probably do look adorbs with our matching boots and leggings, and put a lot of effort into this. However, when we are angry, especially during the game, we do NOT want to hear that we look cute. This is a battle that we are watching, and to see our team go down is genuinely making us ANGRY. Hell hath no fury like a woman Browns fan in the Dawg Pound during the 2014 season Ravens game, and Billy Cundiff has failed at yet another field goal.