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I know what you all are thinking, this is a family site, a woman's blog, and she's about to write an entire blog about football?  Well, apparently I am.  But before you guys stop reading - this blog is for you.  This is for the Mom whose husband spends every fall and winter watching and participating in Fantasy Football.  This is for the Mom who doesn't understand it when her husband is on the computer watching his scores all weekend.

Because that was me not so long ago.   And back in September, I wrote about Sunday Football and my kids growing up sports fans.  Because about ten years ago, I knew very little about football.  But then I moved to Philadelphia, met hubby and evolved into a serious Philadelphia Eagles fan.  But slowly, hubby's football habits became more involved as he started playing Fantasy Football with his friends.  Not only was he vested in the Eagles games, but he'd have an interest in the other games going on each weekend.  And rather than spend another football season watching him have all the fun, I decided to try my hand at my own team.

So I entered his league.  The league is everyone he's playing with.  There are 11 players this year including myself and my husband.  And there happens to be one other Mom so she and I have been the female representation in an otherwise male-dominated "game." 

I didn't know what I was doing.  I sat down in August for the league's draft.  (Huh?)  The draft is basically where you sit down and pick all your players.  It's done very fairly and the first person presumably picks the best player.  (Which, arguably, is a running back, because they tend to score more points than other positions.)  It goes around the room and lasts a few hours until you have drafted an entire team.  (An entire team for us consisted of a quarterback, several running backs, several wide receivers, a couple of tight ends and a couple of defensive teams.)  I didn't really have any clue as to what I was doing, so I went to Barnes & Noble and picked up a few Fantasy Football magazines.  They rank the players for you and help you decide who you want.  Plus, we all came with our laptops in hand and ESPN and CBS Sportsline helped with recommendations too.

I pretty much went by what the sports sites recommended and a few weeks later, we started playing.  It's been a blast.  And I've learned a lot.  Because before this year, although I loved to watch football, I didn't really get much.  Now I know the difference between a tight end and a wide receiver.  And more.

Even my four year old has gotten into it.  "Mom, how many points do you have now?"  We've seriously been showing him the scoreboard and trying to teach him numbers from fantasy football.  (He knew 1-20, but now he's getting how to read some numbers up to 100.)  And, "Dad, do you have any players in this game?"  (when a non-Eagles game would be on tv.)

This weekend is the finals.  It's down to two teams and I'm one of them!  I'm excited.  Although there's a very good chance I'm going to lose as I'm playing the top seeded player and he has both Tom Brady and Randy Moss of the undefeated Patriots on his team.  But who knows - and really, I'm just happy I made it this far and it's been a great bonding experience to have with my husband.  Plus, it's been the topic of conversation all fall and winter long.  The guys have been very "impressed" with my football knowledge!  And hey, I'm a Mom who lives in a house of all boys - I figure I might as well roll with it, right?

To all you Moms out there with even a slight interest in football and a husband who loves it:  next year, go for it!  You'll learn a lot and hubby'll be impressed.