TEXARKANA MAGAZINE
GOOD EVENING TXK COLUMN BY BAILEY GRAVITT
I n the south, football isn’t just a game. It’s a ritual, a tradition, a heartbeat that keeps the blood pumping, warming up the atmosphere of every fall season. The loud roar of the crowd, the blinding stadium lights, that certain electricity in the air that signals the start of something sacred. For many, this is the highlight of the year—a season that unites friends, families, and even strangers. But for me, it’s always been a little more complicated. I’ll never forget my first month of high school at Texas High, where I found myself caught in the frenzy of football season without a clue how to play the part. I remember being stopped in the hallway by TigerVision (the school’s media production department) and being asked how I felt about the legendary Texas High versus Arkansas High rivalry. Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you know that rivalry was a big deal—like a “clear your calendar and cancel all plans” kind of big deal. When I nonchalantly said, “I don’t care one way or the other,” the look on their faces told me everything I needed to know. I had just committed social suicide. You would have thought I had waltzed into Texas High’s halls wearing the Scarlet Letter, permanently branding myself an outsider. I wasn’t rebelling against anything. Football was just never my thing. While my classmates were analyzing plays, I was sitting in the stands wondering why the game had so many stops and starts. “Why are we pausing again? Didn’t we literally just start running the ball? What is even going on?” I’ve never had an affiliation with any college team, my favorite part of the Super Bowl was always the halftime show, and the closest I got to the whole “Friday night lights” experience was the TV show my mom binge-watched on Netflix one summer. If I went to a game, you could find me socializing in the stands, catching up with friends, eating concession stand food, and taking Snapchat videos with whomever was nearby. The game, for me, was merely a backdrop to a more exciting social scene. And yet, as I’ve grown older, I’ve found myself appreciating the traditions that come with football season. There’s something
undeniably charming about living in a small town where the entire community comes together on Friday nights or college football fanatics who tailgate every weekend with others who share the same alma mater. Parents cheer on their kids, students chant from the bleachers, and for a little while, nothing else matters but the game. I may never fully understand the obsession, but I’ve seen how these moments bring people together. I’ve watched parents beam with pride as their children take the field, knowing these nights will be some of their most cherished. There’s always been this strange divide—this feeling that I’m on the outside looking in. Most people I know are passionate about at least one football team, but I’m in my own world, more focused on pop culture, Justin Bieber, YouTube debate videos, and late-night fast food runs. I don’t usually mind being different, but sometimes I wish I knew more about football to have something to bond over with my brothers, Parker and John David. They talk football like it’s their first language, and while I want to join in, I also want to love it on my own terms. I remember being dragged to the Dallas Cowboy stadium when I was twelve, all because Parker wanted to see it. I was bored out of my mind and kept begging to leave. Now, as an adult, I’d be thrilled to take it all in. But at the time, it was just another reminder of how out of place I felt in this football-crazed world. I want to understand the world around me, to break out of the comfortable bubble I’ve built for myself. There’s a whole world out there, and the older I get, the more I want to explore it. I don’t want to force myself to love something just because it’s what everyone else is doing. If I’m going to commit myself to something, I want it to be because I genuinely love it. But there’s also this part of me that longs to connect with my peers, especially my brothers. I do genuinely love them, so I want to understand what makes their eyes light up when they talk about the latest game or their favorite player. If learning about football can bring me even a little closer to them, isn’t it worth it?
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