I never even remotely cared about football before I met Randy.

  The Iowa Hawkeyes sort of peaked my interest for a while, like on the rare occasion that I got to go to a game, but mostly just because I wanted to fit in with my friends who DID care about college football.  Then of course I cared about football a tiny bit whenever there was a Super Bowl party because....well, party! Food! Commercials! You know.

   But than I got a little older and a little more mature, and I stopped caring so much about fitting in with the crowd and making people like me, and simultaneously stopped caring about football altogether.

Until of course, Randy.

   A purist of college football fans, if you will.  Being a "fair weather fan" and only rooting for the Ducks during their better seasons and recent years would have never even come close to entering his mind.  He would be just as fiercely loyal and devoted to the Ducks as he always has been, even if they were as bad as, say......the Beavers (couldn't resist).

   He can still remember games he listened to on the radio over 15 YEARS AGO.  He isn't one of those "front-and-center fans" if you will.  You won't find him shirtless at the 50 yard line, with a giant O plastered on his chest painted in yellow and green, waving signs that say "God bless Marcus Mariota" and shouting until he's hoarse.  But don't mistake his quiet devotion for anything less than, well...devotion.  The Ducks held a piece of his heart long before I ever did, and I have had a lot of catching up to do ever since.

   Let's just say that I realized fairly early on in our relationship that football was here to stay.  I knew I was the only TRUE love of his life, but the Oregon Ducks weren't going anywhere.  So I could have been like some women, viewing football as a rival for my time and attentions with him, and resenting the whole thing, or I could learn to love it too, and we could enjoy it together.

I chose the latter.

















 
   So first and foremost, I needed to learn about the game.  Sitting through a college football game in the rain and cold is difficult, even if you already like football.  But sitting through a football game in the rain and cold is TORTURE if you don't even know what's going on.  So I tried to learn and observe as best as I could, and Randy was benevolent and generous enough to explain the rest.

I still remember him in our dating days, squeezing my hand and leaning close to speak in my ear,
"See? They got the first down.  That means they have four more tries to get 10 more yards."
"Oh, I see!"  I would say, still not really understanding.

   It is only now, years later, that those moments are even more striking and romantic to me.  I am sure he would've liked nothing more than to just concentrate on the game and take it all in and cheer on his team.  But there he was, hunching over, shouting over the roar of the crowd trying to explain the concept of the game to a very perplexed girlfriend, play by play, and yard by yard.  He would constantly ask if I was cold, giving me his extra sweatshirt if I needed it or even running DURING the game to get me a coffee.

   I loved seeing that side of him.  That intense focus, that feeling that you were a part of something bigger than yourself, the sense of camaraderie with the people in the seats around us that he saw season after season.  I didn't love football yet, but I was starting to love him loving football.

   And little by little, the mystery that was football took shape in my mind.  It had rules and patterns and finally, was starting to all make some sense.  And when I finally understood it?  It was FUN to watch!  There was progress, defeat, success, failure, setbacks, highlights, and twists and turns you never saw coming.  No wonder he liked this stuff!

   On New Year's Day, the Oregon Ducks faced the Florida State Seminoles in the Rose Bowl for a chance to be in the championship game, and they dominated.  It was the stuff of fairytales, as I'd been following some of the media buzz around FSU's quarterback, Jameis Winston, and let's just say....he leaves a lot to be desired.  I won't go into detail, but if you google him, you can pretty quickly find a slew of allegations and accusations, and enough reading material to keep you busy for a while.

  But thankfully, the Ducks put Winston in his place, and I have to admit at least he had the decency to shake hands with Oregon after their big win, which is more than I can say for most of the other FSU players who chose to skulk off the field to their locker room instead.

But enough about the Seminoles.  Let's talk about Mariota.