NFL in London

Have you ever had something that you told yourself you would do ‘one day’? The older you get the quicker those days turns into weeks, months, years and even decades. Finally, for me one of those ‘one day’ moments became today. After following the sport for almost forty years, and saying since the first London game fourteen years ago that I will go to one of them, I witnessed an NFL game live in the flesh for the first time.

Not wanting to rush down on the day of the game I had booked a hotel at the services down at the bottom of the M1, around a thirty minute drive from the stadium. Driving down from Warrington took about five hours, with a couple of decent breaks included. After listening to the second half of Man United’s dismal defeat at Leicester whilst lying on my hotel bed, I decided to check out the gym. Thoughts of a workout to freshen up after the long drive were short lived as when I got there it was obviously tiny and had a sign on the closed door saying that only one guest at a time could use the gym. That was more than enough to put me off the idea of exercise. Instead, I made the short wander over to the part of the service station where the food was kept. I treated myself to a foot long subway and a flapjack and went back to my room, by my standards that is an extravagant evening meal. As I slowly savoured that food, I found an episode of Poirot to watch and relaxed into my evening.

The next morning I had the forethought to not wear my Washington replica top to breakfast, just in case I spilled anything. When I got into the car to set off to my parking space for the match, the first thing I heard on the radio was Sam Quek talking about the NFL game at London today, that helped make it that bit more real in my head, like it was the first time I allowed myself to believe that I was actually going to get to see a NFL game and that it was not going to be called off at the last moment because of COVID. To avoid the extravagant match day car park fees, I had booked to park on somebody’s drive via the ‘Just Park’ app. Around this point I realised just how dependent I was on my phone, as well as using it as a sat nav, it also had my booking confirmation for my hotel, parking space, tickets for the match and proof that I have had both doses of the vaccine. Best not lose my phone.

It took a bit longer than I was expecting to get to the parking space, but it was almost suspiciously easy to get to and I managed to get there without taking a wrong turn or falling out with the sat nav at any point. Next I had to work out how to get from that driveway to the stadium. Whilst driving I had started to see several people wearing NFL replica tops, all heading in the same direction, so that was reassuring. I decided not to rely on my phone for walking directions, like Luke Skywalker turning his machine off at the end of episode four and trusting the force to get the job done. I did go a slightly long way round to get to the main road, but even with that it was still no more than a ten-minute walk to get to the stadium. The approach to the stadium was bizarre, I knew it was close by but did not notice it until it was right by my side. It is not like it is small either, it’s massive, taking up plenty of air space.

I had got to the stadium around noon, two and a half hours before kick off, but there were still thousands of NFL fans milling around. I would say over half of all the fans at the game were wearing an NFL replica jersey and that I saw at least one of all thirty-two teams. It was great to be around fans of so many different teams, without even the merest hint of that angry tribalism that we get with our football in the UK. With my Washington top on it was not like I was unnerved when three New York Giants fans were walking towards me. There was a massive queue for the NFL shop, I briefly flirted with the idea of joining it then I remembered I was tighter than submarine door and thought it was not worth waiting for over half an hour to just walk around a crowded shop and not buy anything. I ended up wandering around the whole of the outside of the stadium, the highlight of that trip being a couple of stops at a Pepsi stand where they were handing out free cans of Pepsi Max.

When I decided that I may as well head into the stadium they were not actually letting people in yet. Just after 12.30 they opened the gates and I made my way in with my ticket on my phone, for once technology worked smoothly for me and I got in without any dramas. My seat was up in the gods, about twelve rows from the back row. That meant climbing several stairs to get to the right level. The stairs were not too much of a problem for me, but the constant turning did make me dizzy and slightly nauseous. Once I got to the top though and I could see out into the stadium the ill feeling went away, replaced by that feeling of a kid going downstairs on Christmas morning, what you had been waiting for so long for was now right in front of you.

Not wanting to be getting up and down during the game if I could help it, I got myself a bottle of water and a Burrito for dinner before heading to my seat. The Burrito was wrapped in foil and was so hot that I could probably have committed a crime afterwards and not left fingerprints because they had been burnt off. I had a great view from my seat in the corner, looking right along the goal line of one of the endzones. My seat was at the end of a row, next to the stairs. At first I thought that was good because it gave me a space to stretch my long legs out if I needed to. What I had completely underestimated was people’s inability to sit still at a sports event for more than five minutes. Rant warning. When did sports events become an excuse to drink as much beer as possible? Why pay seventy or eighty quid for a ticket to watch something then miss most of it because you are at the bar, walking back and to from the bar or going to the toilet? I literally did not see two plays in a row all game without someone getting up and being in my way. Why not save the ticket money, go to a pub and drink much cheaper beer? I do wonder if sports stadiums now should have designated areas for people who lo and behold want to sit and watch the game. I realise that I risk being called boring, miserable and old, but I do not care.

I got that rant out of the way early, because people not being able to sit still and going up and down more times than an elite trampolining squad was the only bad thing about the whole day. Looking around the stadium when I got in, I did do that modern thing of taking pictures and videos and posting some of them on social media. To begin with the warm-ups looked spectacularly relaxed, with players dotted around the field, doing whatever they wanted to get ready for the game, some just wearing shorts and t-shirts, whilst a few were already fully kitted out. Gradually more and more players came out and it became clear just how big NFL match day squads are. When Miami came out to and huddled together, I did wonder how gutted you must be when you do not get picked even when your team has forty-five players.

As the kick-off got closer I kept taking the pictures and videos, including snippets of both National Anthems being sung. I had always thought that it was a bit odd to be singing the American National Anthem at NFL games, between two American teams, in America. I must admit though that listening to both national anthems being sung live in a stadium did get a tingle even going down my sceptical spine. Just to confirm even more that we were indeed at an American event, the Jaguars mascot arrived on the pitch via jumping off the top of the Stadium, hooked up to various wires, but nonetheless impressive. The last thing I captured on my phone was the kick-off, after that I managed to keep it in my pocket and enjoy the game through my eyes and not a screen or camera lens. I felt I owed it to the child version of me that would have watched in open eyed awe had he ever got to see an NFL game live.

Miami and Jacksonville have been two of the worst teams in the league so far this season after six games each Miami had one win and that was one more than Jacksonville, so my hopes of a good game had not been high. I was focussing on simply being at an NFL game after all those years of watching it on the television and getting to see the Jacksonville rookie quarterback Trevor Lawerance, who is thought to be at the start of an exceptional NFL career. Both teams though looked impressive on their opening drives, moving the ball well and scoring some points, Miami a touchdown and Jacksonville a field goal. Before the game I had put a bet on Jaguars to win, just twelve pounds, but enough to keep me invested in the result, but nowhere near enough to ruin the day if Miami went on to win. I had a feeling that being back in London might inspire the Jaguars, as they are the team that have come over to the UK far more than any other.

The only player on either team that was in my fantasy football team was the Miami wide receiver Waddle, who I had on the bench because his scores had been consistent but not all that high. Of course because he was not in my team for this week he had the best day of his short NFL career. On that first Miami drive he caught four passes including the touchdown. At least it was different to have my fantasy football nightmare getting played out in front of my eyes rather than from updates on my phone app or via Sky TV.

As the first half wore on Miami began to gradually assert there dominance and looked good value for a 13-3 lead. Just before half time though, the Jaguars started moving the ball well again on offence. As the clocked ticked down into the last minute I started thinking that if they could score some points on that drive, they would be back in the game, especially as they would get the ball at the start of the second half. On the next play Lawrence threw a great pass into the corner of the endzone for a touchdown. Thanks to one of the can’t sit still or go more than ten minutes without a drink brigade, I missed the throw but did manage to see the catch. At half time Rudimental put on a show that more than helped keep the crowd entertained.

With their first drive of the second half the Jaguars did indeed keep that momentum and scored another touchdown. All of a sudden they were leading 17-13 and at the very least it looked like they were going to be able to give Miami a close game. To their credit Miami were able to stop that momentum and get back into the game. They re-took the lead with a touchdown, of course from Waddle again on his way to amassing twenty-nine fantasy points, as many as the three wide receivers I had picked in stead of him put together. Jacksonville did not buckle though at kept it close.

As the fourth quartre rolled on, I started to believe that one way or another we could get a dramatic finish in the dying moments of the game, something that I love in any sport. Jacksonville kicked a long field goal with just a few minutes to go to level the scores. What I had not realised from my angle was just how much that ball curved in the air to just about squeeze over. As the TV commentator said ‘he bent it like Beckham’. Then it looked like being one of those game that whichever team had the ball last would probably win. Jacksonville got it with just about two minutes to go, then the cat and mouse game began of managing the clock. Miami wanting time to go quickly so that the Jaguars would not be able to score, but also if they did score Miami wanted time left on the clock for them to reply, something that the Jauguars wanted to avoid. With Jaguars drive looking like it was stalling Miami seemed happy to let the clock run down, which meant the last ninety seconds or so of game time went a lot quicker than normal. All of a sudden there was only five seconds left and the Jaguars had a fourth down around the halfway line, well out of field goal range. They took one of their time outs to plan what to do next. I was doing the maths and had realised that they were not going to go for a field goal, so started thinking that the only thing they could do now was launch a long pass into the endzone and hope for a miracle catch to win the game. So it looked like over time was about to happen. As they lined up for the play it dawned on me that they were setting up for a different option. If they could get enough for a first down and into field goal range, ten yards ought to do it, then they could still win the game that way. The tricky part was that they would have to do all that in less than five seconds. Lawrence showed off his quick release and fired a pass down the middle, the receiver caught it and immediately hit the ground. Somebody somewhere called a timeout with one second on the clock. One second. Safe to say I was going to get the sort of dramatic finish that I love.

On to the field stepped the kicker again. What I did not realise was that he was one of those classic NFL stories. A couple of weeks ago he was working as a software engineer and now here he was about to attempt a 53yard game winning field-goal in an NFL game in London. As soon as he hit it, I could tell that he liked it, so I followed the ball then looked down at the officials who both put their arms up to signal a successful kick. Who knows what Matthew Wright’s NFL career is going to end up being like, but he’ll always have London. He ran off in the direction of his kick towards the celebrating fans and his teammates followed him, both the ones who had been on the pitch for the kick and the thirty-four others form the side-line. Seeing the chasm of difference between the joy of one team and the despair of another is one of the great joys of sport for me. Everybody gives their all but there can only be one winner. It is important to remember it is only a game, but a game that can mean so much to so many. The perspective was provided when I saw a circle of players from both teams on the halfway line, joining for a moment of prayer. Sport should bring people together, not tear them apart. Give everything you have got to get that win, but win or lose do not let that outcome define you.

A bit like meeting one of your heroes, sometimes there is a fear that doing something that you had been wanting to do for so long might disappoint you if it happens. Thankfully for me that did not happen on this occasion. I absolutely loved being there and it turned out to be a fantastic game with a thrilling finish. On top of all that I got to witness the end of the second longest losing streak in NFL History. The whole experience backed up my belief to do as many of those ‘one day’ things as possible.