An NFL Odyssey

It was 3 a.m., I was tired, sick and in serious need of sleep. Yet I continued to watch as the NFC Championship game headed to overtime after the Green Bay Packers and the New York Giants could not be separated in normal time. The game had been exciting, but tense, as the team I had picked last August had battled over four quarters to secure their place in the Superbowl. Then, my hopes of seeing the Packers in the Superbowl evaporated as Lawrence Tynes scored the points that secured the Giants the NFC title. It was disappointing, but the season had proved to me that American Football was as entertaining a sport as any other.

I had always disregarded the NFL, seeing it as an imposter, posing as rugby. I criticised the stop-start nature of the sport and saw it lacking the "fluidity" that Rugby Union and football have. However, these claims are unfounded and are just typical responses that British sport fans give when asked about American football. The first time I watched American football was last year's Superbowl. For some reason I was still awake when the match started and watched the first ten minutes. I could see why so many people found the sport entertaining, but never saw myself as being a follower of it. This summer, I decided that perhaps I should find out a little bit more about an American sport, considering I had absolutely no knowledge of baseball, basketball, ice hockey or indeed NFL. Picking a team was surprisingly easy. I had thought about picking the New England patriots, simply because they had England in name, but once I had researched the history and philosophy of the Green Bay Packers, there was no turning back.

At first I simply followed the results of the Packers, but my interest fell at the wayside for a while. However, it was restored after the game at Wembley. The match between Miami and the Giants was a dour affair, the contest ruining the hallowed turf at Wembley, yet I watched the match and was beginning to understand the sport a little bit better. I immediately started following Green Bay, with gamecasts on the Internet, and on TV whenever I could. Since Green Bay are from such a small city, they are rarely televised on national American television. Five broadcast Sunday and Monday night football, so I could watch some matches when I was suffering from temporary insomnia. I was hooked, and was eagerly anticipating the play-offs.

The Packers managed to defeat the Seahawks in the Divisional Play-offs, before last night's epic encounter with the Giants. The winner knew that they would face the New England Patriots in Arizona and the Giants seized their chance with that last minute field goal. The drama was there, as was the tension. This was big. The Superbowl is one of the most viewed events in the world. Not bad for a sport that is supposedly restricted to North America.

American football is an exciting, intriguing sport and deserves to be accepted as such. The match at Wembley showed the interest from fans in Britain and Europe and the NFL will return to the UK next season after the success of the Dolphins - Giants game. Television viewing figures increased 40% following the match and the NFL will look to capitalize on the rise. NFL is perhaps well poised to capture UK audiences. The matches on Sky Sports generally start at around 6 p.m., perfect for catching the football fan who will have just watched Super Sunday. While Five broadcast games, they are generally at ungodly hours, although I have caught a fair few this season. Surely the NFL, when the rights contracts are up for renewal, should offer a free-to-air highlights package that isn't on at 1.00am. This would ensure that the sport could regain some of the popularity it achieved in the 1980's.

The skeptics will still be out in force, calling the sport "American Rugby" and ignore the sport. I, for one, genuinely can't wait for the Superbowl, even though the Packers have not reached it. It will be broadcast on Sky Sports (and on HD) as well as live on BBC Two on the 3rd Februrary.The fact is, NFL is a superb sport, capable of capturing the imagination of sports fans everywhere. It's also the perfect way to spend a Sunday or Monday night when one can't sleep.