December football

The NFL is in Week 14, which means there's not much left to the regular season and Christmas is coming up.

Seemingly every September, I watch Week 1 games, with its accompanying highlights and enthusiasm, and think to myself, "There's so many weeks of this left." Inevitably, I get to this part of the season and am surprised it went so quickly. This isn't a recent phenomenon -- I've felt this since the 1980s, then watched it amplify once I began working as a sports journalist.

December football isn't just about the passage of time -- it has a distinct vibe compared with the rest of the season. With college football mostly over (except for the bowl games), the NFL invades Saturdays with one or two games on a couple Saturdays during the month. I can remember times out Christmas shopping or out and about for the holiday and settling in somewhere for lunch and watching a Saturday NFL game.

Furthermore, the NFL regular season is such a fall occurrence that in December, when winter has more or less arrived, football can feel out of place. January football is playoff football and a different beast. December football is the bridge.

I put the NFL section together on Sundays for more than a decade here in Utah, and the enthusiasm of September would give way to a "Can this be over?" fatigue after the first 12 Sundays. That wasn't such a bad thing, but the juice definitely used to fade. Even now, my devotion to fantasy football podcasts that is constant in September is just about toast. I'd rather listen to something else as I walk the dog this month.

With the playoffs looming, a certain gravitas washes over the NFL season -- commentary, reflection, and accolades. This resulted in one of my earliest NFL memories: A CBS "NFL Today" video in 1977 celebrating Walter Payton's incredible season set to Carly Simon's "Nobody Does It Better."

I've been watching more NFL this year than in past years, and I'm curious why. It's not that much more, but I've been planning a little bit of Thursday, Sunday and Monday nights watching games -- not at the expense of doing other things, but in the background while I'm working or lounging. The uptick is probably nothing, but it does have me reflecting on December football and, generally, Decembers past. This month is such a blur that I sometimes don't fully appreciate the holiday season until it's too late. Weirdly, the NFL is part of the holiday tradition. I just never quite realized it.

For another blog, why November is unique to college football ...

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