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To the individual football fan - football can seem like their life (to the point that nothing else matters!). Those four months of the year when that mystical quest to reach the hallowed land of the playoffs - survive those perils and the magical Super Bowl trophy could be in your grasp (or favourite team's at least).

The NFL has a set-in-stone schedule; the majority of each weeks' games are played on a Sunday afternoon through to the late-evening Sunday night game. Any armchair fan can sit back and enjoy three back-to-back games of football from September to December. Factor in the Monday and Thursday games and fans have more than enough football to quench any thirst for the game.

After you've watched the game - follow that up with fantasy football interests and you'd be fortunate to have time for anything else - and therein lies a major problem in a relationship. It is a rare case indeed to have partners that both share such time and devotion to the greatest team sport on Earth.

For non-believers (or just people that don't have an interest) of football, it can be seen as making the game more important than the real things in life. When you can be glued to a TV set for a nine-hour stretch when the "significant other" demands your unbiased attention - problems can arise easily - your sporting interest/hobby will gradually be the crux of any argument or falling-out, making the game a tougher-sell to the partner when you want to go back to it.

It is difficult to state the case that football is only five months of the year and just a few days of those months each week. Sundays are the key factor - it is surprising how someone can miss your presence on that one day so much - when other days they hardly notice you're there. You will be accused of loving the game more than your partner on more than one occasion; football is like a close friend and nothing more - no one could be accused of having an affair with football!

You may have the luxury of having a partner that is a fellow aficionado of football (a rarity in this day-and-age) that will let all that "sports-time" pass by without so much as a negative word. Being with somebody that doesn't necessarily share the adrenaline rush of a Touchdown with 0:34 remaining in the game is a needed counter-balance to an equal partnership.

Many fans have been into football for decades - kids watched/played the game in their formative years and continued that interest into adulthood. Now the relationship element can be a cause of conflict for some people - most people would kerb their enthusiasm to keep a partnership a healthy one though. If a fan can maintain some sense of reality and not think the game is the be-all and end-all to life then you can have a good relationship and still experience some exciting football along the way.

Learn more about this author, Wayne Reeves.
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