When I saw the “leak” that the Packers would play the Bears on Christmas Day at 1 p.m., I let out a loud sigh.
Luckily, my family and my fiancee’s family both know me – I’m not going to miss the broadcast, holiday plans be damned. But not all families are so understanding. And the truth is, it is going to put a slight crimp in our Christmas Day schedule.
Since 2000, the Packers have played on Christmas four times; twice were in the last five years. The team has played on Thanksgiving nine times during that span. There’s probably no doubting the assumption that a number of family holiday plans have gone awry thanks to those games, resulting in negotiation and hand-wringing as soon as the NFL schedule is released.
An aside here: Many years ago, for reasons I won’t go into, I vowed to myself that if there was any way I could possibly watch the Packers on live TV, I absolutely, 100% would do so. If the house catches fire in the middle of the game, I’m going next door to watch the end. Let the firefighters do their jobs, for crying out loud – I’ve got a GAME TO WATCH. Let’s just say that it finally hit me one day that life is simply too short to miss a Packers game. And I’m not getting any younger.
Fortunately, for families that bond over football, that daytime game come Dec. 25 could serve as the best possible gift they will collectively find in their stockings. By that point, we’ll have a good read on who is in line to win the NFC North. Both the Packers and the Bears will be eyeing potential playoff seeding.
It will be rife with drama, especially given how the rivalry was seemingly reborn last season when the Bears took two out of three and ousted Green Bay from the playoffs in round one as Ben Johnson smirked.
In my world, Christmas morning means time spent with my fiancee’s family. They’ll understand if I take off a little early. My extended family probably won’t see me at all that day, and they will understand. Because I take my Packers fandom that seriously, as likely do you if you are still reading this. Here’s hoping your significant other/siblings/etc.understand this Christmas and give you that gift. (And getting to watch the Packers take on the Bears uninterrupted sure beats an ugly sweater.)
Here’s an anecdote that amplified my determination to not miss a live Packers game, even for a family holiday event:
In 2011, Green Bay played at Detroit in the early slot. My now-fiancee asked me to accompany her to a gathering with her extended family so they could finally meet me, as we’d only been dating a few months. The first question I asked her was, “Will I be able to watch the game?”
“Of course,” she said, seeming almost bemused at my question. “They have TVs.”
Then we got there, I shook all the requisite hands and said the hellos. As kickoff approached, I politely asked where I could watch the game. And the host relative refused to turn on football. There was no negotiation. “Thanksgiving is for family,” she insisted. I wanted to say, “But I don’t even know you freaking people!” But I refrained.
And so I sat and listlessly talked with strangers while somewhere in northern Michigan my favorite team played my favorite sport with an undefeated season on the line. But I didn’t utter a sound of protest. You know: family. The ride home was, well, a bit quiet. I was very disappointed – not angry, mind you; just highly, highly disappointed.
When we arrived back at my fiancée ’s place, I dejectedly sat down on the couch to turn on the late afternoon Cowboys game. Cynthia leaned over me, kissed me gently on the lips and said, “I will never do that to you again.”
She then informed me that she had secretly recorded the game: “Just in case.”
And that was when I knew she understood. She understood. And I got to watch Aaron Rodgers throw for 307 yards and two touchdowns in a 27-15 Green Bay victory while she and her 5-year-old son napped in the next room.
Fifteen years later, that wonderful woman has held true to her promise – no matter the holiday, no matter the situation. So, yes, it will ruffle the feathers of our Christmas Day schedule just a tad, but even this far ahead, I know it’s going to be a merry one.
Well, assuming the Packers win, I mean. Stupid Bears.
Got any holiday football traditions of your own? Drop ‘em in the comments below.