Starting at a young age I always tried to label myself. I wanted to be a norther like my parents, but being born and raised in a small coastal community in North Carolina worked against me. My family all lived in New York and spending time there was something I truly cherished. Visits often included being a couch spectator for some sporting events I had little to no interest in. Honestly I'm not sure what sparked it, maybe it was the jerseys my family would wear every game but I decided one year in the 9 th grade that I wanted a jersey of my own. An Eli Manning jersey for my birthday. I pursued it even more when I announced that's who I would be for Halloween. And much to my surprise there was a present waiting for me a few days before Halloween. That number 10 jersey sparked it all.
Wearing the clothes was the first way to create this new label for myself. But you gotta talk the talk and walk the walk. The first person I turned to about this new passion for football was not my father, but my mother. She went through a football awakening around the same time that I did. She just had 45 years of background knowledge on me. I quickly realized how much there was to the sport, lots of rules and penalties. It wasn't entirely unfamiliar to me, being that I was a gymnast for 15 years I knew what penalties and deductions felt like. It was simply the type of contact sport that was new and intriguing to me.
Perhaps my favorite aspect of it all was the sports reporting. There I saw women having a say in the sport, yes it was a small part but still a part nevertheless. They didn't need to wear mini skirts and shake their asses in order for them to be apart of the label, they just had to know what they were talking about. Since that realization I knew that I wanted to be a sports reporter when I grew up. That would be my way to have a part in the big picture, not just a fan but part of the front line of information.
Thus began my label of a professional football fan, but not only a NFL fan but a New York Football Giants fan. It only seemed natural, at the time North Carolina Panthers were barely getting off the ground and there were 3 generations of Giants fans in my family. I didn't need to be from New York, I just needed a reason to be a fan and family was a good enough reason for me.
Every year since the 9th grade I have been Eli Manning for Halloween. My friends joke that the costume got skimpier and sexier as did time progressed but my support never faltered. People began to know me for this label and I loved every second of it. It has become such a part of me that without it I'm not sure if I would have ever fully understood all of myself. Not that everyone needs brands or labels, its normal to want to feel unique. But every once in a while it sure is nice to see a fellow fan wearing a jersey and think, we've got more in common then you may think.
