Oh,how far we have come as NFL fans.

One of my first memories of NFL football was as a child growing up in Cincinnati. The Bengals just won the freezer bowl against the Chargers and the local media coverage was all about the Bengals. However, and maybe because I was just a kid, I dont remember too many player interviews, and the national exposure was definitely not what it is today. The only feedback we would get on our team would be from other fans. What a difference 3 decades make! In today's world, we as fans, are down right spoiled....and I love it! From what Chad Ochocinco had for breakfast today all the way from every teams message boards, we are in NFL overload. We (I certainly do) take for granted how much information is streamed to us on a minute to minute basis. A perfect example is the CBA. The last work stoppage was the 1987 season. From a Fans stand point any updates we would receive would be the local news or sportscenter. Outside of that we really had no idea of what was going on and when play would resume. Now the NFL has its own TV channel, its own website, blog, twitter, facebook....you get the point. We can tell you how every meeting between the NFL and NFLPA has gone. What were posatives and negatives that came from each meeting. Even what they had for lunch. Now the AVERAGE NFL fan knows more about the NFL than the most avid fan's of the 70's ,80' and 90's. Is this a good thing for Fan's? Well, yes and no. It is great for die hards that need their NFL fix, but it also can suck you in and the next thing you know, you have been online reading 10 different articles about 10 different topics and 3 hours has passed. I for one am extremely happy that I have so many opinions to read and can then form my own opinion on whatever NFL topic is floating around on any given day. My wife, on the other hand, probably wishes the NFL did not exist at all. So, to all of my fellow die hard NFL fans out there, log on, watch the highlights from a game 5 years ago, follow your team up to the minute and try not to let your head explode from NFL overload.