Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!

So sunday is the superbowl and honestly I’m more excited about this one than any in the past. It seems like it was years and years and years ago since the Pats went to the superbowl but I guess I’ve been kind of busy the last few years and it seems like a decade. Last year my wife was having pre labor pains and I completely missed the game………this year however will not end up the same. I actually had a nightmare last night that the pats lost. I’m not exagerating when I say I woke up in a cold sweat. Most likely it had something to do with the 2 gallons of nyquil I drank before bed but sweet jesus that was scary.
I guess the patriots get me kind of emotional. A lot of people give me crap for liking the Pats but its a weird feeling. My dad was a big Pats fan from when we lived in the Boston area and Mystic. We moved to Dallas after that and this was during the big years in Dallas. As a kid I pretty much fell into that magic there that was the Cowboys power years. My dad would take me to the dallas open practices and to this day I still have a picture of me with the cheerleaders. We used to watch any cowboys or pats game that came on tv. Memories of my dad and me sitting on the couch and thinking things would always be this way.
About 10 years ago my dad passed away from ALS which in simple terms is Lou Gehrigs disease. It was a really bad time for him and it was basically a few years of him falling apart. Most of the time people have awhile before it really breaks you down but this was alot faster. In the last 2 years or so he was restricted to a wheelchair and I can’t even imagine how hard it was for him. Sundays were different though. He would lay on the couch and yell and act like he had the energy of a 20 year old. I guess those were the moments that I remember how strong he really was inside. Patriots football isn’t really football to me but a memory. It makes me happy, sad, and drives me through every emotion I have. For years I would barely admit to myself that he was gone and it seems like within the last few years I’ve found him again. I barely cried or spoke to anyone for months after he died and I bottled up so much emotion that I turned into a time bomb. Over the years I somewhat worked through it but really wasn’t ever the same. Stable was not a word to describe me mostly b/c I wanted my normal life back. I wanted to learn more from him and grow up with a father. I now have a family of my own, try to work hard (even though I am typing this at work haha), and try to make my wife happy. My mom looked at me over xmas (always an emotional time for her) and just said “you are so much like your dad”. I really never thought about it but I guess over the years I turned into him. In a way he taught me everything I needed to know just by being who he was.
This season has been perfect in so many ways. The patriots haven’t lost a game which makes me about as happy as I can be and I realized that I do still have that stubborn old man sitting on that couch every week only its me. Since I’ve kind of sidetracked in this blog I apologize but its been a weird year for me and I guess its hit me that I have grown up alot and I can only be so happy that I have turned out alot like my father so on Sunday there will be a new era of Burell father sitting on that couch yelling at the tv and enjoying the Superbowl. As for everyone else be safe, don’t drink and drive, and most importantly remember what the game of football really means in this country. In the future I can only hope to have the same moments with my children as I did with my father and don’t worry folks they will indeed also cheer for the patriots.