Thanksgiving in the NFL is unique. You don’t get to travel home and you have to go to work. We are very thankful we don’t get to go home for Thanksgiving and that our guys go to work because that means they have their dream job…they are an NFL professional athlete. Of course, we miss our families on the holidays. Our family means everything to us and we couldn’t be more grateful for them. But we are also very grateful for our career and all that it entails.
Special, new, and meaningful traditions arise between you and your husband when you spend the holidays away from home. You get to create your own, while incorporating what you love from each of your family’s traditions. Of course when you get married, even if you live close to home, you welcome new traditions as a couple but you don’t have as much leeway. When you live away from home at the beginning of your relationship, especially on the holidays, you are given such a positive opportunity to enrich your relationship. You rely on one another more, your relationship is stronger, and you are given the chance to create your own norm as well as your own special occasions. I believe you build a deeper, more meaningful, and closer foundation.
In the NFL, your friends are your family. We are the definition of close-knit: A group of people united or bound together by strong relationships and common interests. It’s so nice having one another for support, love and guidance. We cheer each other on and always wish the best. On Thanksgiving, our friends literally are our family. We spend it together with our coaches and teammates and you can’t ask for anything more special.
I am not taking away anything from being home for the holidays with your family. Family is the greatest of all things. But when your husband is your family, your teammates and coaches are your family, and you have a successful dream job..that is also the greatest of all things.
