It may seem like your average Sunday morning, but to Keith Bull, 24, a lifelong Buffalo Bills fan, it's game day.
Keith starts off his morning by playing the Bills' shout song before kick-off. "I wear a Marcell Dareus jersey during the game with one of two Bills t-shirts under it," he explains. "I switch which undershirt I wear after each loss. Kind of like I'm washing away the loss or something like that."
Like Keith, being a NFL fan is for the die-hards. For the fan whose Sunday morning service is not at a church but rather a tailgate adorned in their team's apparel, face painted and completed with their lucky game-day boxers. For the fan who shattered their remote into pieces because of what happened on their flat screen in the last 10 seconds of the game, subconsciously cancelling out the yelling rapidly rising in the background. For the fan who doesn't get anything done Monday morning at work because they're still talking about what happened the night before.
It's the fan that doesn't simply watch the game; they watch every game.
I had the chance to exclusively talk with Jordy Nelson, wide receiver for the Green Bay Packers. Living his dream, Jordy grew up on a farm watching Kansas State, later playing for them and now a Green Bay Packer since 2008.
From Jordy's perspective of a NFL player, when talking about the fans he says, "They're going to watch you on the field, off the field, the locker room, doing all your media interviews. They watch you in the grocery store and around town." Jordy takes a lot of pride in being a role model if he wants to or not. "I make sure my actions and what I do really show who I am," he says.
Even though Jordy has been in the NFL for eight years, it's always still a surreal moment seeing fans. It doesn't get old. "It's honestly crazy to see people wearing my jersey," Jordy explains. "To see them freak out, some people cry and start shaking when they see me; you don't know what to do."
These fans like Buffalo Bills fan Keith Bull, though all of them don't cry and shake, build a bond to their team, a voluntary binding contract.
"We [Buffalo Bills fans] have become the joke of the NFL because of losing four Super Bowls in a row and now having the longest playoff drought in all of the four major sports," Keith explains. "But Buffalo fans never give up. I will never turn off a game until the clock hits 0:00 or leave a game early, because I'll fully support the team no matter the situation."
It's often overseen, but the first important decision of the day is what you wear. You choose what you want to promote, to embody, to put something on that can define who you are. You are what you wear; a walking billboard. For these die-hards, they don't just have one jersey or tee, but undoubtedly a drawer full of team apparel.
The NFL and Green Bay Packer Jordy Nelson launched the Not Just for Game Day campaign to promote the 2015 NFL men's apparel line. Because if you're a committed NFL fan, deserving enough to say super fan, let's face it -- you know it isn't just about the game. From old-school crewnecks to your favorite team's onesie, you can support your team seven days a week at work, out at the movies or even a pajama party for one with Netflix and 30 for 30 on.
Amanda Pontbriand, 26, is a lifelong fan of the New England Patriots. She gloats, "I have two or three jerseys, three shirts, two sweatshirts, one towel, a couple hats (baseball and winter), a tree skirt for Christmas, three stuffed bears, my custom-made house key, a license plate, and a debit card to name a few."
For Trey Peacock, 23, it's not just about one team anymore, rather the NFL as a whole along with his fantasy football league. "Every year, I order the jersey of my first-round draft pick in fantasy football, so I have probably over 15 NFL jerseys if you combine that with my Giants jerseys," he says. Trey's grandpa had New York Giants season tickets since he was born. "I'll always have those memories of going to the games with him before he passed away. I always had such a good time, and he's definitely a big reason why I loved the Giants," he says.
Like Trey, most fans remember that one person that made them into the fan they are today. It's as simple as a gift. Jeffrey Victor, 25, lifelong New York Jets fan, says, "My love for the team began with a childhood friend gifting me with a Jets jersey for my birthday."
The NFL is bigger than just the players. They play for not only the 70,000 fans in the stadium, but the millions of others everywhere else in the world. To the fans, it's a lifestyle. It's what they watch, what they read about, what they talk about, what they wear, what they breathe. That's why the NFL's Not Just for Game Day clothing line makes sense. It's the cherry on top of the super fan's sundae, and they're screaming for their ice cream.