Gridiron football (aka American football) is a big thing in my workplace, community, etc. Being in Philadelphia Eagles country, Super Bowl mania is at a fever pitch. I don't recall living in an area where the home team made it and the fanbase was so infectiously fervent, so this is a totally new experience for me. Because the high school I work at is a football school, I've been really getting into the sport the past several years. NFL football is the only American pro sport I follow to any extent.
I've also learned that gridiron is on the rise in Europe and The Netherlands has an American Football league. Man, I would LOVE to buy a Den Haag Raiders jersey to support the team, league, and evolution of the sport in the country/region of my birth (I was born in Voorburg, just outside of Den Haag). But, sadly, there seems to be no way I can find where/how I can procure one. I don't just want a T-shirt. I want a jersey like the actual players wear.
Today was a "wear an NFL jersey day" at work because of the Eagles being in the Super Bowl. I do not own any NFL gear, so I wore this Newcastle Knights rugby jersey that my late father procured during a business trip to Australia. People asked about it and once I offered my logic that rugby is the father of gridiron, the reaction was a, "Hey, that's cool!" But, man, I would have loved to be sporting a Den Haag Raiders jersey today. It would have been a totally unique conversation piece.