For someone who had never tuned into a football game before six months ago, I picked a spectacular year to start rooting for the Chicago Bears. This was the furthest they made it in the playoffs since 2010, with a 12-7 record in Ben Johnson’s first season as head coach.

I started casually watching games at the beginning of the season with my roommate, Nora Sichak, who is a fan of almost every sport in existence, supports only Chicago teams and goes on frequent rants about the long time owner of the White Sox, Jerry Reinsdorf, and his refusal to sell the team.

One game, I decided I wanted to understand what captivates millions of people, even though it had always eluded me. I had never understood the game and never felt like it was a space I could be a part of.

I began asking Nora nonstop questions about the roles of the players, the basic rules and the purpose behind the team’s moves. A lot of the rules seemed silly to me and I struggled to engage. At the end of the day, “a fourth down” is just made up words.

I knew that to truly lock in, I needed to relate football to something I understood. In the spur of the moment, I chose musical theatre. Nora sighed in disappointment but agreed.

Caleb Williams? He’s the lead actor, but also the stage manager. The kicker is that one soprano who comes belting an aria and vanishes for the rest of the show. The defensive and offensive lines are the ensemble. Ben Johnson is the director.

It sounds crazy, but suddenly I was able to pay attention to something I had never been interested in. And before I knew it, I cared.

This surprised me as someone who did not consider football fandom a place where female fans are valued.

Vincent Peña, a sports communication and journalism professor at DePaul, says that as football gained prominence in society, women have become fans, but have not always been appreciated.

“When we think of sports fans, the image in our heads is of a bunch of men in spaces coded as typically masculine, like a bar or a sports venue,” Peña said. “For a long time, … women were literally excluded from these spaces.”

Peña said the slow increase in female sports reporters has led to more visibility for women and helped to “dispel the notion that only men can talk sports” even if the field is still mostly male-dominated.

I quickly became a fan of looking at statistical analyses and calculating the chances of the team making it to the next round. This only increased after the Dec. 20 game against the Packers. 

The Bears were down by seven points in the fourth quarter until Caleb Williams passed to Jahdae Walker in the end zone with 24 seconds on the clock. The game went into overtime and we won by six points. The Bears beat the Packers at home for the first time since 2018 and made it to the playoffs. 

Before this season, I never felt like I belonged in the sports world. Growing up I was an unathletic, Broadway-obsessed girl who was too busy reading or daydreaming to play sports at recess.

But I’ve gained a sense of belonging as a Bears fan — something I never would have expected. I think that current fans should make sure new fans get to feel that same sense of belonging. 

Kiera Hunter, a junior political science major at DePaul, roots for the Bears and the Eagles and wants to encourage new fans entering fan spaces.

“New sports fans should understand that sports are for everyone and that the fan space should always have room to grow,” Hunter said.

She said that old fans should help new fans to understand the game and learn the ropes.

As a new fan, I’m still learning. I may not know all the rules, but I know I love this team. What I lack in knowledge, I make up for in enthusiasm, loads of superstitions and a love of cheese graters.

Go Bears!

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