I certainly don’t need to point out that football is a big deal down here. I knew that from afar, but now that I live here in the great state of Alabama, I have the opportunity to witness it firsthand, and man, is it sweet. The season is still months away and I’m already starting to feel like a kid on Christmas about to open gifts. In my case, the gift is football.

I have attended two football camps so far, both of which were an absolute blast for me. I’m a 27-year-old, short and skinny reporter. My eligibility has long since passed, but after covering these events, watching campers and interacting with coaches and Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Quez Watkins, I’m ready to run through a wall for these guys.

When people ask me what my favorite sport is, I usually say baseball. As the sports nerd that I am, and covering sports as a journalist the past few years of my life, my love for sports in general increases every day. I’ll watch any and every sport intently as a reporter, and within the comfort of my own home, watch it as a deep-rooted fan with team apparel on from head to toe. But football holds a special place for me, and I know it does in Alabama.

As a Michigan Wolverines fan — and no, I’m not a fan of Jim Harbaugh — I feel privileged to work in a state surrounded by good football. Alabama doesn’t have any professional sports teams, but the Alabama Crimson Tide under Nick Saban might as well be.

Keep in mind, I covered Friday night lights in Montana with a population of roughly 6,000 people. When I first walked on to a football field for a game back in Big Sky country to cover a game, I couldn’t stop smiling. Now that I’m in Alabama, working on a “Blitz” magazine, interviewing coaches and players, in a state that couldn’t possibly care more about the game of football, I can’t believe this is real life. I’m in the Mecca of football.

No matter what else happens in my journalistic career and whatever that may entail in the future, I don’t believe anything I do will compare to covering football in this state. It’s going to be fun.

— Devlin can be reached at travis@athensnews-courier.com.