Tailgate To Heaven by Adam Goldstein June 20th 2012
NFL superfan Adam Goldstein sold his house, left his job and left behind his girlfriend before starting out on a roadtrip that saw him take in 40 NFL games in one season. Here, he tells his story – and anticipates the publication of a book recounting his experiences in July.
My whole journey started way back in 1985. Like other people from my generation, I got into American Football via the wonders of Channel 4. The Chicago Bears shuffled their way to Super Bowl glory and that was it Navy and orange become the colour of my blood.
Zip forward to October 2006.I was travelling to L.A to be an usher at my friends wedding, when I noticed the Bears were playing on Monday Night Football at the Cardinals fancy new stadium two days later. I managed to get tickets for the big game.
Despite having won all their previous games that season, my beloved Bears were down 0-20 at half time. I was getting grumpy seeing my team fall apart. So I did what no fan should really do. I left my team.
With just a few minutes left I sauntered out into the car park. I then heard a flurry of noises, but I wasnt allowed back into the stadium, but there in the distance I saw someone watching the game on their TV in the car park. How odd I thought, people bringing a TV with them to the game and then watch it in the car park.
I rushed over and witnessed a miraculous Bears comeback win with local Cardinals fans. After the game I thought I better leave quickly because I thought wearing navy and orange might suddenly put me in danger. Though my new host was insisted that I stay put. He fired up the grill and made hot dogs for everybody. He told me he was a tailgater and that fans like him are present across the country. I didnt believe him. I didnt believe that fans travel hours before a game, bring with them a grill, enough food to feed their football team, a satellite, a flat screen TV and then for many, they dont even watch the game in the stadium but outside on their own TVs. Madness, right?
We discussed the power of Monday Night football and how the whole city was excited for it, even though the Cardinals did not have a good team at the time. Thats really when I started to think about doing a trip looking at the socio-economic impact of MNF in each host city.
I wanted to spend a whole week in each city absorbing the effect of Monday Night football and understanding the culture behind what was called Tailgating. Though I realised such an adventure would only give my 16 games for that season. I knew if I was to do something like that I would have to take time off work, maybe even leave my job and commit myself for a whole football season. I wanted it to make it fair on every NFL team. 16 MNF games doesnt fit into 32 NFL teams. so the project would have to stretch over two seasons and living and working in London, this would be too much of a stretch. Plus some teams do get MNF and other prime time games a couple times per season, while other teams do not get them for years. I would have to really hope the NFL would produce a schedule in my favour. Plus if I was to spend all this money and absorbing myself in the NFL culture during a season and didnt get to see any Bears games I would be pretty upset.
Therefore it seemed the only way to be fair to each team, to meet tailgaters from each team, would be to go and see each team play at least once at home, and it had to be during a meaningful game in the regular season, no pre-season games. I looked at previous schedule and realised that this could be done in one season. Assuming I got a good schedule.
Two years later, I had sold my flat in London, left my job and left my girlfriend at home while I jetted off to what was initially going to be seeing 35 NFL games in the regular season. That number is made up of the 32 teams, plus the London and Toronto games, and just for good measure I was also able to schedule in a second Bears home game.
In the end I went to 40 games, those 35 plus a high school game, a college game, an extra Steelers game, a college Bowl game and the Dolphins wild card game in the playoffs.
I had blogged about the trip and I knew I wanted to write a book about my adventures. One of my main reasons to do the trip was to expose and highlight the wonders of tailgating and the communal spirit at NFL games, something that is not always shown on TV. I wanted to show fans and non NFL fans how much fun all the off-field hoopla and I thought writing a book about would hopefully get more people into the sport.
In 2009 I put together my first chapter of the book and a book synopsis. I sent it to nearly 168 agents and publishers. 62 of them said no way, yet many more simply did not get back to me. Most of them said I would never get a book published like this unless I really brought something new and unique to the table about the NFL, not just a mere blog/diary book. One small publisher from Philadelphia said they would look at the finished script before making a commitment.
The 2009 season was fast approaching. My girlfriend (yes she stayed with me) had come out for a few games at the end of my 2008 trip and she was really taken by the tailgate and she became a Jaguars fan after meeting their mascot, Jaxson DeVille. We wanted to return to the States, but this time we wanted to be the tailgaters, not the tailgatees. We wanted to travel in a London Black Taxi, like the one my father drives, and we wanted to cook British food at the stadiums.
Though I could not find a sponsor and I did not have another flat to sell. Luckily, a professional tailgater named Jay the Tailgate Guy and his wife offered me to be part of their tailgate tour that season. A few years prior they home schooled their three sons from their RV while tailgating at every NFC team in one season and then the AFC the following season. These guys are hardcore.
I flew over and spent the first half of the 2009 season on their bus. Their bus was originally a yellow American school bus, yet they decked it out by putting a roof patio, the side wall flipped down to make a large terrace, there was a tiki bar, kitchen, double bed, toilet and enough NFL merchandise to fill any sports loving teenage boys bedroom, oh and it also had a stripper pole, just for good measure.
The book was not finished but during that season I got an email back from a lovely lady called Elizabeth at Potomac Books, a publishing house based in Washington D.C. She had gone to the trouble of giving detailed notes and how the book could fit into their remit. I was really excited.
After the 2009 season I got to work writing the book. Elizabeth told me to write the whole book and then they would then guide me after that. Because I had all those other publishers in the back of my mind, telling me that no one would publish my blog/diary story, I created a book that was more academic. I researched the history of the game and fandom. The book was becoming an academic comparison with British sports fans and hooliganism. The book was not written chronologically, but in a series of themes or essays. Such as a monster 40 thousand word essay/chapter on Tailgating, as well as chapters on; Alcohol and its effect on the game, NFL and its comparisons with rugby union and rugby league and The role of Gambling to name four. The book was nearly 400,000 words long, an average book is about 120,000. It was like everything I wanted to say about the NFL, sports and my trip all in one monster book.
Elizabeth got back to me saying I needed to re-write the whole thing, and that we were looking at an August 2011 release. The first version was of course way too long, but it was also trying to do too many things. Be an advert for the game, be an academic study of fandom, be a road trip book. Elizabeth gave me the confidence to write my book chronologically.
In 2010 I pretty much re-wrote the whole book. This version was far simpler to write. Because I was paranoid before trying to make it academic my journey and research for my first edit made my second edit that much stronger, far stronger than if I would have just written a chronological book straight away. So Im certainly happy now that all those publishers turned me away.
In March 2011, with my book just months away from its release date, I got word from the publishers that they would be postponing the release of my book a further year. This was at the time when the NFL was going through its lockout, and Potomac did not want to bring out my book if there was not going to be an NFL season. Of course there was always going to be football, but I can understand why Potomac did not want to take the risk, or bring out the book in the off-season.
Now a year later the book has gone through its final edit, (I think there was six in all) and the hardcover is all set for a July 31 release. Just days before the first pre-season game starts at the birthplace of football, Canton, Ohio, where the Pro Football Hall Fame lies. This is the perfect place for me to do my first book signing.
Looking back through the book now I would say the final product it is a mixture of road trip, tailgating and football and some humorous stories. There are still plenty of stories and experiences that I encountered that are sadly not in the book. Next year I do hope to put together a one man show that incorporates the stories that are left out.
Starting in Aug 4, and throughout the 2012 season I will be book touring with my girlfriend across the U.S. tailgating at as many pre-season games as possible and then some regular season games too. I will be back in the U.K late September to promote the book here and in mainland Europe.
You can check out Adams book tour schedule at www.tailgatetoheaven.com, or follow him on Twitter @tailgateknight
My whole journey started way back in 1985. Like other people from my generation, I got into American Football via the wonders of Channel 4. The Chicago Bears shuffled their way to Super Bowl glory and that was it Navy and orange become the colour of my blood.
The book was not finished but during that season I got an email back from a lovely lady called Elizabeth at Potomac Books, a publishing house based in Washington D.C. She had gone to the trouble of giving detailed notes and how the book could fit into their remit. I was really excited.
