Kenny Chesney Looks Way Better with his Helmet On, but this is Pretty Cool

Ordinarily I'm not much for country music, and when I do wander to that side of the radio dial I prefer the manly rascality of Brad Paisley or the soulful cowboy poetry of Alan Jackson.

I ran across "The Boys of Fall" the other day and loved it, chiefly for some of iconic images that capture why we love football, the players and moments that have made the game great. It ends with Bear Bryant reaching for his houndstooth hat as his players clack-clack out of the locker room; the Bear pauses and studies his chalkboard one more time.

It's an amazing video, fun to mentally name the players and their signature imprint on the game. Joe Namath leaving the field after Super Bowl III, index finger wagging in the air. Sweetness, the Steel Curtain and the Snake. Riggins and Csonka rumbling free. JoePa, Landry and Schembechler patrolling the sidelines. High school Friday nights, small town barbershops, coaches with fierce pep talks, boys covered in mud, grinning from ear to ear.

Football has a special place in our life and experience, and anyone who has ever played it on any level knows the mark the game can leave on you. It's a wonder to look back on the boys of fall, realizing that many of them are gone, and many are now old men. Broadway Joe is now 67. We too were young once. We thought our time under the lights would last forever.