Hey London, I guess American football isn't such a bad pastime, after all

As a blood carrying human, there are a lot of things I don't care about. For example, I don't care about the show "The Walking Dead." I also don't care about screaming chefs or celebrity voice coaches.

And when it comes to sports, I really don't care about soccer. I mean, I care about it in a "I have to go watch my 10 year old cousin play" kind of way, but not in a "I'm so bloody angry that this game ended nil-nil, I'm going to storm the field and then go home and use my twitter account to threaten the officials" kind of way.

I look down on soccer. I admit it. Can I play it? No, but I can't play football, baseball or tennis, either, but I don't look down on those sports.

Much like I look down on soccer, my international brethren often look down on American football, especially those chaps in England who often complain that us Yankees stole the term "football" from them.

Fine. I'll give them that. I mean, when you really think about it, American football should probably be called something else, but until I move to England, I'm going to continue to call American football "football" and English football "soccer."

Back to those English chaps, could they BE anymore condescending when talking about American football? "Mate, your sport is so bloody boring. English football is where it's at. There's action the whole game. Not like in your bloody sport, where those mates huddle in-between plays."

You know why they huddle in American football? It's called STRATEGY! I know I'm completely ignorant on the topic, but is there any sort of strategy in soccer? I know what you're going to say: "Of course, there is, you stupid Steelers fan." Fine. Maybe there is strategy, but it hardly ever works. And how do I know this? Because every game ends nil-nil!

I realize soccer is a sport that isn't just popular in England, it's the most popular sport in the entire world, and entire countries base their pride on the outcomes of games. And I know Americans are too stubborn to let the soccer tidal wave sweep across the nation--despite people talking about soccer being "America's national pastime of the future" for the past three decades, the sport really hasn't caught on here, aside from the fact that women think David Beckham is hot.

Steelers vs. Vikings in London

The Steelers will take part in the league's International Series with a game against the Minnesota Vikings in 2013.

Oh sure, we might get excited about the World Cup and Olympics every four years. And I'm sure we all have at least one domestic friend who walks around wearing one of those brightly colored English Premier jerseys and likes to look down on American football with quotes such as: "Dude, the NFL is so boring. Too many stoppages in play."

Again, since when did football become baseball? What has happened to our attention spans?

"Only one play every 30 seconds? I need action!"

Having said all that, it's interesting to note that American football is growing in popularity in the United Kingdom. The NFL has been hosting a regular season game in England since 2007, and this year, the league will host two regular season games--in addition to the Steelers/Vikings game on September 29th, the 49ers and Jaguars will play on October 27th--and they're both sold-out.

As I said earlier, I know the World Cup is very popular, and if a game between Argentina and Brazil was held at Michigan Stadium, it would probably sell out. However, would a Premier League regular season game between Chelsea and Liverpool sell-out if it was held at MetLife Stadium? I have my doubts.

In conclusion, I know soccer will always be the most popular sport internationally. And like my elitist soccer friends often like to say, "Just because the NFL is the most popular sport in America doesn't mean it's better than soccer." However, I think American football is the greatest game on the planet, and I'm glad our friends over in England are finally starting to realize the NFL is at least somewhat of a pastime and a bit of a distraction until the next big Premier League contest.

PS,

English fans still love their kicking, and you know what that could mean when the Steelers play the Vikings next September? Drew Butler: English Idol.