THIS MORNING, WHILE most of you were getting an extra few hours in bed in anticipation of tonight’s Super Bowl, there were hundreds of men – and at the moment they are just men – up and down the island of Ireland who braved the cold to pad up and hit training ahead of the upcoming Irish American Football League (IAFL) season.

This is nothing new though as American football has been played in an organised fashion in Ireland since 1984, the the first full IAFL season taking place in 1986.

That’s not to say that things have always run smoothly. Teams like the Belfast Bulls, Antrim Bulldogs and Dublin Celts – winners of five national championships – have fallen by the wayside. Indeed, in 2000 the only fixture to be played in Ireland was between an Irish selection and a visiting high school team from Maryland.

However, since then, the sport has grown exponentially to the extent that there are now 20 teams playing across three tiers. They range from the very new – the Donegal/Derry Vipers in IAFL2 – right up to the three-time defending national champions, the Belfast Trojans.

The Shamrock Bowl Conference (the top tier of football in Ireland) season runs from 22 February until 9 August when the playoffs culminate with the National Championship Game – the Shamrock Bowl – which has taken place in Tallaght Stadium in recent years.

One player hoping his team can make the Shamrock Bowl for the first time in their history is Thomas Fanning of the West Dublin Rhinos.

Thomas – brother of Leinster winger Darragh – only took up American football last season, and says his path into it is fairly typical.

“I probably got into it from playing Madden on the Playstation 2, maybe earlier. That way I got to learn the rules and I think if you learn the rules it makes watching it a bit easier.

“So I was a fan of the sport and then one of the guys I work with – Paul – has played for years and he asked me to come down and I’ve loved it since.”

Fanning, who has taken part a range of sports over the years, says that he stopped playing most of them about ten years ago but was willing to risk his knees one last time for one he’s always wanted to try.

Having played rugby at a high level, he has a sense of why those who don’t understand American football might take issue with the padding. However, he believes you should try it before you slag it.

“‘Wimps in armour’ is the one I hear most but I think once you wear the helmet you can see how hard it is and it’s not just there to protect you as it probably makes you a little more aggressive too.

“But look, if people have decided they don’t like a sport, nothing’s probably going to change their mind. I mean, if someone doesn’t like rugby, you’re not going to convince them otherwise just because you keep telling them how great it is.”

And as for getting out of bed on cold Sunday mornings, Fanning says he does it because he loves the sport and one of the great things about it – especially in this country – is that it’s so relatively new that rookies are welcomed with open arms.

“It’s not like one of our traditional sports like Gaelic, hurling or rugby where, if a person who has never played before comes down, everyone’s asking ‘why do we have to put up with this guy when there are 200 lads behind him who can play?’

“Instead, most of us are learning the game so if you’re watching the Super Bowl and you think you’d like to give it a try, there are lots of teams looking for players.”

With clubs across all four provinces, you can find details on your local team here.

Who knows, you could even go viral like Shane McNulty whose ‘fat guy touchdown’ for the Dundalk Mavericks last year – which first featured on this site - was picked up by the likes of Grantland and Deadspin:

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