It is time to broaden your horizons and try watching a sport that takes you away from the stale and mind-numbing product that is football.

Since the dawn of time, or in my case 28 years ago, I have been brainwashed by society into thinking that football is the greatest sport of all time and it belongs to the English – yet we have not won an international competition since 1966.

Every Sunday afternoon, I will flick through the channels to tune into a programme that Sky Sports define as ‘Super Sunday’. However, every Sunday afternoon I feel like I am watching constant replays of the same, tedious game.

Play out from the back. Possession football. Terms, that in one point of my life, I found exciting and endearing. Pep Guardiola and his bewitching Barcelona side demolishing Manchester United in the 2008/09 Champions League final – this was easily the most beautiful brand of football that has ever been displayed.

Fast forward 17 years, which makes me sick to my stomach to say, Pep has brought his ‘tika-taka’ style of football to England and every manager seemingly wants to get in on the action.

No matter what talent a squad possesses, a manager demands their team play out from the back and plays through the lines. As spectators, we have bought into this and the game we once loved has becoming a shadow of its former self.

Mavericks – such as Ronaldinho, Kaka and Paul Gascoigne – cease to exist as players have been conditioned into passing to ball to death and not attempting individual brilliance.

Let me ask you a question – how many times during a game in the ‘Pep era’ have you seen a winger create a situation where they have a full-back isolated and then turn back just to pass to a midfielder?

As a child, I fell in love with the sport, not just because of the way the game was played but because the passion of each and every fanbase was hypnotic. Watching football was not just a hobby, it was a a lifestyle.

However, in the modern day, that passion has had every last drop of air sucked out of it by the greedy corporations and players that have no concept of what the real world looks like.

We now live in a society where these over-paid prima donnas are placed on a pedestal at the top of society. They tell us how tiring their jobs are, while begging for money to compensate – allowing fans to plunge themselves into debt just to buy a ticket.

Do not even get me started on VAR. An atrocious piece of technology brought into a sport which is preventing fans from even celebrating a goal. The average time for a VAR check is currently 55 seconds, we all know this can take a lot longer.

Fans have to wait over a minute to celebrate a goal, what are we thinking? All because we allow footballers, on £200,000 pounds a week, make several mistakes a game convince us that one mistake by a referee is the reason they lost a game.

More to the point, as a nation, we obsess over a 90 minute game of football despite the ball being in play for 54 minutes. We are actually paying to watch a ball be out of bounds for 36 minutes during a game. Which in some cases, end in a goalless draw. God help us.

So why do we do it? Why do we not watch sports that are made to excite?

NFL and Basketball are games that are made to excite the public. There can be no time-wasting. Each possession is explosive. There are more twists and turns than an Eastenders Christmas special.

British basketball is currently free to watch on the DAZN streaming app, why not dip your toe in the water? It is an underrated product with electric end-to-end action.

American college products – such as Mike Okauru of the Newcastle Eagles – look to have their own redemption arc while bringing their exceptional talents to our shores.

Or maybe, you want to start in the big leagues. Tune into the NBA and watch sporting legends, such as LeBron James, grace the court – 40 years old and still displaying elite qualities and playing night after night. However, its okay because Allison, the 32 year-old goalkeeper, is tired from standing in his box all game.

What a time to watch the game as rising superstars such as Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Maxey and the seven-foot-three alien, with an eight foot wingspan, Victor Wembanyama look to become the new poster boy of the NBA.

Finally, the big one. The NFL. Don’t let miserable, middle aged men – who have drank the same pint since they were 13 – tell you that this sport isn’t exhilarating. This game has it all. Tactical battles, big egos, physicality, explosive plays and most importantly, it is not an over-played, diluted product.

The NFL Wildcard weekend has begun, I dare you to tune in and give it a chance. I will have a Philadelphia Eagles jersey waiting for you once you have fell in love with the real ‘beautiful game’.