Every year it happens. There's a singular moment when I take my first step outside on a late summer morning and "it" is there. Is it the lower than normal temperature? Is it the smell of the neighbor's freshly mowed lawn? What exactly the triggering factor is varies from year to year, but it always gives me that same feeling. "Football is coming."

This year, I've been waiting for the day to come. It almost got to the point where was trying to force it. In my mind, it was taking too long. I should have already had that feeling. So, as I often do, I went on a Twitter search because I knew I'd tweeted about having this feeling multiple times. Here's what I found.

In 2020, that football feeling actually came late (as did the football season).

Back in 2018, it happened on August 24th.

This year, it happened on the morning of Tuesday August 16th. It had just rained the night before. When I stepped out on my front porch in the morning, it was the chill. It actually made the hair on my neck stand up.

I've been worried about moving on from relishing the National Championship to the 2022 season. This is brand new territory for me, and I'm having to learn how to navigate this as a fan.

But I'll tell you what, when I felt that on Tuesday it hit me hard. Football is here, and I'm ready.