Philip Reid/TV View: To be perfectly honest, American Football, or Gridiron, was always on the periphery of my sporting consciousness. That is, until something called Super Bowl XXXI in New Orleans, in 1997, when, by a quirk of fate (someone else turned down the trip), I managed to land a grandstand ticket to one of world sport's great occasions; and was forever smitten by the experience, converted by the whole intoxicating occasion.

Not that I truly appreciated it at the time. In fact, I was a nervous wreck venturing to the stadium - where the Green Bay Packers beat the New England Patriots - purely because a travelling companion had been abducted (not "kidnapped", as he subsequently remarked, because no ransom demand was ever issued), from a bar in the French Quarter by men apparently looking for him to sell them his kidneys. All true - and a poor choice of victim by the abductors, if I may say so.

Anyway, despite being brow-beaten and harassed, and showing tremendous willpower, he refused to sign the proffered documentation and kept his kidneys and (just about) made it to the Super Bowl, where the Packers won.

The passion of the match was inescapable, and the way the rival sets of supporters mingled - including the cheese-headed Packers supporters - without the slightest trace of animosity was more reminiscent of rugby or GAA and, so, gained some merit points as a result.

Afterwards, we had full access to the media circus in the bowels of the stadium, where American sporting superheroes like Brett Favre talked to us indefinitely about the game, and others talked of how much they owed the Lord. The thing is, Favre - a genuine, all-American hero - was literally inches away.

And, then, this year, while walking around the course at Augusta National during the US Masters, I was introduced to Joey Harrington. Even shook his hand.

Now, for those who don't know, Harrington is a big deal in American football. If his ancestors hadn't emigrated from Cork, he could well have ended up playing in All-Ireland football finals - for zilch - in Croke Park.

Instead, he is a quarterback with the Detroit Lions and earning, well, let's just leave it at eight-figure sums. He is young and handsome and mega rich, a cousin of golfer Padraig and, just to rub it in, a gifted pianist. This year he organised a concert - at which he played - which raised serious money for a children's hospital on behalf of the Harrington Family Foundation. So, nice guy to boot.

So it was that I was drawn to last Thursday's live NFL game on Sky Sports, a day which just happened to be Thanksgiving in the US; all of which made it an especially big day for Harrington - around whom the Detroit Lions aim to build their franchise - and, of course, for the evergreen Favre, playing in his 187th consecutive game for the Packers. In the Reid household, there was no turkey or pumpkin pie, but a couple of bottles of MGD at least helped to enter into the spirit of the bonhomie those involved with the in-your-face Fox Sports brought to us.

For the Lions, this was a game to salvage pride; and especially for Harrington. In last week's loss to Minnesota he had thrown four interceptions, including two for touchdowns in the final quarter. As coach Steve Mariucci remarked prior to the match, "the quarterback has to be resilient, tough not only physically but very tough mentally. He must have a short-term memory."

Harrington proved up to the task, completing 17 of his first 19 passes. But the Fox commentators can be a hard lot to please. In the fourth quarter, after Harrington attempted a pass to his wide receiver that, luckily for him, was incomplete, the commentator roared, "that's a horrible decision by Joey Harrington, a no-brainer".

Yet, by the end, with the Lions claiming victory, they were conceding, "what a game for Joey Harrington, coming off a four interception game to Minnesota (Vikings), he has taken a step forward in the effort level".

The good thing about Sky's coverage is that - unlike golf, where we are usually afflicted with the commentary of Ewen Murray and his sidekick the Colonel from US Tour events - they take the American commentary feed, and restrict their input to studio comment, including former Philadelphia Eagles full back Cecil Martin.

And there is also an email input from viewers and, just as in playing the game itself, one smartass found that timing is everything. "Just as I predicted," his mid-game email went, "the Packers are pathetic . . . what offensive line? What running back? What great QB (Favre)?"

The email had only touched base when Favre produced a huge pass for a touchdown. Yep, timing is everything.