Every now and then, we get opportunities in life that we feel we cannot pass up. I had one just recently that actually transpired many months ago. I was asked by an ESPN operations producer to work SEC Media Days in Birmingham. I committed at the time because I was then working for a nutrition store and knew getting off for a few days wouldn’t be a problem. Since that time, I’ve now worked for the Enquirer going on nine months. I was reminded of my prior commitment to SEC media days in June and was thankfully able to go.

I competed Saturday in my bodybuilding show and had to rise and shine early on Sunday, check out of that hotel, drive to our ESPN location and work the set-up day of SEC media days. Sunday night around 7 p.m., I checked into my new hotel that I would stay in for the remainder of the week. During those next four days, I was blessed with chances to see and speak to many coaches, players, anchors, and people who don’t need name tags or passes (if you know what I mean.) Greg McElroy sat beside me, Booger McFarland in front of me on set and I didn’t jump, scream or ask for an autograph. I shook Paul Finebaum’s hand and talked with him about how I listened to his Birmingham radio show at my grandparent’s house growing up. He thanked me and told me he enjoyed meeting me. I didn’t die on the inside; I actually kept it together. Nick Saban, Dan Mullen and Hugh Freeze stood next to me as they waited to go onto the SEC Network set to be interviewed.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ll always believe that Coach Saban has a dark mist that surrounds him, making him one of the most feared/respected/intimidating/ intense men in America. I felt like I had to put my head down as he walked by. (I have a deep love, fear and respect for that man, roll tide.) Nonetheless, I would bet that early Wednesday morning, Coach Saban got up and put one leg into his pants at a time, just like any other person. I bet Coach Mullen, Muschamp and Malzahn did the same. At the end of the day, they’re all human. They are just people with an awesome platform that they worked hard to grow. They are men who have to brush their teeth, whose socks eventually get holes in them, who get hungry and thirsty just like anyone else. They just happen to do exceptionally well at their jobs and do so on one of the world’s largest stages: a college football field.

I watched children screaming and reaching for Calvin Ridley as he walked by. I saw men dressed as Bear Bryant from head to toe. I saw a man who had spray painted his dog to look like an Auburn Tiger. I love football, more than just about anything. So, I understand the importance and respect it gains from so many supporters. I get the craziness, the excitement, the passion. I jump up and down, scream at my TV like the players can hear me, and sit methodically in the same spot of the couch every game unless we (Alabama-see what I did there with the ‘we’) lose. I get it.

But at the end of the day, every person on that ESPN set was a human. It took dozens of people coming together to build the booth and make the reporting team look flawless on screen. It took great minds coming together weeks before the event to create the set-up for the location. It was a combined effort of around 60 people at the event, (not counting those in Bristol and Charlotte) to put together the non-stop coverage of SEC Media Days.

To me, football is one of the greatest sports to watch. But for one game to work and be broadcasted live, a lot more goes into the creation than meets the eye.

And, at the end of the day, the intimidating guy on the sideline is still just like you and I. He puts his pants on, one leg at a time.

Lauren Estes-Velez is a staff writer for the Hartselle Enquirer.