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Do you dread the start of each football season? Is your significant other (SO) there in body but not in spirit on game day? If you answered “yes” to either of these questions, then you may be a football widow. But thankfully, you’re not alone. There are thousands of other football widows out there who know exactly what you’re going through.

Chantale Ortiz from Victoria, Texas, is the wife of a die-hard Dallas Cowboys fan. Her hubby Otis was injured in a 4x4 roll-over accident 12 years ago and is a T4 paraplegic. “I’ve learned to plan activities around the games and how to tactfully decline invites from family and friends on those days,” says Ortiz.

“But it's not always easy. People's feelings can get hurt when they feel they are second to football. I can sometimes use it as leverage to get what I want though!” she laughs. “As newlyweds, I hated the time he would spend on football, but now I have come to terms with it. It's his getaway. He could be doing much worse.”

Meanwhile Otis, her over-the-top Cowboys fan hubby, doesn’t apologize for his fandom. “I never feel guilty about it,” he says. "’I was married to my Cowboys before I was married to you!’" I tell her.

For Leigh Rittase, a Philadelphia Eagles football widow from Chester County, Pennsylvania (her hubby Craig also has a SCI), it’s the same. “There can be plenty to do on game day,” she says. “I spend my ‘widow time’ working on my art (I paint, draw, cartoon, and design), or I visit with family and friends. And there’s always the proverbial ‘list-o-chores.’ The trick is not to sit at home waiting for his return like a lonely pup.”

Sometimes getting into the craziness of the game along with your SO can be the best way to cope. “He's taken me to a few games and it really is something to see. The fans are all intense,” says Rittase. “I try to keep up with him, but at some point in the game I usually ask the silly-girl-who-doesn't-understand-football questions. But he's used to them. He laughs because my favorite plays are the ones with the long pass.”

Ortiz has tried, unsuccessfully, to like the sport; instead she busies herself with cooking for him and his buddies on game day. “I often find myself shopping for groceries, going on beer runs, or cooking for the guys every Sunday,” she says. “My interest did peek though when I attended a game. I was overwhelmed with emotion and even cried. The atmosphere was awesome!”

And let us not forget the football memorabilia. “His screensaver is different daily, but always the Cowboys,” says Ortiz about her hubby. “We have numerous Cowboys items around the house and even Gordo, our dog, has a Cowboys collar. Otis has the Dallas star on the back of his chair and wears a Dallas shirt every day of his life.”

Football fandom however is an equal-opportunity passion. Kristi Allen, a C6 quad from Sioux City, South Dakota, is a huge Cowboys fan as well. “I have a Dallas Cowboys room,’” says Allen. “I have Dallas Cowboys sheets, panties, eight jerseys, flannel pants, socks, sweatshirts, tee-shirts, jewelry, etc. I even bought blue panties just to go with my Dallas clothes,” she adds.

And about making any future SO of hers a football widower, she says that just can’t be an option. “I don't have to date a Dallas fan,” she says, “but he has to like some team or else we’re going to get really bored between September and February.”