Live in the Moment: My Year in NFL All Day in Person Moments

Fun fact — my family has had Ravens PSLs (and thus season tickets) since M&T Bank Stadium opened on day 1. I used to go to the games as a kid with my dad and then as he got older and preferred the big screen with a fire place over the game day traffic with some cold weather mixed in; I’ve taken them over about a decade or so ago. There’s such a great vibe at games in Baltimore; I could write a whole blog series on that alone.

I’m also 2 decades into a long standing annual trip with the boys to Buffalo for a Bills game each year. Always in November or December, because in my mind Buffalo and Canada are never warm. That is the atmosphere that is Buffalo football to me and that I enjoy the most.

This year, I set out on a mission (which I also did last year, just better at tracking it this time) to collect all the NFL All Day moments from NFL games I went to for the team I was rooting for, plus the away teams. I made it to every Ravens game but 2, missing the Bengals on Thanksgiving evening with the family and the Steelers game for my son’s basketball game. That in total gave me 7 Ravens games and one game in Buffalo for moment opportunities. Collecting this year’s moments was an interesting one as the Ravens were abysmal early (and most of the year quite honestly) and missed the playoffs. The opposing teams certainly had their fair share of moments to mint against us, along with a few legendary moments that have made my quest a bit tougher on the home stretch of the All Day season.

Below is my full checklist of 26 moments I am chasing with only 3 to go. I thought I would put together a few thoughts on the journey and the checklist I ended up with.

All Ravens Moments Have Been Secured
I don’t want to say fortunately the Ravens’ legendary tier moments were all from away games or a game I missed, but it certainly helped keep the cost down on the Ravens’ side of the list. On the downside, it also was a real easy way to summarize the home game experience as a Ravens fan. All in all, there were 8 total Ravens moments minted from the home games I went to. Broken down as 5 rares, 3 common (but 2 Rookie Debuts) and 0 legendary. It was pretty cool to get the Rookie Debut moments from Malaki Starks and Mike Green from games I went to. I only got one Lamar moment minted, but was also pumped to get a Zay Flowers moment, who clocks in as my second favorite Raven behind Lamar. If I had to pick one, I would say the Lamar MGLE would be my favorite Ravens moment this year. I am a sucker for a good reel and there was an added impact from…

The Impact of Moments From our Relocated Seats
When the Ravens announced they were ripping out our end zone seats I’ve had since the stadium opened, I was very vocally displeased. We were three rows back in that end zone with so many memories and a prime spot. In our relocation, we wound up 9 rows back on the goal line, which quite honestly turned out better than I expected. The Ravens covered the cost of the upgraded PSLs and I also got put on end seats (which anyone with kids knows is a huge plus). That Lamar MGLE had some incredible dimes to Devontez Walker and Deandre Hopkins (who had a sick catch to boot) that happened literally right in front of us. With a big part of moment selection being big plays and key plays, having those actual goal line and end zone views of touchdowns in person really makes the moments minted that much cooler to connect with. My favorite home game was probably the Bears game as the Nate Wiggins interception rare and Derrick Henry Ground Greatness rare both were right in front of us (including both of Henry’s TDs). Going from the back of the end zone to the goal line turned out to be not so bad after all.

Some Legendary Meltdowns
Part of the journey I set out was also to collect the opposing teams moments as well, which ended up being very costly this year as a Ravens fan and also leaves my 2 biggest moments yet to purchase. The Monday Night game against Detroit was an absolute heartbreaker. As a lifelong Ravens fan, you just felt like a tight game, at home in Baltimore; this is a game we usually pull out. David Montgomery gashing us for a 72 yard run earlier, then a 31 yard TD in the 4th to put it away was just rough to watch. Then there was the New England game where Drake Maye had the away fans chanting MVP as the clock expired after a double digit 4th quarter comeback to really throw salt in the wound of that loss. All Day was kind enough to mint both of those moments in the legendary tier :) As of this writing, the Patriots moment only had a single listing. Ultimately, I don’t know if I will end up splurging for legendary tier from opposing teams, but if I want to complete my mission, I must.

Hey Ey Ey Ey
The annual trip to Buffalo did not disappoint this year. A great back and forth game with peak Baker Mayfield and Josh Allen going at it was an awesome experience. One of my few disappointments was not getting a Baker moment from this game, as he had a really tough 4 yard scramble right into our end zone. We did get some random All Day Debut moments out of Ty Johnson and Sean Tucker, who went absolutely bonkers by the way. The game was capped though with one of my favorite mints of the year, the Josh Allen MGLE Challenge Reward. I had to complete this challenge as soon as it popped up, with a reel of his incredible 6 total TD performance, including the game sealing 9 yard scramble into our end zone. I appreciated this being in the rare tier as opposed to the game I went to last year, which resulted in the Josh Allen legendary against the Chiefs.

Diversifying the Collection
One of the coolest parts of building out this checklist and picking up these moments is opening up to new players and moments I otherwise wouldn’t have been picking up. I really don’t think I would have picked up 5 Browns moments this year, well I have 4 technically so far as the Mason Graham Regal Rookie is still outstanding. Nor would I have hammered a group of 5 Detroit Lions moments from a single game. Xavier Hutchinson and Jaylin Noel also weren’t the first names on the Regal Rookie radar for me either, but I’ll hold them forever now as they’re a part of my history now. Oh and as a frustrated Ravens fan, I would not have been buying a single Mark Andrews moment this year. The Ravens / Jets game had no moments minted, which isn’t overly surprising when two bad teams get together. The whole journey has me excited for next season though. Hopefully the Ravens are back in playoff contention and my checklist expands back into the All Day playoff sets and hopefully even Super Bowl sets! I better start saving now.

Until next time — watch more moments, tell more stories and we ride at dawn…

Live in the Moment: My Year in NFL All Day in Person Moments was originally published in Coinmonks on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.