With football season rapidly approaching your personal servicemember may be pining for his normal Monday night fun. So what do you do when you're asked to ship the Gridiron Express halfway across the world? We've compiled seven easy football care package item ideas for the fan in your life.
1. Print out the stats.
Not every place has the most reliable Internet access, so you can at least win the best care package award by making sure your box is rich on stats which, I'm told by the men in my life, seem to matter more to a fan's existence than food and water combined. You can print out the entire NFL's stats here, or just include those of your favorite team.
2. Hang the flag.
Be it by poster or banner, team pride can be on high display hung by their rack or hooch. Make sure you send something inexpensive, though, in case your service person is in a transient unit and has to pick up and move, leaving the sports memorabilia behind. (Someone else is sure to be grateful for that, though. As long as you're not rooting for the Browns.)
3. Send a jersey.
Even if he (or she!) can only wear it to sleep at night, a little team logo goes a long way. But for any downtime from the FROG suit, make sure he has that team tee or jersey to pop on. If hunting tag sales for a second-hand top that can be left behind doesn't strike your fancy, Fanatics Outlet also has a wide selection and bottom-dollar prices (considering).
4. Make some nachos!
You can't ship chicken wings or surround sound, but you can at least get the job done with some of the basics of a football game at home... Nachos! It's possible. A can of chili (Amy's is particularly good at this, but even Campbell's will get the job done), a can of beans, a can of diced tomatoes, and a package of velveeta, and you've got yourself a much-appreciated nacho mix. And after arguing with my husband over the shipability of chips, I maintain that you should throw in a bag of chips or pretzels. (I have shipped them in plenty of care packages with great success. And I defend this statement by pointing out that Tostidos shipped them to the grocery store first anyway.) You may want to include a bowl - the cheap, dollar store disposable kind - and a spoon for stirring if you're feeling full-service.
5. And dessert!
Because there's nothing in the world that can't be made, shipped, and resemble it's original product quite like a rice krispy treat, this post - and any care package - would not be complete without it.
You can make these super cute football krispies with help from Family Ever After.
[NB: If you, like I, can't stand rice krispy treats, try stepping them up a bit: Coffee-soaked krispies or some doused in bourbon - which we would never, ever send overseas - can make them a little bit more palatable to anyone over the age of six.]
Make Me Merry features a great recipe for football whoopie pies, which you could make shippable by replacing the classic creme filling with some marshmallow fluff.
I don't know how you'd part with these once you made them, but you're probably a better person than I.
6. Send a cup! And a koozy!
During football season, every water bottle deserves a little flair, ditto cups! They're easy enough to ship and no one will cry when they don't fit in the bag home. Although if the koozy comes with a picture of it wrapping itself snugly around a bottle of cold, delicious beer, it might be worth taking the tag off. I mean, if you've already eaten all the whoopie pies you meant to include, there's no reason to add insult to injury.
7. And a real football! Most places already have them, so ask and see, but if there isn't a football there to play with, make sure you send one along. "Every unit needs one," or so says the care package recipient in this house. He clearly never knew about the whoopie pies.
