Pro football has finally begun

The countdown is over.

We wait six grueling months for it to start and even though sometimes we'd like to jump from season to season when football fi-nally arrives there is no better feeling.

The NFL is here!

OK, so it's the preseason and I might be getting a little too giddy but it's impossible to subdue.

Falling asleep slouched on your La-Z-Boy watching golf on Sundays or flipping through your 300 satellite channels aimlessly is about to end.

Sports fans, weekends now serve a purpose other than hibernation.

I know seeing Brad Johnson overthrowing undrafted rookies over the middle isn't as riveting as Tony Romo putting a ball be-tween Terrell Owens' numbers, yet it signifies America's favorite sport has begun.

The next month of exhibition games might feel like pulling teeth viewing them through the silver screen but they are worth watching.

Not one team in the NFL has a few question marks or improvements they'd like to make and the month of August is when they figure those answers out.

Maybe someone will emerge as the Cowboys No.2 receiver through Patrick Crayton or the new class of rookies, walk-ons and free agents.

Can Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers co-exist?

Will they deal him? Bench him?

As much as the thought of football actually being back has me smiling from ear to ear there is one thing to worry about during the preseason.

And anyone who pays any sort of attention to the NFL before September knows what it is.

Injuries.

We'll be looking for new studs to emerge from the 80-man roster but at the same time we'll keep our fingers crossed that nobody gets hurt.

These games don't count but definitely can make or break a team's season in one fell swoop.

Ideally, the preseason should be three games long.

It doesn't take four or even five games to figure out what players old and new are going to make the team.

If that's the case maybe coach needs to find a new profession.

So keep your fingers crossed and start dusting off those jerseys from the back of the closet.

Most importantly though is the answer to one question made famous by Hank Williams Jr on Monday nights just before kickoff.

Are you ready for some football?