Story behind the image: NFL jerseys in London

I was delighted when I had so many interactions with sports during a trip through several European countries. Based on the program itinerary, I had only expected one sports related stop at the home stadium of the Tottenham Hotspurs Football Club in London. But before that I also found the 1972 Olympic Village in Munich, the International Olympic Museum (Le Musee Olympique) in Luasanne, and a plethora of outdoor activities in the Austrian Alps.

All of the individual discoveries were self-guided unlike the guided tour from a spirited Tottenham Hotspur football fan turned tour guide. The tour covered the origin of the team, the spirit of the team and its fans, and incorporation of the team's brand in every aspect of the team and its stadium, because this is sports and superstitions are real.

Within the stadium are four locker rooms: two for football (soccer in America) and two for American football when the NFL hosts international games. The stadium tour goes through both of the soccer locker room and one of the football locker rooms. The NFL-grade football locker room is larger in order to fit all of the player, coaches, and other team personnel of an NFL team.

In some of the built-in "lockers" lining the walls are the jerseys of every NFL team divided by division. This photo captures my home team, a part of the AFC West division. It was surreal to see a part of home thousands of miles away and to see that whether they really like it or not, this other country has learned about American football and its structure to be a part of their everyday presence in the stadium.

I am a bit surprised that the stadium allow the Kansas City Chiefs jersey and other red NFL jerseys into the stadium. The colors of the Hotspurs' biggest rival is red. As best they can the team does not allow red in the stadium. The Hotspurs even got special permission from the fire department to have blue fire extinguishers instead of red ones. Maybe the red NFL jerseys are far enough separated for the happenings of a soccer match to mess with the team's positive juju.

Camera: Apple iPhone 8

F stop: 1.8

Aperture: 1/17

Focal length: 3.99mm

ISO 64

Location: Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium, Tottenham, London, England