By John Ingoldsby
Engagement Insider

CHICAGO, IL July 22, 2013 – Women writing diaries is as old as time itself, so it was only natural for a female fan of one of the NFL’s oldest franchises to come up with the original idea of authoring a football diary.

Cindi Dammann always wanted to write and knew that she would best write about a subject for which she had a deep passion.

For the Illinois resident, that meant only one thing – the Chicago Bears and her lifelong love for the Monsters of the Midway.

So, she decided to chronicle the 2003 season from training camp to the season’s end, leading to her writing a book she titled “Tailgating Tales: Diary of a Female Football Fan” (www.tailgatingtales.com).  

That took her football fervor to new heights, even leading to her being invited in 2007 by the Bears’ uber-archrival, the Green Bay Packers, to speak to approximately 300 fellow female fans at a women’s Football 101 event at legendary Lambeau Field.

“After self-publishing the book in 2007, I sent letters to all the NFL teams to introduce myself, and ironically it was the Packers who asked me to come up,” said Dammann, who had the book cover done by a friend who was a graphic designer.

But that was only the beginning of the big Bear-hug.

“Since then, I have made friends with football fans from many other teams, as well as from the Pro Football Ultimate Fan Association, which has nominated me to be a member,” she said.

Appropriately, she met up with Association members in the perfect place -- Canton, Ohio during the recent annual Hall of Fame induction weekend.

“This will be my second trip to the Hall of Fame weekend, following my first ‘bucket list” trip for the induction of Richard Dent,” Dammann mused.

But that’s only one of many Bears’ bucket list moments in the memory banks of this season-ticket holder, who was on the waiting list for eight years before getting the call in 1995.

It was worth the wait, and never more so than her favorite Soldier Field moment when Chicago captured the NFC title in 2006 by beating the New Orleans Saints.

“That was my all-time favorite game, when the snow started falling as we played a dome team, and we could all feel Walter Payton and Papa Bear looking down as we were presented the George Halas Trophy at home,” she recalled.

Two weeks later, Dammann was in Miami for the Super Bowl against Indianapolis.

“It was the funnest four days I ever had, culminating with the Devon Hester touchdown return on the opening kickoff,” she remembered of that loss in the rain to the Colts.

As expected of someone who literally wrote the book, she goes to all the games – both home and away.  On game day at home, she leaves home by 8 am always wearing the same “Bearrings,” then tailgates until she enters the stadium when the gates open, walks around during pre-game soaking up the atmosphere, and never, ever leaves a game early.

But it’s also not just about the game for Dammann, who volunteers each May for the Bears Care Gala, which comes just after her annual attendance at the Draft Day Party.

All in all, a tale worth telling and ultimately turning into a book for female football fans to follow.