My wife Sheryl and I get the same reaction when people find out that our son Bradley plays youth tackle football, a sport that he has participated in for the last seven years. 

“Oh, that had to be Peter’s doing!” or “Of course he does, look at what his father does for a living!”

Yes, I’m a big football fan and yes I’ve been a sports reporter for almost thirty years, but make no mistake about it: A big reason why Bradley began playing football and continues to play and love it is because of Sheryl. 

Yes, parenting is a team effort (no pun intended) but Sheryl is the epitome of what it means to be a football mom and deserves a Super Bowl-sized salute on this Mother’s Day.

When Bradley was 3 years old, his initial foray into youth sports was on the soccer field.  It was quite apparent from the start that Bradley had a much more “passionate” attitude to playing than many of the other kids. There was more than one occasion when his coach, to my surprise, told us that “this kid needs to be on a football field.”

By the end of that soccer season that spring, Bradley had turned 4 and was now a big brother to Jared. He was loving life and before you knew it, it was time to start planning what he was going to do sports-wise that fall.   

And that’s when Sheryl called me up one day with some exciting news.

“I found a tackle football program for Bradley,” she said. “What do you think?”

What do I think? I thought it was awesome and that summer we registered Bradley to play for the Levittown Red Devils instructional program. It turned out to be a great decision because seven years later, Bradley continues to play and love the game.  

My wife is a big reason why Bradley plays, and he knows it—so much so that he bought her a “football mom” necklace to show his appreciation. 

The life of a youth football parent is quite challenging and full of responsibility. I can admit, with certainty, that both Bradley and I would be lost without Sheryl.

Right from the start, she has been a great football mom and with that has come some the added titles to her impressive resume as the gridiron guru in the Schwartz family:

Equipment Manager: The program provided Bradley with much of the necessary equipment like the helmet, shoulder pads, and uniform, but a youth football player needs much more than that. Sheryl has always been the one that has shopped around for cleats, football pants that fit better, mouthpieces, water bottles, and yes, that very important piece of equipment that protects a certain part of the male anatomy. I can also admit that she is the czar of getting Bradley ready for practice and games in terms of him getting dressed. When my wife and I are both home, Bradley insists on Sheryl helping him. When she has to meet us at the football field after work, Bradley will go right over to her when she gets there to make sure dad did everything right. 

General Manager and Traveling Secretary: After two years of the instructional program, Bradley began playing on a real team that played teams from other towns in a league that kept score. If anyone in the house knows the practice schedule, when and where the next game is, and what the opponent’s record is, it’s Sheryl. She goes to the league website and checks the standings, has the team itinerary memorized and ensures Bradley gets to practice and games on time, especially when my work schedule doesn’t allow me to be there or we have conflicts with whatever sport Jared is playing.

Director of Media Relations, Marketing and Daycare: Sheryl takes so much pride in Bradley playing football that she practically climbs to the top of the tallest buildings to let the world know how proud she is of him. It’s not like she’s campaigning for Bradley to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but she knows the game very well and is proud of all of his accomplishments to date. But the great thing about Sheryl is that she’s level headed enough to also acknowledge when Bradley makes a mistake or is having a bad day. While the coach’s wife has always been the official team mom and does a wonderful job, Sheryl has always been a great resource for her when it comes to ideas for the team party, ordering merchandise and program fundraisers. She’s definitely been someone that other parents have been able to approach with questions. There are also many times that families will bring siblings to practices and games. They can be a handful and it always seems like Sheryl brings enough activities and snacks, mainly for our younger son Jared, so that all the kids are happy.

Assistant Coach: A few years ago, Bradley was in the midst of the most challenging dilemma he has faced in his youth football career. He was in his first year as the starting center on the team, but was having a cadence issue with the quarterback. From time to time, there were some fumbled snaps and it led to more exchanging of words than the exchange of the football from the center to quarterback. The coaches were at their wits end with what was going on. One night before practice, Sheryl called the boys over and told them to just practice snaps. There was no yelling and no finger pointing. She just had them snap and snap and snap, until both kids had their hands, feet, and other parts of their anatomy in the right place. Since that time four years ago, there have been just three fumbled snaps and just one of them resulted in a turnover. Show me another quarterback/center combination ages 8-11 that can say the same thing. Sheryl was already a great football mom, but that night, she became royalty with the Red Devils. 

My wife will be even busier this fall because Jared is going to start flag football this September. Jared shouldn’t have a worry in the world as Sheryl will be able to handle it because she is truly the ultimate football mom.  

Happy Mother’s Day to Sheryl and all the other football moms out there. You all deserve a standing ovation!

SEE AlSO: USA Football's Youth Football Parents 101 Course

Peter is a sports anchor for the CBS Sports Radio Network and WCBS 880 Radio in New York.  His son Bradley plays youth football for the Levittown Red Devils in the Nassau-Suffolk Football League on Long Island while his younger son Jared will begin playing flag football this coming fall.  Peter, his wife Sheryl and the boys are busy cheering on the New York Jets when they’re not at a youth football field.