The offseason is about to make it easier not to think about the Super Bowl

Many, many people have asked me how I’ve been dealing with the Falcons’ Super Bowl loss besides drinking too much, eating too much, and pushing my feelings down so deep that they will never again see the light of day.

My best answer, besides the occasional heartbroken sob, is that I’ve stayed busy. The night of the Super Bowl, I stayed up until 2 a.m. writing the next day’s articles so I could think about anything else but how close Atlanta came and how utterly dull and empty I felt. Staying occupied has done wonders for me over these past few weeks, because the little downtime I get tends to get filled with the despair only one of the worst losses in sports history can possibly bring.

Thankfully, the doldrums of the early offseason are fading away. The Scouting Combine is days away, the start of free agency is following shortly thereafter, and then we only have to pass a little time before draft season really gets into full swing. There will be times when that game will hit you like a thunderbolt again, but they will, for a short time, be fewer and farther between.

Take heart, then: We’ll soon be so busy that the Super Bowl will fade into the background for a short time. I’ll take that minor blessing.