Today is a special day, and for those who have a calendar you see that today is Mother’s Day.

For some of you, this is a sad day, maybe no longer being able to be around your mother, but for everyone it’s a time to give thanks for the people who helped form us into who we are today.

With Steelers fans, there are some instances where the mothers in our lives were the ones who helped shape our fandom with the black-and-gold. No matter the reason, today we give thanks to all the moms out there.

As for me, I want to give thanks to two special women in my life. The first being my own mother.

Growing up in Wheeling, WV, you were brought up as if it were western Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh sports were life, and when I was a young kid life was good. I found myself collecting sports cards, studying the statistics on the back, and learning how to become a passionate fan for all three professional teams we watched almost daily.

What does this have to do with my mom? Well, she tolerated me in a lot of ways in my youth. When I was supposed to be studying, or doing homework, she would find me reading about Andy Van Slyke’s batting average home vs. away, or how Bill Cowher was shaping the new roster in the mid-90s, and even how Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr were going to re-write the record books with the Penguins.

My mom would roll her eyes, remind me of the task at hand, and usually suggest I focus my attention on other things.

On top of that, she would be the mom yelling at me to come in for dinner. Whether I was practicing my Jason Kendall batting stance, playing street hockey practicing my breakaway moves or pretending I was making the game winning touchdown in the Super Bowl, I was the kid who was enamored with sports.

As I got older, I learned to love the minutiae of those sports more and more. When my mom would give me some interesting tidbit about something related to school, my response would be something like this.

“Yeah, but did you know Bill Cowher’s defenses have led the NFL in blitz percentage the last three seasons, which is why the Greg Lloyd and Kevin Greene defense is known as Blitzburgh?”

She would roll her eyes, something which still happens to this day, and say, “If only you could focus that brain on something useful.”

Well, mom, some might say as I call this job my new career, maybe all those facts and figures were useful after all! All kidding aside, not all mothers would have been as understanding and tolerant of my actions as a young man, and for that I’m thankful. On top of all that, my mom is now my No. 1 fan, listens to every podcast and reads every article. She’s always been supportive, and I appreciate everything she’s done for me! Happy mother’s day, mom!

The other woman in my life I want to wish happy mother’s day to would be the mother of our five children, my wife. You want to talk about tolerant, my wife absolutely takes the cake.

I still remember early in our marriage, with only two children at the time, I decided to start writing and podcasting about my favorite teams. I had my own free blogger page, and did my own podcasts talking about the Steelers, Pirates and Penguins. It wasn’t long after that when my wife asked how much I was making for all this work.

My answer? “Nothing”

Her response changed everything for me.

“If you are going to be spending this much time on this stuff, shouldn’t you at least make some money doing it?”

She was right, and that started a journey which resulted in where I am today. But in reality, I’m thankful for my wife for acknowledging how this “game” is also a job. That when the NFL Draft is on for the weekend, that I’m not just enjoying the draft with other like-minded individuals, but am actually doing my job.

She doesn’t just respect me, but respects what I do to provide for our family.

Without these two women in my life, I’m not sure where I would be right now in so many ways. They say it takes a village to raise a child, but in my opinion, it takes some strong women to help guide the way. I’m thankful for these two women in my life. And to all those mothers out there, and for those who might be missing those women in their lives, enjoy the moments and remember the good ol’ days when things were a lot simpler.

Happy Mother’s Day to all those moms out there!