Its very odd.

I used to play a lot of football, and I thought it was like a very athletic and rigorous form of dance or ballet.

I couldn't get enough of it, but if I wasn't playing football, then I had no interest in it and I haven’t watched a full game of football for many years.

I can't understand how football players can maintain an interest in the game when they are not playing it. Perhaps an interest in the tacticts, minor dramas, personalities involved etc.