In a large bowl, with a rubber spatula, combine the cream cheese, ranch dressing, garlic powder, kosher salt, black pepper, and 2 tablespoons chopped chives. Cream together until smooth and all the ingredients are evenly incorporated.

Add the finely shredded cheddar cheese and ½ cup of the bacon crumbles. Gently fold them into the cream cheese mixture until all the ingredients are thoroughly combined.

Lay a large piece of plastic wrap on your counter surface. You will transfer all your bacon cheddar ranch mixture to the center of the plastic wrap in a rough ball.

Pull up the two long sides of the plastic wrap to cover the cheese mixture and gently shape the mixture into a football shape. It is much easier to do this while the plastic wrap is covering the cheese mixture. As you shape the cheese football, you will just tuck in the short sides of the plastic wrap to ensure that the cheese mixture is covered completely.

Transfer the football-shaped bacon cheddar ranch cheese ball, while still wrapped in the plastic wrap, onto a plate and refrigerate for 2 hours to allow the cheese ball to hold its shape as a football.

Once your bacon cheddar ranch cheese football has been refrigerated, you can place the remaining bacon, chives, and chopped walnuts onto a large plate, or a large pie plate works well also.

Unwrap your football cheeseball and very carefully place it onto the plate of chopped walnut mixture. Using your hands, gently coat the outside of the cheeseball with the nut mixture, being careful to keep the football shape. Once your bacon cheddar cheese football is completely covered, then transfer it to your serving plate.

You will garnish your football with “cheese” laces. To do this, you will slice two thin strips, about ¾ inch thick, from the long edge of one of the pieces of the deli sliced white cheddar cheese.

You will then slice, length-wise, another two thin pieces, this time about an ⅛ to ¼ inch thick, of the deli white cheddar cheese. You will cut one of these very thin slices into four equal parts.

With the very thin pieces, you will place the long one going lengthwise down the center of the middle of the football shape. You may need to trim your piece slightly so that it does not go all the way end to end and touch the thicker strips. Place the four smaller strips across the center strip of white cheddar cheese, making the laces pattern as seen on a football.