“I don’t care about pride, son. I care about winning football games. You show me you can help me win football games, I’ll keep you here as long as you like. But if you can’t, or if someone can do it better, I got no use for you. We clear?”
“Crystal clear, Coach. I’ll make it happen.”
“That’s all, then.” Without another word, Coach Armstrong moved along, walking up and down the rows of lockers, stopping in places to talk to certain players, but leaving most to their individual preparations.
Oh shit, I was really in the soup now. This was do or die time. I couldn’t go back to my previous life, but I couldn’t go any further as a professional football player unless I had a monster game tonight.
No pressure.
I sat back down in my locker, looking back at the floor, concentrating and trying to find the focus, the place I went before games to get in the zone.
Another tap on the helmet. I looked up. Lance Parker.
“Hey, man.”
“Hey, Lance. What’s up.”
Lance smiled. “Not much, man, just getting ready for it. I just wanted to say that you’ve looked really good this last week, so don’t think I haven’t noticed.”
“That’s really good of you to say, thanks, Lance.”
“No worries.” We gave each other daps, and Lance continued. “This is a big game for you, Rollins, and I want you on my side when he season starts.”
Oh. SHIT. This was fucking huge.
“But I need to know that you and I can connect, yeah?”
“Yeah, man, whatever you need.”
“That’s my man. I’m gonna be looking for you out there, you haul it in and we’re all good, yeah? We can ride this all the way to a championship. You with me?”
“Yeah, Lance, I’m with you, 100%.”
“Alright, cool. I’ll let you go, see you out there.”
We dapped up again, and Lance was gone.
Shit, I had a chance, a really good chance. The first thing I did? Pulled out my phone and texted Lily what Lance had said, off the record. No reply.
I sat back down and ignored the rest of the world, this time much happier.
And then, before I knew it, it was time for the game to start, and I had my helmet on and I was in the tunnel with the rest of the guys, giving one last fist bump or helmet tap. In the tunnel all the petty conflicts between the guys on the team fell away.
Now we had a common goal, something all of us were working toward.
And then we were out on the field, with the tens of thousands of fans cheering. This game was against the Philadelphia Eagles, and some of the Eagles fans had traveled all the way to Foxboro for the game, but this was definitely a strong home crowd, with blue, red, silver, and white banners and colors all over the place.
It felt really good, seeing all these fans here to watch us play. I flapped my arms up and down, trying to get a rise out of the crowd, and I heard ripples of clapping and cheering come out.
I loved being out under the bright lights of a football stadium. For my entire life, since I had started playing, this was the best feeling in the world. Knowing that all these people were here to see my team, see us play, see us win, and watch me catch touchdowns - it was the biggest high, better than any drug.
And now it was about to start again. Possibly for the last time. I really hadn’t even had that thought until just that moment, and when it washed over me, I was momentarily stunned.
This could be my last football game under lights like this. Everything after this, any time I touched a football, could be just playing catch in the backyard or the park with friends. I might never have pads on like this, might never again go to war like this with my teammates beside me, for real.
Wow. That was much heavier than I thought.
No pressure, Drake.
Then we were all on the sidelines, getting ready, doing some final stretches. The team captains went out as the game started, and we got the ball first.
Normally the Patriots always defer the coin toss if they win, and get the ball to start the second half, but I was really happy that Coach Armstrong decided to play things a little different this time.
The game didn’t matter, but the point was to test out the new players, the guys on the bubble, and come up with the best 53 men for the full season roster.
Now was my time to shine.
CHAPTER 25 - LILY
I pulled out my phone just as the game started and saw Drake’s message from before the game, how giddy he was about Lance reaching out to him.
The game started. And Drake made the most of it. He played better than I had seen him play in all of training camp. It reminded me of games back at Cal, the way he was styling on the other team, making them look terrible.
He was having one of the best games of his life. Watching him make catches like that from this angle, from the sidelines, was such a rush. I almost felt like I could get a tiny little piece of the feeling Drake must get when he made those catches.
Like a little piece of why he loved the game so much. Drake knew that this was the best game for him to show off his skills, and he was showing off in spades.