Fat Chance
It was 4th and goal from
his opponents 5 with only 1 second left on the clock. Rookie quarterback, Ray Box, had successfully driven the Falcons down the field
and needed to get this play into the end zone in order to win the Super Bowl.
This was his moment, his
opportunity. It wasn’t long ago that Ray was sitting on the sideline as the
back up.
“Billy got hurt, Ray. Go in there
and don’t screw this up.” The voice of the head coach was still echoing in his
head. Since then the defense had blown the lead and it was up to Ray to win it.
“Don’t screw this up.” Ray said to
himself as he broke from the huddle. He could feel beads of sweat creep down
his cheekbone and leak off of his chin. The amount of sweat on his face paled
in comparison to the amount in his palms. It was a feat in and of itself that
he could grip the ball, let alone throw the winning touchdown pass.
He got to the line and stared down
the defense. The safeties were crowding the line if he could just avoid the
rush he should be able to hit his flanker on a fade. The crowd, that had
sounded so loud from his seat on the bench, hardly seemed to be making a sound
now. Funny how perception changes once you are thrust in the spot light. He
couldn’t hear anything but his own heartbeat, but he could feel the vibrations
of the stadium.
“X to the corner!” He shouted,
calling the hot route. The flanking receiver looked over and nodded, the two
were on the same page.
“52 is the mic! 52 is the mic!” Ray
called out the blitzing linebacker. His voice was now trembling.
“Don’t screw this up.” He repeated
to himself.
“Hut, hut, hike!” Ray proclaimed as
the ball was released into his barely steady hands.
Just
as he thought the safeties came after him, leaving his flanking receiver single
covered. He pump faked to the flat and evaded the first blitzer. As the second
safety was preparing the separate his torso from the rest of his body he threw
the ball up into the air. It seemed to be up there forever and when the ball
reached its highest point, it happened.
“RAY!
RAY! It’s time to wake up! You’re going to be late for fat camp!” His mother
yelled as she entered him room waking him up.
“You’ll
never make the varsity football team if you don’t lose all that weight!”
Ray
shook himself to fully wake up. He looked down at his sweaty palms and just
said, “Damn…”
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