Chapter 2

Mason

 

        Here’s the thing:  I know how to play football and I’m pretty decent at it.  But when I was a kid, my dad never went to any of my high school games.  Something about that really annoyed me.  I mean, it wasn’t like he was abusive or a drug addict or anything like that.  In fact, my parents are pretty rich.  My dad has worked for three Congressmen and a Senator, but he never has time for me.

        That lack of support has undermined my confidence for as long as I can remember.  I mean, I try to get him to come to games.  Once, I even had the tickets delivered to him.  He said there was a “chance” he could make it.  I even begged the referees to delay the start of the game for ten minutes.

        But no dice, he never showed up.

        Now here I am a freshman in college with a huge opportunity.  The backup quarterback is out for the rest of the season with a collarbone injury.  Highwater College doesn’t have a very deep bench and I was the top quarterback in my high school league.  It was a decent league, mind you, but still it was only high school.

        This was a college try out for backup quarterback and there were upperclassmen vying for the position.  There was no way I was going to win this, but my twin brother Logan insisted that I try.  Fine Logan.  I’ll just make an ass of myself and then we’ll see who was right!

        “Okay, let’s line up!” shouted the head coach.

        Head coach Randall went through the list of candidates.  There were only five of us.  He gave us each a ball.

        “Fellas, I want to see how well you throw for distance,” he explained.  “We’re standing on the goal line.  Let me see you reach the other goal line,”

        “Any place in particular, coach?” asked William, the only senior at the try out.

        The coach looked around.  I guess he hadn’t thought that far ahead.

        “Uh, sure.  See that trashcan just past the endzone?” he gestures.  “Get close to that.”

        William hurled it.  He got to the goal line and then the ball bounced towards the trashcan.  The other guys threw too.  There balls bounced around the endzone.  I was having second thoughts.

        “C’mon, Cooper,” the coach rushed me.  “Shit or get off the pot.”

        I threw the ball.  The assistant coach Daniels missed where it landed and started looking all around the endzone.

        “Where did it land, Daniels?  You’re supposed to be watching!” shouted coach Randal.

        “Uh, coach,” said William in astonishment.  “Tell him to check the trashcan.”

        Daniels checked it and much to his amazement, found my ball.

        “Did you aim for that?” the coach said with such intensity, I thought I did something wrong.

        “Did you not want me to hit it?  I thought you did,” I said nervously pulling my arms behind my back.

        “Here,” he said, handing me another ball.  “Do it again.”

        I threw the ball.  It hit the bottom of the trashcan and bounced out.

        “Oh, sorry, coach,” I apologized.  “Guess it was just luck.”

        “Are you kidding me?!” he said, grabbing me by the collar of my jersey.  “That was a great throw kid!  Jesus Christ!  Distance and accuracy?!  William, go out for a pass!”

        He released me, and I fell back and straightened my jersey.

        “Aren’t we going to finish the competition?” William asked.

        “Yeah-yeah, just do as I say,” he commanded.  “And you, cover him.”

        He pointed to one of the other players.

        “Now hit William in the numbers, Coop,” said the coach.

        William ran out for a pass about thirty yards out.  I waited for my opportunity and threw the ball.  I hit him in the numbers and he caught it.

        “You and you!” the coach barked to the other tryouts.  “All of you, cover William.  William!  Drop that ball and go long!”

        William dropped the ball and took off running down the football field.  The other players caught up to him.  With a three man coverage, I threw the ball.  It sailed between the players and into William’s arms.

        “Yes!  Yes!” yelled the coach, pumping his fists in the air.  “Oh, my God, kid!  You’re exactly what this team needs!  You’re the new backup quarterback!”

        “What?  Really?” I said, not really registering the words.  “Why?”

        “Why?!” laughed the coach.  “First off, I made William try out.  He’s really a receiver.  The other guys are old talent.  Not horrible, but not good.  But you kid, holy crap!  You got what they don’t!  Pinpoint accuracy with a football!  Jesus!  You hit William with three men on him!”

        “So, you weren’t really testing the other guys?” I asked.

        “Actually, I had already picked a different backup quarterback,” he admitted.  “But I wanted to try you out.  I didn’t think you were any good, but boy was I wrong!  Let’s see how you do with a little pressure.”

        The coach had the guys line up again.  William was the receiver.  One player covered him, while one player was my defense and the other tried to sack me.  We started the play.  I threw to William before the other player could sack me.

        “One more time,” said Coach.

        He pulled my defensive player aside and gave him further instructions.  We started the play.  As soon as I got the ball, I backed up to pass.  The coach blew his whistle and my defense suddenly fell to the ground.  I had no one to protect me.  I scrambled.

        “Pass it!  Pass it!” shouted the coach.

        I couldn’t get clear.  I dodged the kid.  He scrambled on his hands and feet, then lunged at me.  I leapt into the air and found myself flipping over him.  He did a faceplant and I landed on my feet.  By this time, William was open and I threw.

        “Cooper!” shouted Coach while he was clapping his hands.  “You’re like a walking highlight reel!  Are you really a freshman?”

        “Yes, sir,” I replied.

        “And your high school team, did you win state champs?” he asked.

        “No, sir,” I said.  “ I spent most of senior year giving hand offs.  My old coach wasn’t much into a passing game.”

        “Well, he was an idiot, no offense.  Let’s see just how accurate you are,” said the coach.  “You see that Gatorade holder?”

        He gestured to the sidelines.  There was a wooden folding table with two coolers and some cups with the word Gatorade on them.

        “Yep, which one?” I asked.

        “The one on the right.  Think you can hit it from here?” he asked.

        “I’ll try,” I said.

        I threw the ball and took out the rightmost cup.

        “Wait.  Were you aiming at the jug?” he asked.

        “No, the cups.  You said the Gatorade holder.  The cups have the logo,” I explained.

        “So you were aiming at that cup and hit it?!” he asked.

        “Yeah, was that wrong?”

        “It don’t matter!  You just hit a cup from fifty yards!  That’s all that matters!”

        The Coach danced a little.  He looked beside himself with joy.

        “Dear God, thank you for this blessing of a backup quarterback,” prayed the coach.  “This season will be dedicated to your name.  Amen!  Guys!  Gather around!”

        The coach called in the rest of the team, including my brother, Logan.  Logan was a linebacker and he had been practicing with the rest of the Defensive Line and the Defense Coach.  They now took a knee in front of coach Randal.

        “Fellas, I want you meet our new backup quarterback,” he introduced.  “He’s  a prodigy freshman.  I want you to make him feel really welcomed.  Give it up for Mason Cooper!”

        The team applauded me.  It was almost overwhelming.  I had never had a moment like this.  Logan was applauding the most vigorously.  He kept saying, “That’s my brother!  That’s my brother!”  I felt some tears welling up.  They were tears of joy, but still---  You don’t want to let your teammates see you cry.

        “Th-thanks guys,” I stammered.

        “All right, I need to go over some plays with our new backup QB,” he explained.  “The rest of you, back to what you were doing.”

        Practice continued as normal, while we met in coach Randal’s office.  When I joined the team, at the beginning of the year, I barely thought I was on it.  I stood in the back of the group, I ran in the back of the pack and I got treated as---  Well, a freshman.  Now I was sitting in the head coach’s office and he was talking to me like we were partners on the team!

        We went over most of the major plays.  Then he gave me five binders outlining the other plays I would need to memorize.  As a backup quarterback, I had to know almost as many as the coach.  It was a lot of responsibility, but the coach seemed convinced I could do it.

        I met up with Logan after practice and he took me to the Campus Coffee House.  On the walk over, I started to lose my nerve.  How could I memorize all this stuff?  College football was just one step away from being a pro.  Was I really at that level?  Maybe the coach was just desperate for anyone to take the backup QB position.

        “Mason, you gotta relax!” assured Logan, bringing back our drinks.

        “You’re a natural quarterback, bro!  I told you that you were!  Remember that throw in the junkyard?”

        Logan and I had gone to a junkyard with friends years ago.  To prove to them I was a quarterback, Logan had me throw a rock into an open trunk on the other side of two piles of cars. I could barely see it, but I hit it on the first throw.  I guess it was a pretty amazing throw, but for years I just counted myself lucky.

        “Luck had nothing to do with that!” insisted Logan.  “You’re good.  It makes sense.  I’m a good linebacker.  We got football in our blood!”

        “Was dad a football player?” I asked.

        “Yeah, he played on his high school team,” said Logan.

        “Then why didn’t dad ever come out to see our games?” I asked.

        “You know how he is,” said Logan sipping his latte.  “He and mom are always doing something.  So what?  Who cares?  He’ll regret not coming when we win the Sugar Bowl or whatever.”

        “I don’t know, Logan,” I said looking at the pile of binders resting on the round wooden table.  “This is a lot of plays.  How am I supposed to remember them all?”

        “I’ll help you study them.  It’ll be like studying for a class, only cooler because it’s football!” said Logan, his eyes bright.  “You’re like the second in command of the whole team now, Mas!  Quarterback is like the key to everything!”

        “Don’t say that,” I said rubbing my temples at a sudden headache.  “It makes me nervous.  I have to process this.”

        “Mason, you have to have confidence,” said Logan.  “You can do this!  You hit that trashcan from the goal line!  The goal line!  I can’t even throw it that far!”

        “You probably could.  It wasn’t that far,” I said. I grabbed my latte cup and nervously peeled at the hot beverages sleeve.

        “No!  I can’t!” Logan insisted.  “You are built to be a quarterback, Mason.  What’s easy for you is like impossible for most people!”

        “Thanks for having my back, Logan,” I said.  “Sometimes I feel like you’re the only one that understands me.”

        “I am going to get you laid to celebrate!” he announced.

        I choked on my latte and had to wipe my face with a napkin.

        “Whoa, slow down,” I said.  “I don’t need to start a new relationship right now.  I’ve got too much on my plate.”

        “Who says anything about a relationship?” he said.  “I’m just talking a straight up hookup.”

        “No, that’s just not me,” I said.  “You go ahead and do that.”

        “Well at least be open to the idea,” said Logan.  “We’re freshmen in college.  This is the time to meet girls, man!  There’s so many on this campus and they’re all pretty hot!”

        “I guess,” I admitted shrugging my shoulders.  “But I want something more, ya know?  Guys that just hooked up in high school always bothered me.  They just seemed to use women.  I don’t want to be like that.”

        “I’m not saying to,” assured Logan.  “But women like to have fun too, ya know?  Who wouldn’t want to hook up with a star athlete in college?”

        “I’m not a star,” I said shyly.

        “You are a freshman that just got jumped up to backup quarterback,” said Logan, crossing his arms in front of his chest.  “That’s pretty close to being a star.”

        “If you say so.”

        “I know so!”