Total pages in book: 40
Estimated words: 37217 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 186(@200wpm)___ 149(@250wpm)___ 124(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37217 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 186(@200wpm)___ 149(@250wpm)___ 124(@300wpm)
It’s a silly thought, I know. He’s a professional athlete, and this is what he does. It’s probably ridiculous to think that fooling around with me is helping his performance on the field. Still, it’s a nice thought and I can’t help but wonder.
“I don’t know, dude. The old man’s lookin’ sharp today.”
I look up to see another of our rookie draft picks, Jalen Mills, standing with Ryder a few yards away from me. Judging by the glower on Ryder’s face, he’s less than thrilled with the receiver’s assessment of Carter’s performance. I shouldn’t be eavesdropping on their conversation, but I’m a naturally curious person and can’t keep myself from listening in.
“Anybody can have a good day, man,” Ryder says. “This clown’s time is over. It’s time for some new blood.”
“And I suppose you think that’s you?” Jalen teases.
"Damn right, it's me."
“Well, if the old man keeps playin’ like this, you may be ridin’ the pine for a while. You know how Coach B feels about playin’ rookie QBs.”
“Then I guess we’re just going to have to convince Coach B that the old man’s time is over and that he needs to rethink that position.”
"And how are we going to do that?"
“Us young guys need to stick together.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean I’m going to talk to a few of the other young bucks, and we all need to do our part to take control of this team,” Ryder says. “We need to start working together to make the old man look bad. Make it look like he’s not throwing us good balls.”
Though tempted to intervene, I know there’s nothing I can do. Ryder’s plot to make Carter look bad and take the starting job from him is disgusting and infuriating. The best thing I can do right now is listen to the details and, from there, figure out how to handle it.
“Bro, that’s going to come back on me. I ain’t like you. I have to work to make the roster. I ain’t tryin’ to make myself look bad just to make sure you win your job.”
“Jay, eventually, they are going to hand me the keys to this team. Be it now or next season—there will come a time when this team is mine,” Ryder growls. “And when it is, who do you think I’m more likely going to throw the ball to—somebody who helped me get the job or somebody who turned their back on me when I needed help?”
“Dude, come on.”
Ryder shrugs. “You want to put up numbers? You want to get paid when your rookie deal runs out? You better help me then.”
“That’s fucked up.”
“That’s just how it is.”
“Yeah, whatever. Fine.”
With a disgusted look on his face, Jalen turns and stalks off, leaving Ryder looking after him with a satisfied smirk on his face. The rookie turns, looks at me, and tips me a wink.
“You change your mind yet?” he asks and mimes a blowjob.
Without a word, I get up and walk across the field, trying to put as much distance between us as possible. The guy makes my skin crawl. Once I’m on the other sideline, I see my father standing with a couple of his coaches. I walk over to them and stand patiently off to the side. When his little meeting breaks up, I step forward.
"Coach," I call. "Can I have a word?"
“Of course,” he replies, his tone cool and professional. “Walk with me.”
We turn and walk down the sideline toward the far end zone, steering clear of the knots of people milling about on the field.
“What’s up?” he asks.
“I just overheard Ryder talking to Jalen about sabotaging Carter,” I tell him. “He wants Jalen and the younger guys to make Carter look bad so you’ll have no choice but to hand the job to him.”
My father chuckles. “Young guys talk shit all the time. You know that.”
“This is different. They’re seriously going to try to undermine him.”
“Like I said, young guys talk shit. That’s what they do. When push comes to shove, nobody is going to hurt the team for the sake of personal advancement. Especially not guys like Jalen who have to fight to even make the roster.”
“They were very serious. At least, Ryder is.”
He stops and puts a gentle hand on my shoulder. “If something like that is up, I’ll handle it. I doubt those kinds of palace intrigues are going to happen, but I promise I’ll keep an eye out for it.”
“Dad—”
“That’s enough, Cami. I said I’d deal with it. I appreciate you bringing it to my attention, but I’ve got it now. I’ll take care of things on the football side. You just make sure you and your team are keeping my players healthy.”
He offers me a kind smile, but I frown and look away, frustrated because I know he’s not hearing me. This is another of those situations where he’s more concerned with upsetting the ecosystem than he is with nipping a serious problem in the bud.