It had been the most horrific three hours of my life. A humiliating defeat for me and my teamates. I'd sat through it all with a first hand view and not a damn thing I could do about it. The crowd was enormous, all of the national press was there, and I'd blown it in from of them all. Probably millions of people. When you're the quarterback people expect you to be great all the time...there's never any excuse good enough for people if you play poorly. And here I was after my very first game ever, straight from college, with the worst game I'd ever played.
My teamates had all been showered and gone. The coaches were giving interviews to most of the local press and I'd done my share of dodging questions before eventually they all left me alone. I couldn't shower or eat or anything. I just sat there still in my pants and cleats, my shirt, pads and hemlet in a small pile by my feet. I was a big man, a very big man. At nearly six and a half feet tall and 240 lbs. of muscle no one could dispute that...but now I felt as small as a mouse.
I finally got the energy and motivation to get into the shower when I noticed there was one more reporter milling around. I hadn't seen her before, but she looked like she was with a local paper. The big guys had already shuttled out of here to do post game spots for their stations. She was standing near the entrence to the showers looking like she had lost something.
"Excuse me." I said, gently brushing past her trying not to be noticed. The last thing I needed was to answer more questions about the game.
" Great game today, Marley. It's a tough league. You'll do better next sunday." She said to me without any hint of sarcasm in her voice.
I looked down at her, she was more than a foot shorter than I am and wondered if she was serious. Getting a better look at her she was beautiful. Really beautiful. SHe had to have been a news reporter. No one in their right mind would stick her behind the camera.
"Thanks, but I really played shitty. It was so much easier in college. I'm not used to this kind of thing, I feel like I let everybody down. I can't wait to clean up and get out of here."
"Wait....don't feel bad. It's just one game. You'll forget about it before you know it." She pushed her hand into my huge chest, stopping me in my tracks. She looked up at me and smiled...
My teamates had all been showered and gone. The coaches were giving interviews to most of the local press and I'd done my share of dodging questions before eventually they all left me alone. I couldn't shower or eat or anything. I just sat there still in my pants and cleats, my shirt, pads and hemlet in a small pile by my feet. I was a big man, a very big man. At nearly six and a half feet tall and 240 lbs. of muscle no one could dispute that...but now I felt as small as a mouse.
I finally got the energy and motivation to get into the shower when I noticed there was one more reporter milling around. I hadn't seen her before, but she looked like she was with a local paper. The big guys had already shuttled out of here to do post game spots for their stations. She was standing near the entrence to the showers looking like she had lost something.
"Excuse me." I said, gently brushing past her trying not to be noticed. The last thing I needed was to answer more questions about the game.
" Great game today, Marley. It's a tough league. You'll do better next sunday." She said to me without any hint of sarcasm in her voice.
I looked down at her, she was more than a foot shorter than I am and wondered if she was serious. Getting a better look at her she was beautiful. Really beautiful. SHe had to have been a news reporter. No one in their right mind would stick her behind the camera.
"Thanks, but I really played shitty. It was so much easier in college. I'm not used to this kind of thing, I feel like I let everybody down. I can't wait to clean up and get out of here."
"Wait....don't feel bad. It's just one game. You'll forget about it before you know it." She pushed her hand into my huge chest, stopping me in my tracks. She looked up at me and smiled...