Don’t worry, fam. I won’t let you down this time. Not like I did before. It was the biggest mistake of my life—the day you told me you were on PEDs and I didn’t do a thing to stop it. I figured that you could make your own decisions. I talked myself into that, to justify it. But I was completely blind. I didn’t see how much pressure you were putting on yourself, trying to recover from that blown-out knee.
Now everybody believes you’re a hero. They say that you worked yourself to death trying to make this team better, trying to make us all better. Well, that’s the way it’s going to stay. I promise. I owe you that. I thought about telling somebody what I know. But I couldn’t break that kind of news to your mother. Not after seeing how proud she is. I even thought about telling Coach. But if you really did get those drugs from somebody connected to the program, the NCAA might rip this whole team apart from top to bottom. I know that’s something you would have never wanted.
Right now, the doctors say it was strictly your heart—that there was nothing else in your system. I know better. We both do. But that’s where it’s going to stay, between you and me and whoever sold you that poison. If that dude was in front of me, I’d beat him into the ground, I swear. But don’t worry. I got your back. No one’s ever going to lose respect for you. No one’s ever going to call you a cheater. Your mother’s never going to feel that shame. Your name’s never going to take that hit. God bless you, fam.