Even though it was a new beginning for me, if I was going to be a real football player instead of just pretending, the position I really wanted to play was quarterback. I mean, quarterbacks are the ones who get all the glory. Also, I knew I was never going to be one of the bigger guys on the field, and players like Drew Brees and Russell Wilson gave me hope that I could still play a key spot on the team.
My best assets as an athlete were my smarts and my speed. Some guys who get As in school aren’t always the ones who are football smart. Football IQ is more than just knowing your favorite NFL teams’ and players’ stats. It’s about knowing the strategy of the game and, even more important than that, being able to make the right decisions fast. A quarterback has to see all other twenty-one players on the field (his teammates as well as his opponents) and make sense out of the mishmash of bodies. He has to see a pattern, to know what will happen next, and how he can alter that pattern since he’s the one with the ball.
So, suddenly feeling like a real football player and armed with the new title of Kid Owner, I announced to Coach Hubbard during our first water break that I’d like to switch from receiver to the quarterback position.
“Yeah, sure, Ryan.” Coach Hubbard barely gave me a glance. “You’ll be behind Jason and Estevan, though. I can’t promise you many reps.”
My face burned when Simpkin snickered my way.
So, while Coach Hubbard tolerated me calling myself a QB and let me throw passes and give handoffs during the individual periods, he didn’t give me a single chance during any of the meaningful drills for the rest of practice. I wanted to scream at him. I knew this was the position for me. And I owned the Dallas Cowboys; shouldn’t that count for something?
When it was time for the offense to play scout team for the defense, Coach Hubbard told me I really should take some turns at wide receiver. “That’s probably where you’re gonna end up anyway, Zinna. I think it’s gonna be tough for you to see over the line to throw a pass.”
So, even though my outlook had changed entirely and I suddenly saw myself as a very capable football player, it was obvious that because of my size Coach Hubbard regarded me as not much more than a movable tackling dummy. But I wasn’t going to accept that.
I ran my routes hard and fast on scout team offense and banged into defenders as best I could on the running plays. When I played free safety on the defensive scout team, I threw my body around like a missile. Bryan Markham never got his chance to wipe any smile off my face, because I’d already replaced it with a snarl. When we ran sprints at the end of practice, even though I was dog tired, I finished first in almost every one of them, second only a couple times to Jackson.
It wasn’t perfect, but it was a good beginning.
I was done with being pushed around. I wasn’t going to be anyone’s dupe again. I was suddenly strong and confident, and I intended to be that way in everything I did. I’d soon learn that sometimes that attitude can get you into serious trouble.