Chapter 5
Jeff
I still remember Scooter’s first practice.
I’m pretty sure I’ll never forget it.
I remember how all of us were on one knee, listening to Coach Douglas talk about our last game and his plan for practices for the week. I remember him stopping mid-sentence and saying, “I’m sorry . . . I completely forgot to introduce our new kid. Mr. Williams, stand up.”
I looked where Coach was looking and waited for the player to jump to his feet and take off his helmet. He didn’t do either.
“Stand up, son,” Coach repeated.
This time, the player followed the command.
That’s when I realized how tiny he was. It didn’t help that he was hunching, his head drooped. It looked like the helmet was too big for him or something. It seemed to be weighing him down.
“Where are you from, Williams?” Coach asked.
The kid didn’t respond. Or maybe I just couldn’t hear him. It was hard to see whether his mouth was moving behind the face mask.
“What position do you play?” Coach asked.
This time I heard him, but just barely.
“Running back,” the kid mumbled.
That’s when Coach turned to me. “Stoddard,” he said. “Keep an eye on Williams, okay? Make sure he gets where he needs to be.”
“Yes, sir,” I said.
And I did. It was a total drag, but I did it anyway. The two of us went from drill to drill that day. I asked him where he played last year and he mumbled he hadn’t, so I started breaking down terminology and our plays for him. The truth is, I felt sorry for him. I didn’t know why he’d decided to go out for football this year, but then again it didn’t matter. What mattered was that he was going to get crushed. It’s not like I thought he’d be getting many handoffs. The running back position was already filled—by me. I’d worked hard last season and I didn’t have any plans of stopping.
But a kid that small didn’t need to be in a game for long to get hurt.
One carry would be enough.
“Williams!” Coach said toward the end of the practice. “Give Stoddard a breather.”
I wanted to tell Coach that it was okay, I could keep going. But I knew better than to argue with him. I watched as the offense lined up without me—and with the tiny new kid standing a few yards behind our quarterback.