CHAPTER 7

BAD ADVICE

“Hey, Malik. Who’s your friend?” Jerome Biggins asked, slapping Malik on the back.

“This is Anton,” Malik said. “He’s our halfback.”

“Cool,” Biggins said. He looked at Anton. “You want my autograph?”

Before Anton could respond, Biggins grabbed Anton’s helmet out of his hand. Biggins pulled a marker out of his pocket and signed the helmet.

“Here you go, dude,” he said. “Enjoy it.”

Anton looked at his white helmet, which now had a huge black scrawl on one side. He pretended to be excited. “Um, thanks,” he said. He turned to walk away.

Behind him, Biggins started talking to Malik. Anton couldn’t help hearing him.

“Listen, Malik, you go out there today and be the man,” Biggins said. “Every chance you get, you’ve got to pull that ball down and run.”

“I don’t know, Uncle Jerome,” Malik replied. “My coach wants me to share the ball. He doesn’t like it when I keep it all the time.”

Jerome laughed. “You want to be a pro like me, right?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Malik said quietly.

“Well, you can’t be a pro unless you play college ball,” Biggins said. “And you can’t play college ball unless you’re a star in high school.”

“I know,” Malik answered. “And I can’t be a star in high school unless I make varsity next year, right?”

“Right,” his uncle said. He went on, “The varsity coach in this town likes his quarterbacks to be running quarterbacks. They don’t pass the ball much. He’s always around watching these games, and I want him to see you running the ball, showing your stuff.”

Anton was almost to the sideline, where the rest of the team was gathering. He could see the other players drinking water and stretching.

Behind him, Biggins continued, “Malik, you’ve got a lot of skill,” he said. “You’ve got more talent than I did at your age. You can go all the way if you want to.”

“Thanks, Uncle Jerome,” Malik said. “I’ll think about it.”

Suddenly, it became clear to Anton.

Malik hadn’t been showing off for his uncle. He’d been following his uncle’s instructions.

That day’s game was the worst one yet. Malik barely even handed the ball off to Anton when he was supposed to.

He tucked the ball and ran on almost every pass play.

On all the option plays, he kept the ball instead of pitching it to Anton.

Jerome Biggins yelled and cheered for Malik from the sidelines.

Even when Malik got tackled for a loss, Jerome yelled for him to keep the ball the next time.

Fortunately, the Giants were playing against the Rams, the worst team in the league.

The Giants should have beaten the Rams by at least ten points, but they barely managed to win by three.

At least we won, Anton told himself.

Now they had five wins and three losses, with one game left to play.

Their last opponent would be the Dolphins, who were also 5–3 for the season. The winner would go to the playoffs.

But the Giants had a new problem.

Most of the players on the team were mad at Malik for keeping the ball all the time.

Coach Benson was mad too. After the game against the Rams, he pulled Malik aside to talk to him.

Anton heard the coach say angrily, “Listen, young man. We can’t have that kind of selfish play. If I can’t count on you to share the ball, Malik, maybe I have to find another quarterback.”