Daddy's Game (24 page)

While Carmen’s support lifted him up, something else had him concerned. Though he wouldn’t say it out loud, Natron was worried about what must be happening in the Raptors’ locker room at that very moment.

The Raptors’ head coach, Mark Billings, was famous for making key adjustments at half-time. He knew how to size up the opposing team’s weakness and exploit them for his team’s gain. The Raptors had come from behind to win more times this year than any other team in the league, and even if the Vipers weren’t talking about it, Natron knew his teammates were thinking about it.

The Raptors’ offense would get the ball to start the second half, and walking back out onto the field, Natron prayed Coach Morrison’s defensive adjustments would help hold the explosive Raptors’ offense. Natron sat on the bench and tapped his cleats impatiently; only thirty minutes left in the game.

The kickoff went out of bounds behind the end zone so the Raptors’ offense would start at their own twenty-yard line. Coach Morrison’s adjustments appeared to work. The Vipers’ defense came with a variety of exotic coverages and disguised blitz packages, which made the Raptors’ quarterback hold the ball a few more seconds during each play. This allowed the Vipers’ pass rushers to get to him. It was one of their outside linebackers who came in on a delayed blitz, which blindsided the quarterback and gave the Vipers their first sack of the game.

The Vipers’ new defensive looks confused the Raptors and they were only able to advance seven yards before they were forced to punt. This fired up the entire Vipers team, and high-fives and fist pumps ruled the sidelines.

Adrenaline zipped through him as Natron inserted his mouth guard and ran out onto the field. The first play was a pass play and Natron didn’t like what he saw. The Raptors’ defense was showing a two high safety zone look, with man coverage underneath. Not a traditional double team, but it still meant that Natron would be fighting not only the cornerback Isaac, but the safety as well.

After one unsuccessful play, Isaac bumped into Natron’s shoulder and hissed under his breath, “All day long, sucka. All day long.”

The old Natron would have taken the bait and started jawing right back at Isaac, but instead Natron took a deep breath and ignored him. He had enough to focus on without letting Isaac into his head.

As the series progressed, Natron couldn’t help but notice the strong safety shadowing his every move. Even when he beat Isaac, the safety was right there playing him deep. Between the two defenders and with him being unable to make sharp cuts, Natron just couldn’t get open. To make things worse, Clay was unable to get the ball to any of the other receivers. On third down with ten yards to go, Clay was sacked and the Vipers were forced to punt. Walking toward the sidelines, Natron could feel his frustration mounting.

The third quarter had become a defensive battle, with both teams stopping the opposing team’s offense on each possession. Natron and the passing game had been shut down completely and the team had to find some answers. When the Vipers were on offense, the only thing they could do was run the ball. Time to play smash mouth football. Near the middle of the third quarter, the Vipers’ running game marched the ball down the field and scored a touchdown, making the score 28-21.

The Vipers’ defense had been able to keep the Raptors’ offensive line off balance with their new looks, but on the last possession of the quarter, the Raptors kicked a field goal, ending the third quarter with the score Vipers 28, Raptors 24.

The final quarter of the Super Bowl began with the Raptors kicking off to the Vipers. With the Vipers unable to move the ball, they had to turn around and punt it back to the Raptors. On the next play, the Raptors’ best receiver got a step on the defender covering him. The receiver caught the ball and made a sharp cut, causing his defender to slip, and he was off to the races. No other defenders were anywhere close, and the Raptors’ receiver ran sixty-seven yards all the way to the end zone. With momentum on their side, the Raptors made a two-point conversion, putting the Raptors ahead 32-28 early in the fourth quarter.

As they watched the Raptors’ sidelines erupt, the Vipers team felt the air being let out of their tires. Natron’s heart sank, but he jumped up and lifted his knees to his chest one at a time. He had to keep stretching out his knees, keep them warmed up. This was no time to give up, gotta keep fighting.
Always keep fighting.

The game continued to play out as a defensive standoff between the two teams. Natron had noticed that since the Vipers were relying so heavily on their running game, the safety who had been double-teaming Stalcup had moved up closer to the linebackers to help stop the run. This might bode well for their passing game and soon the Vipers’ offense began to come alive.

Now that Marvin Stalcup was in single coverage, he started to gain a step on his defender. Clay recognized this and let the ball fly Stalcup’s way. Stalcup scooped it out of the air and made a gorgeous catch, netting the Vipers a fifteen-yard gain and a first down.

On his side of the field Natron was still double covered, but Stalcup made another catch, this time for twenty yards. Frustration welled up inside Natron’s chest. He wished he were more of a team player, and he was happy to see their team moving the ball down the field, but he couldn’t help but wish
he
had the chance to make a big play.

With less than two minutes to go, the Vipers were down by four points 28 to 34, and the clock was running. The Vipers needed a touchdown to win. A field goal wasn’t going to help them. The fans were on the edge of their seats, and Natron imagined Carmen nervously biting her nails.

A play action pass from Clay to the tight end brought the ball to the eighteen-yard line, and with twenty seconds left, Coach Morrison took his last time out.

On the sidelines, Coach was laying out a pass play designed for Stalcup, but on the last two plays, Stalcup’s man had beaten him with perfect coverage.

“Coach, if Clay throws that ball up high, I can go get it and I promise you I will come down with it.”

Coach Morrison gave Natron a dismissive glance and continued drawing up the play.

Clay interjected, “He can, Coach. I’ve seen him. He’s much stronger than before.”

Coach shrugged and grumbled, “Fine. We’re running a three receiver set with two extra tackles at the tight end positions for maximum protection. They are going to blitz. Natron, Stalcup, you run a crossing pattern.” He showed them on the board what he wanted. Natron and Marvin locked eyes, and Natron knew his own gaze held the same intensity that he saw mirrored in Marvin’s eyes. They both wanted to go old school, the toughest man wins.

Wiping everything else from his mind, the frustration, his envy of Marvin’s success this season, his doubts about his own ability—Natron erased them all as he strode purposefully back out onto the field. All he could do now was his job. And he would do it to the best of his ability.

The ball was snapped and Natron pounded down the field. He and Stalcup were to run a deep crossing route at the five-yard line. As he ran to the spot where they were to cross, he saw Stalcup and the safety who had been double covering Natron collide. Both players went down, but Natron stayed on course.

Out of the corner of his eye he could see the cornerback who’d been covering Stalcup. The guy was coming for him, and he sensed Isaac’s presence with him step for step. As he reached the end zone, he saw Clay’s pass spiraling hard toward him. Clay had thrown a bullet in order to try to fit the pass into such a tight window. Natron knew the third receiver would have trouble shaking his defender and with Marvin going down, the only real option the quarterback had was to throw it hard into double coverage and pray Natron would catch it.

As his feet left the ground, Natron visualized where the ball was heading and he knew he would catch it. What he hadn’t counted on were the hands of two other players also getting in the mix.

With the focus of a surgeon, he plucked the incoming football out of the air with both hands and willed himself to hold on. He felt the hands of the other cornerback batting at the ball trying to knock it away, but he held on. Then Isaac ripped at the ball as he bumped the lower half of Natron’s body out from under him, trying desperately to knock the ball loose. Natron flipped backwards and as he rotated in the air, he brought the football into his chest and held on with everything he had.

The next thing he knew he was at the bottom of a pile-up. The referees stood watching as they pulled the two bodies off of him. When Isaac got up, the world could see Natron, lying on his back at the bottom of the pile in the end zone, ball tucked tight against his chest. The referee lifted his arms high in the air, signaling touchdown.

Natron smiled the biggest and most heartfelt smile of his life. He handed the ball to the ref and welcomed the barrage of Vipers who ran over and piled up on top of him. Underneath the pile, he laughed and whooped with his teammates. When they finally all got up, the Vipers kicked an extra point, which put them up over the Raptors 34-32.

With only seconds left on the clock, the kickoff was not returned and the Vipers defensive line shut down the Raptors on the next play as the clock ran out. Red, black, and white confetti fell from the sky as the Vipers ran onto the field, leaping and embracing each other, slapping each other on the back with congratulations. Players hugged, and Coach Morrison was doused in a green Gatorade bath.

As he headed for the sidelines, a group of reporters approached Natron. Before he could reach them, none other than Marvin Stalcup broke through the crowd and wrapped an arm around Natron’s neck. “We did it, bro!” Marvin exclaimed. “Super Bowl champs!”

Natron hugged Stalcup back. “Yep, we killed it out there.”

Stalcup shook his head. “I knew when you came back, man… I knew we’d be unstoppable.”

“Thanks, man.” Natron bumped his fist against Stalcup’s and walked toward the cameras and reporters motioning for him. Somebody handed him a ‘Vipers Super Bowl Champions’ hat, which he plopped on top of his head.

“We’re not used to seeing you without all the hair,” one of the reporters said.

“Hey, I’m not used to it yet either. This hat feels sort of funny without it, but I’m not givin’ it back!” Natron joked with one of the cameramen.

“Natron, when you were going up for that last catch in the end zone, what was going through your mind?” another reporter asked.

Natron pursed his lips, considering his answer. “Nothing except doing my job. My job is to catch that ball and that’s what I did.”

“But coming back from that injury, I mean, this is your first game back. How did you do it?”

Natron sighed. “I gotta tell you—it was difficult. It’s been harder than anything I’ve ever done in my life. Nobody thought I could do it… Well, nobody except maybe my girl, she kept me goin’.”

“Your girl? So Natron, are you and Carmen back together? Even after the tabloid reports that you were cheating?” a short, slimy-looking reporter asked.

Natron waved the question away. “Y’all don’t believe everything you read. Next question.”

After a few more questions, Natron was escorted by security into the locker room where champagne was flowing freely, mostly all over the players. Handshakes and hell-yeahs were exchanged all around and Natron felt like he was on top of the world.

As he opened his locker to change, he checked his phone. There was a single text message from Carmen.

Congratulations, Daddy. I knew you could do it
.

Tears sprung up in his eyes and he brushed them back, but he took a moment to stare into his locker and take in the emotion that welled up inside him. In his entire life he’d never felt so full, so complete, so proud.

Natron had gone from being a great football player to being a person who’d lost everything. Over the course of the season he’d lost his health, and with that his autonomy, the majority of his income, and the girl he loved. He’d gone from the top of his game to being out of the game. Now he stood at the pinnacle of football, and he’d done it all with hard work and fortitude, things that were foreign to him only months before. In the past Natron let things come easily to him. He’d never had to work for his success, not really. But this injury had taught him how to dig deep and find the strength within himself to succeed.

One of the coaches tapped him on the shoulder, interrupting his reverie.

“Yo, man, whassup?” Natron folded the shorter man in a bear hug and lifted him up off the floor. “We’re the champs!”

“That’s right, and you’re the MVP. C’mon. The owner of the team and the commissioner are waiting for you.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Carmen arrived at Gustav’s gallery at six o’clock on the nose, just as the gallery owner had asked her to. She glanced at her phone and saw that she was on time, but the place looked closed. Perhaps she had gotten the date wrong. Gustav had told her that he wanted her to attend a special opening, something about it being a good move for her future. Carmen had agreed. Gustav had done so much for her career—she wouldn’t deny him any request within reason.

A light flipped on inside the gallery so she knocked on the door. Someone was there, now if she could only get their attention.

To her surprise, the person who came to the door was Natron. She’d thought he was still on his Super Bowl MVP media tour. It had been less than a week since the Vipers’ big win and he’d been asked to guest everywhere from the
Late Show
to the
Today Show
to
Saturday Night Live
. He wasn’t due to be back until next week, but here he was looking dapper in a grey pinstripe suit and a pink tie. What was going on? Natron rarely got so gussied up.

Natron used a key to open the glass front doors of the gallery. “Hey, babygirl. I’ve missed you.” He ushered her into the gallery, then into his arms.

His masculine cologne tickled her nose and she immediately felt a wanton throbbing between her legs, her brain associating his scent with her own arousal. She pulled him closer, reveling in the pure joy she felt just being in his arms.