Blog # 3: Caught up in the Moment

The game is on the line and there’re only a few seconds left in the fourth quarter.  The quarterback takes the snap and drops back. He rolls out to my side threatening to pass.  There I am, running as fast as i can manage, keeping myself perfectly positioned on the inside of the target receiver.  I don’t allow more than a few inches distance between our bodies as he cuts left, fakes a stop, then accelerates full speed down field.  The quarter back hurls the ball toward us.  If this ball is caught by the receiver they will win the game. Fighting off the pressure of countless eyes and a team of heavily invested players and coaches I narrow my focus to the task at hand.  The moment approaches as the ball begins to fall toward us.  Noticing the receiver’s eyes lift toward the sky to find the ball, I watch more carefully. While still running full speed and keeping myself positioned, I wait for the exact instant when the angle of his stare has lowered enough to indicate that the ball is close.  Now. I turn my head, completely losing sight of the receiver, trusting my judgment.  I look for the ball and find it just a few feet away.  The stadium lights are glaring and my warm breath is billowing, smoke like, into the cold night air.  I jump and raise my arms to get between the speeding ball and the hands of the receiver.  The timing has to be perfect, the amount of thrust must lift me to just the right height and the ball must hit my hands in precisely the right location allowing me to stop it’s rotation and it’s course.  Then it happens; the ball hits my fingers. I flex my sore hands and feel the spin absorb into my skin.  The leather has just enough grip that I control the ball and stop it’s forward motion bringing it to a stop in my grasp. Success. I have intercepted the ball and stopped the other team from scoring.  We win the game 21-17! Euphoria.  It all flashes back.  Weeks of struggling under hundreds of pounds in the squat rack to strengthen my legs, hours of studying the plays of the other team to help estimate where on the 52 yard wide field that receiver might run, years of watching my diet and counting carbs to ensure the optimum nutrition to grow the muscles and tendons I need to control and protect my skeleton, it all comes together to one indescribable and unmatchable satisfaction and realization.  I have done it.  I have mastered the art and controlled the outcome of the game! Now onto game two!