Cooper
Good. We play better when we’re horny.
Nico
White is giving me the side eye
Cooper
No shit. You’re not supposed to be on your phone. Get off of it.
Cooper
And go out there and run your ass off.
Cooper watched the game from the sidelines, spending half of the third quarter with his hand partially covering his mouth. He stood sandwiched between the offensive coordinator, Milo Bates, and Jensen Fuller.
Bates barked orders into his microphone, directing Nico into position for a throwing play, but the rookie looked to Cooper for approval to do something else. Nico didn’t get it as Cooper shook his head. The play-callers werein control of the game, but Nico had the prerogative as the quarterback to ultimately make the call.
The right call was to pretend to make a passing play and then run straight up the center with the oversized tight end, Blake Dawson, blocking for him.
Nico shouted orders to the team with secret codes from the playbook. It sounded like nonsense to most, but Cooper understood exactly what was happening. The offense lined up into formation for a pass play, but Nico pointed to Blake Dawson and wagged his finger.
The run was set.
Nico took the ball, took three steps back and went over his read options.
As Cooper predicted, Green Bay did a perfect job locking down receivers.
Nico nodded towards Dawson, and the two of them tore through the center with Dawson blocking.
Nico ran his ass off.
Ran straight into the end zone, scoring a touchdown and taking the lead for the team.
With a little less than two minutes left in the game, the Cobras led Green Bay by five points.
Cooper had played enough games to know that inevitably the impossible would happen. Nothing in football was guaranteed until the last second on the clock. On one hand, he prayed Nico could finish the game with an upset. On the other hand, it had been two years since Cooper had bottomed and he wasslightly regretting the bet he made in the heat of the moment.
But Cooper understood bets were sacred.
The center snapped the ball to Nico.
Nico shifted backwards, looked to his right, looked to his left.
Cooper saw it coming before the rookie did.
The defensive end for Green Bay tore through the pocket, sacking Nico.
The rookie didn’t stand up fast enough.
Instead, he rolled on the ground and punched his fist into the turf.
The medical team took to the field, running to meet the injured rookie.
Cooper had seen enough injuries and had enough of his own. His heart sank, realizing the most likely scenario playing out before him was a torn ACL. By the time Nico was carted off the field, Cooper knew this to be true.
The cart stopped at the end of the tunnel, allowing a brief moment for Cooper to catch up to Nico.
