Chereads / The Bench Warmer / Chapter 12 - Chapter 11: First Play

Chapter 12 - Chapter 11: First Play

It was rough, as I did in fact feel quite a bit worn out, all at the exact same time as well, as it felt like my body was just weak for some odd reason or another. Though I suppose that it was not all too odd at the exact same time as well, as I knew that I had not got all too much sleep, nor was it the best of sleep over the past few days, due to the fact that I had been staying up late, and I had been training hard for this upcoming season of football, all at the exact same time as well, as it had put quite a bit of some stress on me never the less, as I knew that it was all in my head at this point in time.

I shook off all of those thoughts from my head never the less, as I knew that I had to stay strong no matter what, all at the exact same time as well, as I felt quite a bit worn out as it was already, if I was not going to lie to my self, and we had not even started practice just yet, and I was still yet to take my first few hits, all at the exact same time as well, too.

I gulped at the thought of that for some reason, even though I knew damn well that I had been playing football for many years, and I had taken plenty of hits in the past any ways, so it really was not all too much to bother me at the exact same time as well, as I blinked my eyes a few times, and I then shook my head too, so that I could shake out all of those thoughts from my head, as I knew that I just had to keep my focus on the fact that I knew that a lot of scouts were about to be watching me, all at the exact same time as well.

I knew that they all had their eyes on me right now, as I was sure that if I did in fact mess up, than it meant that my ranking was going to go down the shitters, and it scared me to even think on that, all at the exact same time as well, as I then all of the sudden got my focus off of all of those thoughts, at least to the best of my ability, as I had already seen a bunch of scouts show up as it was already, as I was already quite a bit scared at the exact same time as well, as I was not all too sure as to just what it was that I should do, not what it was that I was even doing right at this very moment in time any ways.

It then hit me just what it was that I was doing, as I did my best to try to calm my self down a bit, all at the exact same time as well, as I knew that I really did not need to be as freaked out as I was right now, as I then shook off all of those thoughts, as I could see that a lot of the scouts were already there, and it kind of felt like all of the eyes were on me right now, even though I knew that they were not.

A lot of them were still setting them selves up, and a lot of them were still getting ready. I also knew that I was not the only star athlete that was here at the exact same time too, as I knew that I had to calm my self down quite a bit, as I knew that I should not be as freaked out as I was right now, as I then all of the sudden shook my head once again, as I kept on stretching my legs, that way I did not tear a muscle in the scrimmage, as I knew that was some thing that I needed to be more worried about, out of any thing.

As I got my eyes off of the scouts, it seemed to relax me, as I felt a lot better now that I knew that I did not have my focus on them at all any more, as I let out quite a bit of a rough sigh, as I wish some times that I could be like some of the other kids, and not be a star athlete, as I knew that in the academics section, I was good as it was already, as I knew that I could practically do what ever it was that I felt like doing in the end, all at the exact same time too.

I smiled a bit to my self, as those kind of thoughts seemed to please me all at the exact same time as well, as I then all of the sudden nodded to my self, all at once, and I then lifted my self up, all at the exact same time too, as soon as I heard the whistle, calling every one together so that the coach could talk to us all, all at the exact same time as well, as I then all of the sudden turned my head over to the middle of the field, were I could see the head coach talking to his assistances at the exact same time as well.

I wondered just what it was that they were even talking about right now, as it did not seem like they were nearly as bothered as I, or the rest of the players that were on the team were right now for some odd reason or another, though I suppose that they were not the ones that were being scouts at the exact same time too, so there really was not all too much that they really even needed to be worried about right at this very moment in time, in the very first place any ways.

I rolled my eyes a bit to my self, as I could see that the scouts were sitting down on the benches not all too far away from me, all at the exact same time too, as I shivered at the thoughts that they were now all of the sudden staring at me, all at the exact same time too, as I could see that a few of them were writing stuff down on a good old fashioned notebook, or some were just writing some stuff down on their phones right now.

Hell, for all I know, they could be just like the coaches seemed to be right now, as they might not be all too worried about this at all right now, all at the exact same time as well, as I rolled my eyes a bit to my self, as I was sure that they were using the time on their phones for some thing important, as I really had a lot of doubt that they were playing any sort of games on their phone right now, nor were they more than likely texting any one.

If they were texting any one, than they were more than likely texting the head coach of the team, and letting them know that they had made it here safely, all at the exact same time as well. I blinked my eyes a bit, as I then got my focus off of them, and all of those thoughts, all at the exact same time as well, as I knew that was not what it was that I needed to be worried about at all right now, as I then nodded a bit to my self, all at the exact same time as well, as I then joined up with the rest of my team, at the front of the field, all at the exact same time as well.

As I began to walk over, I began to get a bit of a chill that went down my spine, all at the exact same time as well, which did in fact freak me out quite a bit, as it felt like some one was staring at me right at this very moment in time. I knew that there were in fact some people that were staring at me, which were the scouts, I was quite sure if, but that was not what it was that really freaked me out all too much, if I was going to be for real with my self.

It seemed like some one was staring at me with a bit of some malice, as if they had some sort of evil intent for me, all at the exact same time as well, as I did my best to try to stay calm, as I breathed in quite a bit to my self, all at the exact same time too, as I did my best to try not to freak out all too much over all of that, as I was sure that I was simply just over thinking all of this, and I was sure that I was going to be fine, all at the exact same time as well.

As I shook off all of those thoughts, I then got my eyes on the coach, and I got my focus on him instead, as I was in fact quite a bit interested in just what it was that he was about to tell the entire team of what seemed to be nearly a hundred players all around me, all at the exact same time too, as I knew that about half of them were going to get cut all at the exact same time too.

I was sure that was what a lot of them were worried about a lot more than the fact that there were a bunch of scouts that were watching us right now, as I was sure that a bunch of them simply just wanted to make it on the team, all at the exact same time too, as I cracked a bit of a grin, and I cracked quite a bit of a smile on my face, as I was at least glad that I was not the only one who was freaked out right now.

I felt quite a bit bad for it, as I knew that a lot of them were worried about the fact that they might get cut, as I knew that it would mean that it was the end of their career, right before it even had the chance to start, all at the exact same time too, as I then blinked my eyes a few times, and I then got my focus off of those thoughts instead, as I instead got my focus on the fact that the coach was starting to speak to us all right at this very moment in time, all at the exact same time as well, as I just stood there and stared at him with a bit of a blank look on my face.

I was glad to see that the coach was not looking at me at all right now, as it kind of felt like he always just seemed to stare at me, as he always thought of me as the savior of the team, all at the exact same time as well. I shook my head, and I rolled my eyes, as I then got my focus off of all of that, all at the exact same time too, as I instead got my focus back on the fact that he was in fact talking to us all right now, as I saw that he nodded to us all, to make sure that each and every one of us was paying attention to him right now.

Of course, we were all paying attention to him right now, as I was sure that every one knew that this was important right now, and that this was some thing that was not to be joked about at all, all at the exact same time as well, as I then got went ahead and nodded back to him, such as I saw the rest of the team starting to do, all at the exact same time as well, never the less.

Once the coach saw that every one was in fact doing as such a thing, all at once as well, I saw that it did in fact make him feel quite a bit better, none the less, as he went ahead and continued to speak to us all, as I did in fact begin to start to listen as to just what it was that he even had to say to all of us that were on the team right now, in the very first place any ways.

"Alright every one... Scrimmage is starting right now, so I want you all to be on your A game... Kickers, and punters you will practice on the other field, so you can go ahead and go that way..." He said, as he pointed to the much smaller field that was not all too far away, so that they could go ahead and start heading that way.

I saw that a few people began to head away from the pack, all at the exact same time as well, as I really was not all too worried about the fact that we had any sort of kickers, or any sort of punters right now, as I knew that we usually did not really need them besides of kickoffs, as we usually went for 2 and we usually scored damn near every possession if it was not a pick by our terrible Quarterback.

Luckily enough though, I knew that we had some new Quarterbacks coming in, all at the exact same time too, which was in fact some thing for me to be excited about, all at the exact same time too, as I then all of the sudden cracked quite a bit of a smile on my face, as I knew that it was going to be a great season for me none the less, as I knew that we could not get a Quarterback any worse than the one that we had last year, surely right?

I gulped a bit to my self, as I rolled my eyes all at the exact same time as well, as I then all of the sudden saw that the coordinators, all at the exact same time as well, seemed to be stepping in all of the sudden, all at the exact same time as well, as I then all of the sudden got my focus on them, as I realized as to just what it was that was going on right at this very moment in time.

It was clear that the coach was splitting us off in to 2 different groups right now, which had me a little bit lost, as I had thought that the coach would want to be the one to call the plays, all at the exact same time as well, unless he had finally accepted the fact that he knew that he was a terrible play caller, all at the exact same time as well, which made me roll my eyes a bit, as I muffled up a bit of a laugh, all at the exact same time too, as I knew that I did not want the entire team looking at me right now, as well.

I suppose if I thought more on it, than it simply made sense that the head coach was not going to be the one that was going to be calling the plays, due to the fact that it would mean that he would have to call the plays for the defense and the offense, and it would be a little bit biased if he was going to do as such a thing, all at the exact same time as well, never the less.

I knew that the coach knew as to just what it was that he was doing, and that there was nothing at all that I should be worried about that for, all at the exact same time too. I knew that in some sort of aspects, he actually was a decent coach, but I also knew that he was a terrible play caller, all at the exact same time too, and he relied on his star players far too much, all at the exact same time as well, as that was in fact some thing that I had come to find out from last year, as I was always worn out, and beaten up after every single game never the less.

I breathed in quite a bit to my self, all at the exact same time as well, as I knew that was not where it was that my thoughts should be on right at this very moment in time, as I got my focus on the fact that the Coach Strauss was starting to speak up to all of the players that were at mid field right at this very moment in time, as I blinked my eyes a few times, as I saw that he did just like coach, nod to the entire team, all at the exact same time too.

Once I had seen him do that, I saw that just as it had happened last time, that the entire team went ahead and nodded back to him, a lot faster than they had done last time, all at the exact same time too, as I was still a little bit lost by all of it, and all that was even going on right at this very moment in time, in the very first place any ways, never the less. I went ahead and nodded back to him shortly, after that, all at the exact same time too, as I saw that he much unlike the head coach, had his eyes right on me.

I gulped a bit of some spit down my throat, all at the exact same time as well, as I was not all too sure as to just why it was that he felt like he should be looking at me right now, but once it was that he had seen me nod at the very least, he did in fact begin to start to talk to every one, as I saw that he then all of the sudden looked away from me thankfully. I let out a bit of a soft and relieved sigh, as I got my focus off of just why it was that he might have been staring at me, as I was sure that it was really nothing at all, as I then began to start to listen as to just what it was that he even had to say to all of us in the very first place any ways, none the less.

"Alright every one... Let's go and split off in to defense and offense, we will call plays from there..." He said to all of us, as it was to no such sort of surprise to me at all, as much as it seemed to be for the rest of the team, as to just what it was that he had even said never the less, as I blinked my eyes a few times, as I had known that was going to be the case, and I had seen it coming, all at the exact same time too.

The team was looking all at each other for quite a bit of some time, but once every one seemed to calm down, all at the exact same time too, every one then all of the sudden began to split in to separate sides of the field, so that we could hear the play calls. I let out a bit of a soft sigh of relief, all at the exact same time as well, as it kind of felt like a lot of stress, and a lot of tension was taken off my back as soon as that had happened, all at the exact same time as well, as I then all of the sudden nodded to my self, all at the exact same time as well, none the less.

I blinked my eyes a few times, as I was still a little bit lost, as I kind of felt like I should take the lead for everyone, as after all, me and Ray were in fact the team captains on the offense after all, but I just did not do as such a thing for some odd reason or another, even though I knew damn well that I was supposed to be a leader with a role such as a team captain, all at the exact same time as well.

This was not a game at all, and I was sure that the scouts really were not going in to that much detail with me never the less, as I let out quite a bit of a soft sigh to my self, all at the exact same time too, as I did my best to get my focus off of all of those thoughts all at once, as I instead got my focus on the fact that the entire team had all of the sudden just seemed to stop, all at the exact same time as well.

I was a little bit lost as to just what it was that was going on right at this very moment in time, so that was when I took the effort to take the lead for every one, all at the exact same time too, as I knew that I was used to being a leader, all at the exact same time as well, so it did not bother me at all right now that was what it was that I was about to have to go and do right now, as I then out quite a bit of a heavy sigh to my self, as I then all of the sudden nodded to my self as I walked in front of the entire offense, all at the exact same time as well.

Come to think of it, besides when we were heading down the tunnel, to get ready to go on the field, I really was not the one that was in front of the entire team, all at the exact same time too, as usually I knew that when we were on the field, it usually was the offensive line that was in the front, as they were the ones that protected the entire team, all at the exact same time too.

I knew that I didn't really have the offensive line to help me, such as the Quarterback did how ever, as I knew that once I was past the line of scrimmage, it was all just open field from there, on me, all at the exact same time too, as I let out quite a bit of a heavy sigh to my self, all at the exact same time too, as I then all of the sudden got my focus off of all of those thoughts never the less.

I blinked my eyes a few times, as I knew that I had a few rough hits that were targeted on me as well, as the refs had seen it, and they had called in them selves none the less, as even if the refs were not on my side, it was clear that they did not want to see a player like me get injured, when I knew that I had some potential that was off the charts, and so did they never the less.

I then shook my head, as I then got my focus off of all of those thoughts all at the exact same time too, as I then all of the sudden began to hear the voice of some one begin to start to speak up, all at the exact same time as well, as I was in fact quite a bit lost as to just what it was that was even going on right at this very moment in time, in the very first place any ways, as I turned my head over to just who it was that was even speaking right now.

I blinked my eyes a few times, as I saw that to my own dismay, and to my own surprise, all at the exact same time as well, that the person that had just stepped up to speak, was none other than the new Quarterback to our team, Samuel Cornell, all at the exact same time as well, as it was clear that the kid already viewed him self as the leader of the team, just based off of the look that I saw on his face, as it was clear that the kid had a very high ego.

I rolled my eyes a bit to my self, as I got my focus off of all of those thoughts, as I felt like it should not matter all too much to me, so long as the kid was at the very least, a good QuarterBack, none the less. I blinked my eyes a few times, as I then all of the sudden got my focus on the thoughts instead, that had to do with the fact that I knew that I had to at least get my focus on just what it was that he was saying to coach Strauss right now.

Based off of the grin that I saw on his face, it did not seem to look to be any thing all too good, but at the exact same time too, I felt like I should not at all be all too worried about all of that right at this very moment in time, in the very first place any ways, as I just kept my focus on the kid, as I nodded a bit to my self, all at the exact same time too, as I then began to listen as to just what it was that the kid had to say to the coach in the very first place any ways, never the less.

"So... How are we going to do this? We have like 50 people on this side... What exactly are we going to be doing?" He asked the coach, as I then got my focus off of the fact that the kid clearly had a very high ego, all at the exact same time too, as I then all of the sudden began to start to realize, all at the exact same time too, that the kid had actually asked a fairly good question that not even I had thought on my self just yet.

I felt like a bit of an idiot, as I was not all too sure as to just what it was that I was even thinking in the very first place any ways, as I blinked my eyes a few times, and I then all of the sudden nodded to my self instead, as I then began to start to look over to Coach Strauss, all at the exact same time as well, as I saw that he had quite a bit of a blank look on his face at the exact same time too, for some odd reason or another.

I tilted my head, as I was a little bit lost as to just what it was that was even going on with him at all right now, as it seemed like he was on a different planet right now, if I was not going to lie to my self, as it did not seem like he had his focus at all on the scrimmage of football that we were about to go and play, all at the exact same time too, as I blinked my eyes a few times, and I then got my focus on the fact that the rest of the team seemed to have the exact same worries that Samuel did.

Though, if I had to assume, all at the exact same time too, than I had to guess a bit to my self that Samuel did not seem to be all too worried at all, all at the exact same time too, as it seemed more like to me, none the less, that he just wanted to know just how much he was even going it be on the field in the very first place any ways. I rolled my eyes a bit to my self, as that did not really seem to be all too much of a good leader to me, if I was not going to lie to my self either.

I felt like he and our actually head coach were going to be butting heads on the play calls a lot this season, all at the exact same time as well, as I then began to breath in quite a bit to my self, as I did my best to try not to worry about all of that how ever, as I knew that as long as I did not think on it, than it did not have to worry me all too much. So long as Samuel threw the ball my way as much as he could, than I felt like we would feed off of each other quite a bit well, all at the exact same time too.

I blinked my eyes a few times, as I then got my focus off of all of the thoughts instead, as to the fact that Coach Strauss all of the sudden had lifted his hand up, to get the entire team to shut up, as it was clear that he was a little bit annoyed with the team right now, which I could not blame him for, as a lot of the players were clearly talking up quite a bit loud right now, as it was clear that it was messing up the coaches focus, all at the exact same time too, as I let out a bit of a soft sigh to my self, as I then dipped my head a bit low to the ground for some odd reason or another.

I was not all too sure as to just what it was that I was thinking, as I was not a part of this mayhem at all, even though I kind of felt like I was. I felt like as a team captain, all at the exact same time too, that I should step in and do some thing never the less, to try to get the team to shut up, all at the exact same time as well, but how ever, thankfully enough for me, what ever it was that the coach had done, all at the exact same time too, was clearly enough to get the team to shut their mouths up, all at the exact same time too.

I was quite a bit glad for it never the less, as it was clear to me at the exact same time too, that it was not only messing up Coach Strauss, but it was also messing me up, all at the exact same time too, as I then got my focus on the thoughts that I knew that the coach was all of the sudden beginning to start to speak up to the entire team, all at the exact same time too, as I then all of the sudden lifted my head up, and I then looked at the Coach right in to his eyes, even though I saw that his eyes were clearly not on me at all right now.

It did not bother me all too much how ever, luckily enough for me, as I then all of the sudden began to breath in quite a bit to my self, as I stared at the Coach, doing my best to get my focus off of every thing else that was going on around me right now, as I knew that was how it was that my father had taught me how to be, if I was in fact going to be a star athlete, all at the exact same time too, as I knew that I had to ignore the back ground noise, especially at an away game.

As those thoughts seemed to come in to my head, all at the exact same time as well, I then all of the sudden nodded a bit to my self, all at the exact same time too, once again, as I then instead got my focus back on to the fact that Coach Strauss was in fact speaking to the team right now, and I at the very least should have my focus on just what it was that he was saying, as it was in fact one of our coaches after all. I looked at him for just a few moments of time, as I then all of the sudden, all at the exact same time as well, then began to start to listen as to just what it was that he had to say to all of us in the very first place any ways, none the less.

"We are going to have 4 different teams, since we have 4 quarterbacks... There will be 3 Recievers, 1 Tight end, 5 offensive linemen, 1 running back, and 1 quarterback on every play... Every one gets a fair chance, so we will switch every single play, and the same will be for the defense..." He said to us, as I blinked my eyes a few times, as I was a little bit surprised, and quite a bit shocked by what it was that Coach Strauss had just said to us. It was for sure a lot different than it had been last year, as I could say that for certain, all at the exact same time as well, as I knew that last year it had been quite a bit of a mess as to just what it was that had been going on in the very first place any ways. It seemed to be quite a bit clear to me, that our head coach had done quite a bit of research in the long off-season all at the exact same time as well, which would make sense, as I knew that he was not an idiot, and he knew that he was not the best coach in the world, all at the exact same time too, as it was clear that he did not want to be fired. I did not blame him for it either, as we were in fact quite a bit school, all at the exact same time too. I let out quite a bit of a soft sigh to my self how ever, as I knew that I should not have my focus on all of those thoughts right now any ways, as I once again heard a lot of voices speaking all around me, but I once again did my best to try to ignore them. I instead got my focus back on to Coach Strauss, all at the exact same time too, as I then got my focus on the fact I knew that he was not done speaking just yet. I blinked my eyes a few times, as he then continued to speak to the team, as I listened just as I had been doing last time, all at the exact same time as well. "We start every drive at the 25 yard line... Like a normal game... 1st downs are 1 point, getting to mid field is 2... Scoring is 5... The defense gets points, 2 for forcing a fumble, 3 for fumble recovery, 5 for interception, 10 for stopping the team for getting to the end zone... Now, are you all ready to hear the first play?"