Peak

Ch.1: Jimmy

My first real wake-up call was a year ago when I was a sophomore. It was fairly late in the season, only 1 more game until the playoffs to be exact.

I hadn't played at all my freshman year, and that year hadn't been significantly different. Unless we were killing the other team, I was a benchwarmer. For my best friend, Jimmy Adkins, the team was desperate for a halfback and he was their man.

Jimmy was an inspiration, more talent than some of the seniors even. He chose to be a leader as a sophomore. Every conditioning, whether it was optional or mandatory, he was there. It didn't matter how tired or short-winded he was, it was him who continually picked his team up. I've played with him for over ten years as never have I met someone with more passion and respect for the game than Jimmy. The parents loved him, the coaches admired him, the girls wanted him, and his teammates looked up to him. Maybe it was because he was destined for greatness, maybe it was because he stayed humble, whatever it was, everyone knew Jimmy had a future in football.

All season every game he had proven himself. Of all the players on the field, there was one name everyone was looking for: Adkins. To say he played a key role in our winning season is an understatement. We don't like to think about it, but had Jimmy been around for the playoffs we may have just gone straight to the top and carried a championship title under or belts.

We all knew we were in the playoffs, it's obvious when the team lost just two games. It was the last game of regular season, and spirits were high. Not that we expected to win or stepped onto the field unserious, we simply took advantage of the opportunity to enjoy ourselves.

The game was away: us, the Eastside Bighorns, and the opposing team, the McCormick Lions. Now this team was a joke, horrible record with an even worse reputation. They had commendable strength, but that's all they could do was hold us back until we eventually found the holes in their defense. That's when the points stacked up.

The score was 28-3 us when the third quarter just started. Every single one of us had McCormick figured out, every play, every movement, every pass was easily able to be predicted.

Jimmy had been covering the quarterback all night with no problem. It was neither his best game nor his worst, but he wore a smile the entire time. You could see the fire in his eyes from the top of the stands. Jumping, clapping, and slapping his teammates on the back, he lived that game as if it were the Superbowl and he knew the outcome was in his team's favor.

All week this game had been on his mind. Any chance that showed itself was used to talk about and what was going to happen; at lunch, before and after class, in the halls, everywhere.

I best remember Jimmy for the sparkle in his eye when he talked about football. Nothing else in the world mattered to him in those moments. It focused him and gave him such a sense of serenity as if God Himself was speaking to him and every word dripped with wisdom.

He said things like he was on top of the world for everyone to see him and his accomplishments.

"This is our time gentlemen. The calm before the storm!" He would say.

The game itself was cold and clear being in early November. The stars burned in the pitch black sky and the air was dry enough to chill down to the bone. McCormick's field was real grass and crudely torn up from the years of Friday nights. But the fans made an extraordinary appearance. Our entire side of the stands was solely red and gold and the student section roared with immense hype. Anyone there could say it was a perfect game on a perfect night.

Until the blitz. That single play in football that makes you question your judgement and reflexes and has the power to lead you on pure instinct.

Jimmy had no where to run to receive the ball that play, leaving him as a blocker. The match-up could be described as unfair, McCormick's guys easily fifty pounds heavier than Jimmy.