Slow Getting Up by Nate Jackson

Author:Nate Jackson [Jackson, Nate]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2013-09-17T04:00:00+00:00

Privately a few players grumble, but for the most part everyone stays silent. We know we don’t have a say in it. We felt the pressure weighing down on the building from the day Jay was drafted. It was the elephant in the room and it took a dump everywhere. We were stepping in elephant shit on our way out to practice every day. The media had JEN in their eyes every day; their every question was laced with it. The only thing that can equalize JEN is a story of what could be, not what is, because nostalgia is, in its way, an unwillingness to accept the present. That’s why they love Jay so much, because they haven’t had a chance yet to decide that he’s not John.

An NFL football team is not built to depend on one man. It is built to rely on one system. The men are temporary. The plan is permanent. The scouting department brings in the talent, and once they’re in that front door, they become cogs in a machine. Jake has never been benched in his life. Confronting the reality of the machine is something he hasn’t had to do until now. Franchise quarterbacks are the last bastion of sentimental aw-shucks football fairy tales. Former quarterbacks and quarterback coaches wear suits on television and tell football fans why the quarterback is all that really matters. But someday that quarterback will be thrown out with the trash. Eventually the lie reveals itself to everyone. Everyone except John.

Seattle comes to town for Jay’s first start. It’s to be his grand entrance against an inferior opponent: a perfect first game for a rookie quarterback.

But we lose 23–20. Jay’s play is understandably erratic. Jake’s demeanor is understandably aloof. Coach Shanahan has made his decision and there’s no turning back, come what may. But it’s the middle of the season and we’re used to a certain game-day vibe and style from our quarterback. It takes time for an offense to adjust to a new one.

First, the two of them throw very different footballs. Every quarterback gives a personality to the ball he throws. Each one is a snowflake. Wobble, spin, angle, trajectory, velocity, accuracy, timing: all unique to the thrower. This information is vital to the receiver. Know thy ball and ye shall catch thy ball. Some balls are misleading and tricky, come in at strange angles, fall like torpedoes, wobble and break. Some balls are pearls. Some are rainbows that shoot from the quarterback’s hand. The receiver’s hands are the pot of gold.

Jay’s ball came nose down with an aggressive spin. Jake’s was nose up and a little softer. Unless you catch it clean with your fingertips, the ball’s movement will determine its ricochet, which in turn determines how a receiver positions his body for a ball that’s coming in hot. Knowing where the ball will come down before the defender knows where it will come down is 90 percent of the battle as a receiver. If

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