Page 3 of After the Snap

The second analyst circles my feet in yellow as the pocket collapses around the version of me trapped on the screen. She freezes the footage after the left tackle loses his block, then draws another line toward the receiver breaking open downfield as though the two seconds between those moments didn’t contain three hundred pounds of defensive lineman driving toward my ribs.

“Make sure to look at the temporary housing and hotel options. I can have someone look for a furnished rental if you’d rather have more privacy.”

“Coach Quinn already offered the temporary housing.”

“Good. Take it for the first week and decide once you’re there. You don’t need to choose where you’re living before you’ve even seen the city.”

On the television, the analyst advances the footage one frame at a time until the ball leaves my hand late and lands in the arms of a defender. I already know the ending.

“Are you watching the coverage?” Graham asks.

“No.”

I turn away from the television, but the commentary follows me toward the kitchen.

“There were already concerns about Duvall’s processing speed and mobility last season. Charlotte clearly believes a change of system can help, but he’s no longer walking into a situation where the starting job belongs to him.”

“Quinn said I have to earn my spot,” I tell Graham, trying and failing to block out the television.

“That’s the correct answer.”

“It’s also a convenient one.”

“It would be more convenient for him to promise you the job, let you repeat it at the press conference, and deal with the locker room afterward. He didn’t do that because he’s trying to build trust with the players already there.”

Graham’s defense of Coach Quinn should irritate me, but it confirms the reason I agreed to report Friday. Quinn probably didn’t tell their current quarterback to trust the competition while quietly assuring me the result had already been decided. He offered both of us the same thing.

“What did Charlotte give up?”

“You already know.” Graham pauses long enough to acknowledge the lie without calling me on it. “A conditional fourth that becomes a third, based on playing time.”

Graham knows what teams once offered for the right to draft me. He stood beside my father while the commissioner called my name, close enough to hear Dad tell anyone who would listen that the league had finally recognized what he had spent years creating. Dad has been gone for four years, but I can still remember how proud he looked that night.

Football was always the language we understood best together. Dad chose trainers, arranged camps, approved interviews, and spent years making sure I never wasted an opportunity he believed I was lucky enough to have. At some point, helping me succeed became tangled with having a say in how I succeeded, until my success felt more like the family business than something that belonged only to me.

“Houston wanted the cleanest deal available, and Charlotte wanted to keep your current contract intact. That matters more than the draft compensation.”

“It only matters to my bank account.”

“It also means they didn’t ask you to take a pay cut before you walked through the door.”

“They can do that next year if I don’t play.”

“They can do a lot of things next year. Right now, Patrick Quinn convinced his front office to trade for you and carry your contract because he believes you can help them.”

The television changes, replacing game footage with a photograph from an awards dinner two years ago. Sloane stands beside me in a silver dress, one hand wrapped around my arm while her engagement ring catches the camera flash. Her smile is flawless because she knew where every photographer would be before we arrived. The caption beneath us appears before the analyst speaks.

DUVALL’S FALL FROM GRACE CONTINUES AFTER PUBLIC BREAKUP

My attention narrows until Graham’s voice becomes another sound competing with the television. “Media availability is Friday afternoon. Charlotte’s communications director wants to keep it brief, but they need you to take questions.”

“I told Quinn I’m not doing it.”

“And he told you that you are.”

“He said I only have to show up.”

“That was him being decent, not releasing you from the responsibilities written into your contract.”