The Guy Named Harrison: Book One

10

Carrie finally got Harrison a live interview on ESPN. He'd been bugging her for a few days now. This afternoon they would be appearing on NFL Live. He would be bringing his buddy Jackson. Jackson was an eight year old leukemia survivor. He was an avid Panthers fan. Harrison was by far his favorite player. His wish from Make-A-Wish was to meet and spend a day with Harrison. When the organizers reached out to the Panthers organization, asking to set up Jackson's wish, Harrison immediately gave the yes and paid for everything so Jackson could still use his wish for something else.

She admired Harrison's love for giving back to his fans. He went ahead and asked Carrie if Jackson could join them for his interview. Jackson said watching Harrison play, and his interviews were a few of his favorite things to do.

Harrison got up very early this morning to workout, before heading to their practice facility to meet Jackson. His locker was temporarily moved to the end of the locker room so the Panthers could set up one for Jackson.

There was a sign above the locker room that said, 'Welcome Jackson!' Harrison entered to see a family surrounding the newly added locker. The Panthers owner Jerry Richardson was there, as well as coach Ron Rivera and two players, Cam Newton and Greg Olsen.

Carrie was there as well. She told him she was covering this even if her boss didn't like it. Nobody knew the two of them were a thing just yet. It wasn't something he really wanted to talk about at practice, especially with the rest of the media around. But Carrie was so different than the other media personnel. She didn't get right up in his face, or crowd around him. Carrie gave the players their space and watched from the side. She'd become such a part of the Panthers organization, sometimes the players forgot she was a writer.

Everyone was looking at the locker when Harrison walked up behind them. Then a lady he guessed was Jackson's mom, tapped him on the shoulder. Little Jackson spun around to see his idol standing right in front of him. He immediately covered his mouth with his hands as Harrison smiled and knelt down.

"It's nice to meet you Jackson."

"Hi Harrison!"

"Hello." He stood up. "Now, are you ready to practice with the guys and I?"

Jackson nodded as Harrison met his mom and dad. "Thank you," his mom told Harrison while they shook hands.

"No need to thank me. It's my pleasure to meet you and your wonderful Jackson."

Harrison made his way over to his locker. "Ready to suit up Jackson?"

Jackson's smile was enough to make Harrison's heart melt. The little boy was adorable. Jackson then did everything his idol did. First Harrison pulled his white practice jersey over his head. Then he laced up his new cleats. They were a prototype from Nike and all blue with Panther claw marks and their slogan 'keep pounding.'

When Jackson was ready, he strapped on his helmet. It was the newest model that was supposedly supposed to be better at preventing concussions. He also wore a tinted visor on his helmet.

Together he and Jackson made their way to the practice field. The entire afternoon, the two of them played catch, ran plenty of drills, and played a game of flag football with the rest of the team.

Then it was time for their interview with Carrie on live tv. She sat over on the sidelines behind a large ESPN desk, with several tv cameras pointed in her direction as they made their way over. Harrison took the far side of the desk while Jackson sat in between the couple.

"Jackson, this is Carrie."

She gave him a high five. "Nice to meet you."

Carrie took a moment to realize how much they looked alike. Harrison and Jackson had the same color brown hair, and they were both wearing white practice jerseys with Harrison's number 59. As they were waiting for the interview to begin, Harrison and Jackson both got miked.

Harrison didn't seem like he enjoyed the microphone. The wire was a bit uncomfortable. And the earpiece itched a lot. After a short wait, the interview began.

"Now we have Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, and their friend Jackson. Carrie," somebody said in the earpiece.

They were now on air. On live tv. In front of millions of people watching. "Thanks Jeff," Carrie answered. "I'm here in Charolette with Panthers linebacker Harrison Ford, and his new friend Jackson. Jackson spent the day with Harrison today. I'm assuming you had a lot of fun today, right Jackson?"

"Today was the best day of my life," he said, getting Harrison and Carrie to both smile.

"I saw you out on the practice field with Harrison today. What did you guys do together?"

"We played lots of catch, and we did a lot of training drills."

"We played flag football with the team," Harrison added.

"I can't believe I forgot about that."

"It's okay." Carrie then went to ask, "what was your favorite thing you did today?"

Jackson took a moment to think. "There were so many things. If I had to choose... let's see. Probably playing flag football with the whole team, or playing catch with Harrison."

"Sounds like fun. Now Harrison, preseason week 1 is only a week and a half away. Do you have any last minute preparations?"

He shook his head. "Just sticking to my schedule. We'll have four weeks to work the kinks out come the regular season."

"At the end of last season, you suffered your first concussion. With all the research being done about concussions, do you have any concerns about long term effects of the concussion?"

"No, not right now. I trust in our training staff and doctors and I'm not going to consider anything until someone tells me otherwise. For now, I just want to get back out there and play."

❺❾

The interview lasted another 15 minutes with Carrie going back and forth between Harrison and Jackson with questions. After the interview, Harrison said goodbye to Jackson.

He signed a football for him, as well as the helmet he wore today. Harrison even gave his family season tickets.

He gave Jackson a fist bump. "I had so much fun with you today. Thanks for coming. And I hope to see you at some games this year."

"I'm definitely coming. Right mom?"

His mother nodded and Jackson gave Harrison a hug. "Thank you Harrison."