"You ready?" Brent asked, his hand on my shoulder.
"I guess so," I said. "Do you seriously think we have a chance?"
"Of course I do!" he replied. "We're undefeated, remember?"
"Yeah, but we've only played two games," I argued. "They went to the Super Bowl last year and won. What chance do we have?"
"Hey, you've got to get that negativity out of your head," Brent said. "It isn't going to benefit you at all on the field."
He gripped my hand and looked me in the eyes.
"Lisa, you're the best player Tampa's ever seen. And today you're gonna go out there and show those damn Patriots who's the champion, yeah?"
I nodded. "Yeah."
"And here come the mighty, the majestic, the triumphant Tampa Bay Buccaneers!" The announcer's voice bellowed.
"Guess that's our cue, huh?" Brent chuckled.
Our team ran out onto the field to hear the cheering crowds. The feeling was always exhilarating. That adrenaline rush could never be matched by anything else in this world.
I looked over my shoulder to see Maisy giving Brent his usual cheek kiss, which made me chuckle. They were good together, truly. I couldn't imagine him being with anyone else.
"Lisa!"
I turned to see Rosé, who was shaking her pom-poms in tune with the other cheerleaders. She had a bright smile on her face, brighter than the sun. She gestured for me to come over to her, so I did.
"Take off your helmet," she said.
"What? Why?" I questioned.
"Will you just do it, please?" She placed her hands on her hips.
I did as she said and removed my helmet, letting my ponytail fall down completely. She stepped closer to me and lightly grasped my shoulder. I raised an eyebrow, but she only giggled. She kissed my cheek quickly, causing me to freeze in place. My eyes widened in surprise.
"What was that for?" I asked.
"Luck, hopefully." Rosé beamed, then smirked. "Now go out there and give 'em hell, okay?"
"As you wish."
I put my helmet back on and hurried off to join my fellow teammates, who were eagerly awaiting the coin toss results. Brent had a devilish look in his eye, which caused me to roll mine.
"What are you looking at?" I inquired.
"Nothing." He shrugged. "You're blushing a lot, you know."
"Shut up." I playfully pushed him, which he laughed at.
"For the record, you two would be really cute together," he added.
"We're not together." I shook my head.
He smirked. "But you want another cheek kiss, don't you?"
"Maybe I do, maybe I don't." I crossed my arms. "I'll never tell."
"You don't need to," he chuckled. "I've already got my answer."
The game began and soon enough, we were off. We were first on offense, which truly terrified me. The Patriots' defense was impeccable and could intercept passes like it was nothing. But I remembered what Brent said. No negative energy.
The new quarterback, who I soon learned was named Jake, was incredibly skilled and was able to pass the ball to me cleanly and effortlessly. He was also an extremely muscular guy and looked like he could squash me like an orange. I was both scared and impressed by him.
I was able to complete a few of his passes, landing us with a touchdown at the five-minute mark. Brent was truly elated at that and I could hear the crowd's cheers echoing the same message. But the game wasn't over yet. Not even close.
I walked over to the sidelines as the first quarter came to a close. I chugged a bottle of Gatorade, hoping it would replenish the energy I needed for the next quarter.
We returned to the field with rage. Sure, we weren't badly losing or anything, but it still angered me that the Patriots were right on our tails. A field goal against a touchdown wouldn't fare well in the long term.
Their linebackers glared at me as I made my way back into position. I could hear their snickers, which I had tried to ignore throughout the game, but it was close to impossible.
Number 70 scoffed. "So it's true. They do have a girl playing professional football."
"A girl?" Number 47 gawked. "Where?"
"Right in front of you, you dimwit!" Number 70 slapped the back of Number 47's helmet. "Should be easy, shouldn't it? She's as skinny as a twig."
"You're not all that either, you know."
"Shut up!" Number 70 fumed. "Bet you 20 bucks I can knock her over before 2nd down."
"You can pay me via PayPal," Number 47 snickered.
I chuckled. "You know I can hear you oafs, right?"
"God, she even sounds like a girl," Number 70 muttered.
I raised an eyebrow. "That's because I am one. And why should that concern you?"
"It doesn't really." He shrugged. "Just makes it easier to win."
"I wouldn't be so sure." I smirked.
"Hike!"
Quickly, I was able to get far away from the linebackers, since I was much faster than them. The benefit of a woman's figure in this game was agility. I ran down the field at a fast pace, steering clear of the defensive ends who were hot on my tail.
I signaled to Jake, who promptly threw the ball in my direction. I jumped in the air to catch it and landed on the ground smoothly. I began to run towards the end zone, but I knew I wouldn't be able to make it. The defensive ends were quick too. They tackled me at the 15-yard line, which I took as a success.
"1st down, Tampa Bay!"
I smirked hearing the announcer call out my victory. Jake walked towards me. He extended his arm out to me, which I gladly took. He pulled me up as if I were only a string. Damn, he was much stronger than I expected.
"Damn, you're much stronger than I expected," he said. "And faster too."
"Thanks." I smiled. "Glad I was able to make a good impression."
"You've impressed me a lot today," he chuckled. "Tampa could've used a player of your talents a lot sooner."
"Happy to help." I winked as I walked back to my position.
The whistle blew and I did what I always did. I ran free of the linebackers and defensive ends and made sure to get a clear shot for the end zone. The sooner we could get a touchdown, the better.
Jake passed to me, over the crowd of players pushing each other back and forth. My fingers curled around the ball and I ran with it towards the end zone, pushing anyone down who got in my way. Soon enough, the grass was red beneath my feet.
"Touchdown, Tampa Bay! An outstanding catch by Lisa Manoban, their first female player!"
Not gonna lie, that stung a little.
I was elated that I scored the touchdown, obviously, but I hated how the sports commentators referred to me. My name always had to be followed by "female player". What did my gender have anything to do with it? I scored touchdowns the same way men did it, so why didn't they say "male player" after theirs? I guess it would take a long time before that was normalized.
"Dude, you're on fire!" Brent laughed as he ran over to hug me.
"I wouldn't say that," I chuckled. "But thanks nonetheless."
"You've scored a touchdown every game!" he said. "God, why didn't we bring you to the team sooner?"
"That's on you," I joked.
After we scored the extra point, I made my way over to the sidelines to rest for a bit. Players switched positions constantly during the game, and it was time to bring others in. I drank another bottle of Gatorade gleefully as we cooled off. Jake sat down beside me, a Gatorade in his hand too.
"Nice job out there," he commented. "I wasn't so sure you were going to catch that."
"What, because I'm shorter than you guys?" I asked.
"No," he replied. "My form was off. I was trying to block one of the tackles from ramming me in the side." He paused for a moment. "This is your first year in the NFL, right?"
I nodded. "Was it that easy to tell?"
He chuckled. "Actually, no. You play like you've been on the team for years. It's something that usually takes players years to achieve." He paused for a moment. "You know why I was on hiatus?"
I shook my head.
"My wife just had our second child."
"Congratulations." I smiled.
He did as well. "Thanks. We now have two amazing daughters. Our first is now six. She likes football a lot too. I guess it kind of runs in the family." He turned to me. "You're probably wondering why I'm bringing this up now."
"Kinda, yeah," I responded.
"When I heard the news that you were joining the team, I told my daughter first. She looks up to you now. We watched your first game together and she was the happiest I'd ever seen her. She told me she wants a jersey with your number on it," he sighed. "Lisa, you're an inspiration to her. She's starting flag football this year and she wants to be just like you. And she's not the only one. Girls around the world look up to you. These kids want to follow their dreams watching you on the field. If Lisa can do it, then so can they."
I hadn't thought about that before. The kids, were they really idolizing me like this? Was I really helping them achieve their dreams? Was I an inspiration? Did I deserve to be called that?
Girls could see me as a role model. Someone they could look at and say "I can be like her". That truly baffled me. I wasn't meant to be an idol to young people. All I wanted was to play football because I enjoyed it. But I guess with that came a new status level. I was just taking the first step and soon enough, there'd be more girls taking that very same step and then some.
"I didn't know people knew me that well," I said. "I didn't think I'd have such an influence. Do you think I'm ready to be what they want me to be? An idol?"
Jake placed his hand on my shoulder. "Lisa, you were born ready."
Jake's words lingered with me throughout the game. With every play, I thought of the young girls watching me. They wanted to be football players too, but society told them they couldn't be.
Fuck society.
Girls can play football just as well as guys can. We're not living in the 1950s. Not all girls have to stay at home and cook and clean. They can go out in the world and do what they want. They can become scientists, engineers, and chemists. They can become athletes, politicians, and CEOs. They can be anything.
"4th and goal for Tampa Bay and they're going to go for it!"
The announcer's voice snapped me out of my thoughts. Was it already 4th down? The clock was ticking closer to halftime and I was itching for another touchdown. I gave a look to Jake, implicitly asking him for the ball on our next play. He mouthed "are you sure", to which I nodded quickly. He shrugged.
"Hike!"
I fought off the linebackers and scrambled for the end zone. But it wasn't as easy this time as it was the last. Number 70 was back at it again, doing everything in his power to block me from going in the end zone.
The ball soared over the huddle of players and into my hands. I ran past the five, the four, the three, the two, the one...
"Touchdown Tampa Bay!"
I slowed down once I landed in the red grass, taking a breather from all the running and fighting. The crowd's cheering flooded the stadium, a feeling that never failed to make me feel accomplished. I took a deep breath, taking in all the positive energy around me.
But celebrating isn't what I should've been doing.
Quickly, I felt a harsh jab to my side that sent me crashing to the ground.
"Lisa!"
Everything went black.