“Why? If you’re not supposed to give up on the team, then why did you? You just giving me a bunch of talk that you couldn’t live up to?” “Because I found something—someone—I loved more than football. More than being a quarterback. More than I loved the team, even. Or I thought I did.” He didn’t expect to see sympathy in Clarence’s eyes. He’d expected pity, or scorn. Ridicule. But Clarence shook his head as his gaze dropped. “I can’t imagine finding something I love more than this game.” He scuffed his shoe against the cracked pavement. “That’s gotta be a hell of a thing.”

