Brotherhood of the Pigskin: A Fantasy Football Novel

Bob walked back downstairs to watch the Saints-49ers game. The Saints won the coin toss and elected to receive. The 49ers kicker booted the ball deep to the Saints three yard line. The Saints kick returner, Michael Lewis, fielded the ball and took off toward the wall forming on his right. He peeled up behind his blockers, completing a respectable return to the thirty-eight yard line. Bob held his breath, hoping his intuition would prove accurate and waiting to see who would come onto the field—Kendall or Roi.

“Damn!”

Bob smacked his fist into the palm of his hand as he saw Kendall trot out and huddle up the team. The camera panned to Roi, who sat on the bench near the Gatorade cooler, all alone. Rachel, drying dishes in the kitchen, dropped her towel and came into the living room, sitting on the arm of Bob’s chair and touching his hair.

“What’s wrong, Bob? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. It’s just that it doesn’t look like Roi is going to play, and I started him instead of Testaverde. I just gotta remember it’s a game. It could all work out yet.”

With no other players going in the Saint game, Bob decided to switch to the Vikings-Steelers game to check on the progress of Marty’s quarterback. If Culpepper had one of his big days, Bob couldn’t match up. Not having a quarterback gave away thirty or more points, which would be almost insurmountable. If Culpepper had a tough day or at least threw a few interceptions to offset the touchdowns and yardage, he might still have a chance.

As Bob watched Culpepper, he noticed that the Steelers seemed to have his run and scramble contained and they had Randy Moss’s number. As the first half ended, Culpepper only had one TD, an interception, and seventy-six total yards, translating to only three fantasy points. If Culpepper had a similar second half, Bob could still contend.

At halftime, Bob switched back to the Saints game. Kendall remained at the helm and he continued to have an excellent game. He had two TDs and 189 yards for fifteen points. Roi’s chances of entering the game started to look pretty slim.

The Steelers defense treated Culpepper to more of the same in the second half. At the end of the third quarter, Culpepper had remained ineffective, throwing for only forty-two more yards and another interception. His point total had been reduced to zero, and he showed no signs of figuring out the tough Steeler defense.

Bob surfed his way back to the Saints game. Onscreen, he saw a group of Saints huddled around a player. The game had been stopped. The FOX cameras cut to another angle, and Bob saw Kendall’s name on the back of the injured player’s jersey. As they waited for further information, the FOX announcers speculated on the injury.

“Well, Dick, it could be a couple of different things. It looked like his knee took a pretty wicked bend when he got hit, but the other guy clocked him pretty good to the head.”

“Yes, Ron. I think he might have actually been knocked out cold for a moment.”

“Well, he’s awake now and seems to be talking to the trainer. It looks like they are going to hoist him up. His eyes look blank. Might be a concussion.”

“Whatever it is, I don’t think he’s in any shape to return. Looks like they are going to have to go to the prodigal son, Attoi Roi. I don’t think Roi would have wanted to get his opportunity to get back in the lineup this way, but here he comes.”

Bob sat stunned as Roi strapped on his helmet and gathered the team. One minute, fifty-nine seconds to go in the third quarter. Saints down 34–24. Roi would have an entire quarter to put some points on the board for Bob.

The first play out of the gate, Roi faked a handoff to Aaron Stecker, looked like he would go out to the flat for a short pass, and turned to his right, drilling a low line-drive to Joe Horn, who streaked down the right sideline. Horn caught the ball in stride and streaked into the end zone. With the extra point, the score stood at 34–31.

When they got the ball back, the 49ers kept the ball on the ground and began to eat up the clock. After over seven minutes of possession, they had reached the Saints’ fourteen yard line. They ran three more plays, keeping the ball out of the air, and settled for a field goal. It was 37–31. Seven minutes, forty-five seconds to go. The Saints needed a touchdown to win.

Confident that they could drive against the marginal 49ers defense, Roi and the Saints coaching staff decided to play high percentage football and give the ball to the Deuce and Aaron Stecker. The two backs ate up yardage, going from their own eighteen to the 49ers’ nine in 6:55. With fifty seconds on the clock, they needed a touchdown to tie and an extra point to win. They could not get a first down, so they had four downs to score, with two timeouts left. Running the ball would be risky at this point, so they needed to pass the ball into the end zone.

First down. Roi took a quick drop and tried to hit Ernie Conwell on a crossing pattern. The 49ers middle linebacker reacted and batted it down. Second down. Roi took another quick drop, saw Donte’ Stallworth and lofted the ball to the corner of the end zone. Stallworth caught it, but his left foot landed out of bounds. Third down. Roi handed the ball to the Deuce, who fought hard and willed the ball down to the four. Fourth down. Roi let the clock run down to twenty five seconds before calling timeout. That left them one just in case they scored the TD and had any problems during the extra point.

On the sidelines, Roi and Coach Donovan Gage conferred, trying to determine the right play to get past the suddenly tough 49ers defense. Slappy Kendall joined the conversation, slapping at bugs on his uniform that only he could see. Deciding on a play, Donovan Gage sent his rookie QB back into the game.

“Just use your instincts. You’ll be fine.”

Roi called the play and stepped up to center.

“Red twenty-three. Red twenty-three. Hut. Hut hut. Hut.”

The ball nestled in his hands as he stepped right, rolling out toward the sideline. He first looked to Joe Horn, but the 49er free safety had Horn blanketed. Because of the short field, Roi did not have time for a second look. Instead, he tucked the ball up under his right arm and took off running, his long legs striding toward the end zone. He juked one 49er defender, who missed him completely, glanced off a second, and pushed off hard at about the two yard line, launching himself into the air and clearing the last 49er between him and the goal line. As he came back down to earth, he fell, rolled, and came up in the end zone, ball raised in the air.

The crowd celebrated with a deafening roar, but the officials had not yet signaled touchdown. Instead, they had gathered in the right corner of the end zone, conferring among themselves. After about a minute, the referee emerged from the huddle and addressed the restless crowd.

“The ruling on the field is that the player’s knee touched the ground before the ball broke the plane of the goal line. The play is under review by officials in the booth.”

The crowd booed and threw all sorts of debris onto the field. Roi, who had been hovering around the officials during their conference, ran over to the referee to plead his case. Bob stood in front of the TV set, arguing with Baxter.

“Did you see that play, boy? That was a no-brainer. He was over the line easy. I’m sure they’ll overturn it. Oh, man.”

For his part, Baxter maintained a healthy distance between himself and his owner.

After the two minutes allotted for the review, the officials in the booth called down their final ruling to the referee. A hush came over the stadium as the referee stepped onto the field.