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I take a cold shower and dress for work. It’s not a bad thing to get in early since I have a lot of briefs to read through for the Miller lawsuit, one of the biggest cases I’ve landed since starting at the law firm. If I nail this one, it can mean a big promotion in the company, therefore, I’ve invested all my time and energy into it. Not that the case doesn’t deserve it. Some asshole construction company scammed their way into building on land unsuitable for construction, resulting in the deaths of too many innocent people without taking any responsibility. It’s messed up what kind of people are out there, and it’s all just another reason why I chose to become a lawyer—to help stop every one of them.
Since lunch had gone longer than planned, a shit ton of work piled up. Even though it had been with the boss, it didn’t eliminate everything that still needed to be done.
Aside from my own workload, I never got to finish all the tasks I had planned for Hannah. By the time we got back to the office, it was past work hours and we were both wiped. Not to mention, I needed to get away from her. She wasn’t hiding the fact that she wanted nothing more to do with me, so when the time came, we went our separate ways, and that was that. I came home, drank more than I should have for a Monday night, and concentrated on watching football until I passed out.
Now, Tuesday, I step off the elevator onto the quiet office, thankful no one’s here. These are the best times to get shit done and really focus. Some days I work, others I spend wondering how I got here. Deciding to become a lawyer had never been my plan. Football had always been my first choice. But the deeper I got into my football career, the more I questioned the sport. Would my future truly be about the love of the game or the perks and highlife? As I prepared for the career move of my life, I watched so many of my fellow teammates get hurt, the injuries completely taking their career right out from under them. Not that that should have swayed me; that was the risk of the game. A high intensity contact sport, you’re bound to get injured at some point. As friends got drafted into the NFL, I sat back with envy, waiting patiently for my turn. There was no doubt it was coming. I didn’t need to toot my own horn to know I was the best.
My skepticism grew with every player who lost himself to the lifestyle. It was easy to let the spotlight get to you. The money, the fame. For so many, they lost sight of the game, and I hated that for them—and myself. The fear I would end up like that—drugs, women, reckless decisions leading to ruining my season and career—overwhelmed me. Then, one night, I got a call that a close friend and old teammate who’d recently been drafted was found dead from an overdose in a Miami hotel room, and I finally made up my mind.
I wanted to play football. It’s what got me up every day. But I also wanted to stay true to myself. I was afraid to put all my eggs in one basket, scared I would get hurt and that would be that. So, when my agent approached me with a contract inviting me to play for a major NFL team, I turned it down. I stayed at college and finished out my football career there while majoring in political science. I wanted to make something of myself. And if it wasn’t going to be in football, it was going to be something greater. So, during my senior year, I applied for law school—something I’ll always be indebted to Jim Matthews for.
Hannah wasn’t the only one who looked up to her father. Growing up, I loved listening while he spoke about his cases. It was like being in the theater, watching him put on a show with so much passion for each story he told. No case was too mediocre. They ranged anywhere from copyright infringement to spousal abuse, but he put so much emotion into each one. When his firm was first getting started, he did it all. But the more prominent his business became, the less he took on general cases and focused more on corporate law, while creating departments that handled other specific cases, like human rights, juridical, tax—you name it.
Jim Matthews was the one person I chose to confide in when I’d been stuck at that fork in the road of my life and needed advice on how to handle my career. He dealt with small sports law cases and was able to break down all possible scenarios for me—if I got hurt, if I went pro, if I got traded. I would’ve still been able to go back and finish college, but at that rate, would I have wanted to? Getting a taste of the big league is hard to come back from. That’s when he asked me if I ever thought about becoming a lawyer. And in that moment, I said yes.
