“Yes, one minute,” I shout, hoping to keep the staffer from coming in.
We scramble to put on our clothes, and IthinkRawley forgets his boxers. I’m moving too fast to be sure.
Doesn’t matter, at this point.
Rawley’s the one who opens the door after turning the lock, both of us barely holding in giggles as the security man appears on the other side.
At first, his brow is raised, but he sees it’s Rawley and me, and an “oh” slips out of his mouth.
“Would you mind keeping this to yourself?” implores Rawley.
The guy nods his head, eyes wide, so Rawley grabs my hand, pulling me forward into the hall.
Ten minutes later, we’re driving out of the stadium in my car, on the way to his training camp hotel.
And making plans for him to come to my Sunday night game.
MONDAY MORNING(FOUR DAYS LATER)
AVERY: Taylor, would you mind setting up a zoom with Aiden, Jim and you again?
TAYLOR: Sure. Any topic I should mention to them?
RAWLEY: We have some news we want to share with the three of you…
47
RAWLEY
FOUR WEEKS LATER
TRANSCRIPT, JALEN NASH SHOW
JALEN: Today I’m joined by two members of the Orlando Waves who need no introduction at this point, the Battle brothers, Landon and Rawley, fresh off of their regular season week one win. Welcome.
LANDON: Great to be here again, Jalen.
RAWLEY: Yes, thank you for having us back.
JALEN: Rawley, thefirsttime we had you on seems like a lifetime ago. Now, you’re sitting here as an NFL player, having just played your first regular season game, something like $50 million coming your way between endorsements and your deal with the Waves. How does it feel?
RAWLEY: Thinking of all that’s happened, hearing you describe it, it’s like whoa [gestures like his mind is exploding and everyone laughs].
RAWLEY: But there’s been baby steps along the way which makes those things feel more organic. The on field stuff especially. Getting drafted, adjusting to the Waves’ routine, learning the playbook, going through a ton of practice reps withJohnson. The financial side, all credit for that belongs to my team.
JALEN: Yeah, it sounds like a natural progression. And Landon, how have you helped Rawley get acclimated to the NFL?
LANDON: Oh, Rawls deserves all the kudos, not me. He’s embraced what he’s needed to do and put in the hard work.
RAWLEY: You can take credit for driving us to the facility each day. [Landon chuckles.] This guy won’t let me drive his car, at least not while he’s in it.
JALEN: Now that’s some big brother stuff.
LANDON: Luckily, he can afford his own car these days. [everyone laughs]
JALEN: I’d say. So what’s it like being brothers on the same team? Has that been a good thing? Created any strain between you?
[PAUSE WHILE LANDON AND RAWLEY LOOK AT EACH OTHER, BOTH SMILING]
