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“Get the fuck off of me,” I grumbled as I pushed Enzo away, the gesture catching the attention of players on both teams who rushed over to intervene. And with the slight commotion came the referees who were quick to break things up, thankfully without throwing any flags since having a fifteen-yard penalty tacked on to our fourth-down play would’ve only made things easier for Tennessee.
And would’ve made my failure to convert on third down feel even worse.
Under the assumption that we’d be punting on what was now fourth and long, I started to make my way over to the sideline. But I was caught by surprise when I heard my coach yelling for me to stay on the field, the gutsy call for us to go for it on fourth down immediately charging me up since it meant I’d get a chance to redeem myself.
And a chance to fuck Enzo up.
The stadium was roaring as my team lined up for what looked like a pass play. And considering we were a little further away from the first down line now, throwing a pass was what made the most sense. But when I got the snap late in the play clock after attempting to draw Tennessee offsides, it was actually for a handoff to Carmelo who followed his blocker to the left and then did a jump cut to the right that created just enough room for him to get outside as he took off towards the sideline and I sprinted after him to assist with a block.
And to fuck Enzo up.
Because he was so focused on getting to Carmelo, I knew it probably came as a surprise when he saw me barreling his way. And that only made it even more gratifying to send Enzo’s ass flying towards the turf with a toss that was strong enough to knock his helmet off, clearing the path for Carmelo who made it down to the twenty-five-yard line before he was pushed out of bounds.
I didn’t even try to contain how hyped that shit had me, literally howling as I flexed my arms in celebration. And my squad was just as turnt, the sideline damn near exploding with excitement as my teammates who were nearby showed me love with pats to my helmet and shoulder pads. But as I started to make my way to the line of scrimmage, I was blindsided by a shove in the back that sent me to my hands and knees, the flag that was immediately thrown doing nothing to stop Enzo from standing over me to taunt, “Try that weak ass shit again, and I’ma put you six feet under right next to your pill poppin’ ass daddy!”
For as much restraint as I’d shown thus far, there was absolutely nothing that was going to stop me from beating Enzo’s ass in that moment.
Not the consequences.
Not the money.
Not my teammates.
Not the referees.
He’d went too fuckin’ far, and now he had to pay the price, the fact that his helmet was still off making it easy for me to hit him with a right jab straight to the eye before we were rushed by teammates from both sides. And while some were trying to break us up, others started getting into little scuffles of their own, creating a chaotic situation that had me pissed at myself for letting Enzo get me out of character as one of the coaches pulled me towards the sidelines scolding, “You’re supposed to be our leader, Snoop! What the fuck was that bullshit?!”
I was too upset to answer his question, too upset to say anything, really. And when things finally settled down enough for the referees to hand out appropriate penalties, my irritation hit another level once I learned I was being ejected from the game.
Not that I didn’t know it was a huge possibility that I would be.
But for it to have actually happened,a first in my career, and the reason why it happened had me fuming as I was escorted to the locker room where I immediately threw my helmet to the ground as hard as I could, the frustration coming from so many different places that I honestly couldn’t decide what I was more mad at.
What Enzo had actually said, or everything that was going to result from the way I’d responded.
I mean, obviously, his comment about my pops -and the collection of shit he’d talked leading up to that moment- was enough of a trigger for me to react explosively. But I didn’t need to see it to already know what the world would have to say about the two of us going at it, one side of America surely referring to Enzo and me as “thugs” who don’t belong anywhere near the game and the other side automatically linking our fight to Shakira even though she wasn’t really the reason why things had escalated to the point of us getting physical.
And that was only the initial reaction.
There’d be the viral clips from every angle, the memes, the sports debate shows talking the situation to death for much longer than our little fight had even lasted. And then there’d be whatever the league decided on for a punishment, whether it be fines, or a suspension, or both; all of which I’d have to accept even though I wasn’t the one who’d started it.
So, yeah.
I waspissed.
And as I watched the second half of the game alone, I only got more upset when my backup quarterback couldn’t seem to do shit against Tennessee’s defense. But really, I could only be mad at myself once the game ended in a Skyhawks loss since I was the one who’d let my team down by not being available to guarantee we got the win. And I was sure to communicate that to them the second I was able to, taking full responsibility for my actions when I told my teammates, “Ay, y’all. I just wanted to apologize for my behavior out there. As a man, I should’ve done a better job of controlling my emotions. And as a leader on this team, I know part of my job is to be a good example which I failed to do tonight.”
“Shiiit. That was a pretty good example of how to throw a punch to me,” Hawk responded, causing many of the other players to chuckle and agree. And of course, now that he knew we were on joke time, Gerald couldn’t help chiming in, “Nigga let that right hand go like he was a young Floyd Mayweather or somethin’,” his comment really making people laugh as I shook my head with an amused smirk before getting back to what I was saying.
“So, look. I’m not sure how the league is gonna handle everything yet,but…”
“Whatever happens, happens, Snoop,” Hunter interrupted. “Just know we got your back no matter what.”
There was a chorus of agreement from my teammates that lowkey made me a little emotional since I was honestly expecting them to be more disappointed. But I was beyond grateful to have the support of my squad who didn’t need to know the fine details of what was said to ride for me regardless, their energy making me want to go even harder for them the next time I got the chance to which I could only hope would be next week.
For now, though, my focus was on getting my mind right for the mess of media I had to face. And after I survived that, I finally got around to checking my phone that had been flooded with calls and texts since the incident, the inordinate number of notifications forcing me to scroll through so that I could find the ones from the people I actually cared to hear from.
“Don’t worry, KD. The spin is already in motion.” - Bryn
