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I called out the next play, took the snap, and threw the ball long into the end zone I nodded at Jaht it square in the chest It was a perfect spiral

No one wanted to be out here It wasn’t glorious or glaree heat

Twenty minutes later I was in the practice facility locker roo into a tub of ice The trainer added another bucket of cubes as I slid my feet to the bottom of the floor

“How’s that, Luke?” he asked

“Just keep du it in until I say quit”

The ice waspatches of skin I immersed under the surface It was both painful and a relief It was the shock I needed to erase the last fragments of my headache

I started to settle in, trying to adjust e frame to the confines of the tub It was hard to fit all of me in this cramped space My dark hair was stuck to my head I scooped a handful of the ice water and dumped it on my scalp, and shook the water from my ears

“Canton!”

I whipped my head around “What?”

“Coach wants to see you”

I glared at the tight end assistant coach “Tell hi a cool down”

He shook his head “Doesn’t care Wants your ass in his office now”

“Da to leave, but the assistant coach waited in the doorway I pulled one icy leg and then the other out of the tub and dripped across the tile I wrapped a towel around ainst h the locker room door

I knocked on Coach Applewhite’s door and walked inside

His eyes pinched together “Luke, you couldn’t put any clothes on?”