Grant
I could hear the crowd cheering, the electricity flowing as we piled up at the end of the tunnel at Cleveland Browns Stadium. I was in the middle of the pack and could see a little bit of light peeking out above my teammates' helmets where the tunnel ended. All 65 of us were ready to sprint onto that field and see what we had as a team.
I can't describe how I felt as I looked down at my uniform. For that game we were wearing our red jerseys and black pants. Our helmets were red with a spider decal on both sides. We had both colors for our jerseys and pants so we wore different combinations during the season. Andrew was up front because he was one of the captains for the game. I was so proud of him. He really became one of the leaders who helped gel the offense together as a team. Our first opponent was the New York Knights. We didn't know anything about them and they didn't know anything about us. It was the first game of the first season the league existed.
"You guys ready? Let's go!" shouted Coach Thompson and we came charging out of the tunnel. The crowd was screaming as we took the field with foggers shooting off next to us. We broke down and headed to our sideline as New York came out and just as quickly the loud cheers turned to boos. I knew this was going to be a fun season.
Andrew linked arms with the two other captains and they walked from the sideline out to midfield where the referee was waiting for the coin toss.
"Good afternoon gentlemen, welcome to week one of the 2009 season. This is heads, this is tails," he said as he showed the coin to both teams. "New York you're the visiting team, you get to call the toss. You can choose heads, tails, or end of the field," he explained.
"Tails," answered one of New York's players. The referee flipped the coin and let it hit the ground.
"It is a tail, you've won the toss."
"Defer," the same player answered. The referee looked up at the TV camera in the press box.
"New York has won the toss and elected to defer. You want the ball, right?" he turned to Andrew and asked.
"Yes," he replied.
"Which end of the field do you want to play at?" the referee asked.
"That way," he said pointing towards the east end zone where the Dawg Pound is at Browns games.
"Okay turn this way," he said to them all and the Knights players stepped over so they had their backs toward that end of the field. The referee stepped over to the New York players. They had their white road jerseys on with blue numerals, blue pants, and blue helmets with their team logo on each side.
"New York has won the toss and elected to defer," he said waving his arms before he stepped over to our side.
"Cleveland will receive," he said making the receive signal. "Shake hands and head back to your benches."
With that it was time to get started. Adrenaline was pumping through my veins as both teams headed out for the kickoff. Seven Nation Army played over the PA as the teams fanned out into their formations. The New York kicker put the ball on the tee, the whistle blew, he put his hand up and ran forward.
"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh," the crowd roared as he kicked the ball off. It sailed through the end zone for a touchback and that's when I heard something I wasn't expecting.
"Palmer, you're up!" yelled Coach Long, the offensive coordinator. I got into the huddle as fast as I could and opened up my wrist call for the play.
"Eagle right 40 stretch Atlanta on one," said Jake, our quarterback. We broke the huddle and got into formation. It was an ace backfield with me all by myself five yards behind him.
"Go! Blue 80! Blue 80, set hut!"
I took the handoff and found a small seam before the linebacker took me down from the side. The umpire stood over me to get the ball as I was laying on my back and I got back up and went back to the huddle. On second down Jake threw an incomplete pass and we faced third and six at our own 24.
Andrew came in and lined up as an H-back, meaning he was on the end of the line as usual, but behind the line instead of on it. We broke the huddle and came out in the shotgun with me to his left. He took the snap and while I stayed back to block for his blind side he fired a quick pass to a receiver on the far side of the field for a gain of eight yards. First down.
"Yes!" I heard come from our sideline as everyone on the bench jumped up and down and the crowd roared.
We broke the huddle and came back to the line. This time they called for a deep throw but to disguise it we were coming out in another ace backfield. Jake was under center and my job was to block for him in the backfield while he waited for the receivers to get open downfield.
I kept my eyes on the linebackers as I got set for the snap. Jake barked out the snap count and took the snap. I charged forward and crushed the blitzing linebacker before he could get within arm's reach of Jake. He dropped back seven steps and stepped up in the pocket before he heaved it downfield. He had found Colton McAllister open with a step on his man and dropped a dime over his right shoulder. He caught it in stride and ran another 15 yards before the cornerback brought him down. We flipped the field on them just like that. The crowd was on its feet screaming as we all celebrated together before heading back to the huddle to get the next play.
It was first down at the New York 16 and we lined up in an I. Jake took the snap and faked the handoff to the fullback and rolled out to his right. I followed the tight end to the goal line and broke right as he went left. Apparently nobody else was open because Jake was getting closer and closer to the sideline and he had to either get rid of it or be thrown out of bounds for a loss of eight yards. Suddenly the ball was coming my way and then it was in my hands. Touchdown. The fans were screaming so loud I couldn't even hear my teammates celebrating right near me as they mobbed me.
I stayed on the field for the extra point and that wasn't anything I hadn't already done a million times. The snap came back, I took my three steps, put my foot into the ball and followed through and the whistle blew. It was good. We were ahead 7-0. After the network came back from commercial I kicked off and sailed it through the end zone for a touchback. Our defense held them to a three and out and they punted it right back.
Unfortunately the explosiveness our offense showed on our first possession didn't carry over to the next. We gained a first down and then punted three plays later. Our defense had no problem keeping New York's offense from doing anything but our offense didn't do much for the rest of the first quarter and into the second.
Finally something broke our way just as things were starting to get dicey. With a couple minutes left in the second quarter New York was starting to put a drive together and had the ball 2nd and 3 at midfield and was building some momentum on offense. Their quarterback took the snap and threw over the middle. It was a bit too high and as the receiver jumped for it he got a piece of it, just enough to deflect the ball right into the hands of our safety. All of us on the sideline jumped about six feet in the air as he headed upfield and made it about 8 yards before he was shoved out of bounds by one of their wide receivers.
With a minute or so left in the second quarter we faced a third and 1 at the New York 38 yard line. We called a trap play up the middle just to get the first down. Jake took the snap and I hit my lane as fast as I could. That's when the pulling guard came in and bulldozed New York's tackle and I turned on the jets. Before I knew it it the safety was the only one between me and the end zone. He dove for my ankles and I high-stepped over him.
"You're gonna have to do better than that," I taunted the safety in my mind as I coasted the rest of the way to the end zone. I jumped up on one of our linemen and he held me up in the air for a second as the rest of the team came to celebrate. I knocked down the extra point and we were ahead 14-0.
New York returned the kickoff almost to midfield but thankfully a block in the back penalty pinned them back deep in their own end. They ran up the middle three times to try and kill the clock but we used all three of our timeouts to make them punt with 12 seconds left. The snap sailed over the punter's head and he ate it at the ten yard line, leaving us just enough time for one play.
"Field goal! Field goal! Field goal!" shouted our head coach and I put my helmet back on. It was an easy chip shot and just like that we were ahead 17-0 going into the locker room. The crowd roared as we jogged from the sideline to the tunnel and I could feel the energy. A few minutes before halftime was over we headed back out onto the field to warm up again and I kicked off to start the second half.
Just like before we didn't have any trouble keeping New York's offense in check but on our first three possessions our offense stalled, stalled, and stalled again. Instead of ripping off five and ten yard runs, I was getting held to one or two yards every play. The third quarter ended without either team scoring any points and New York started to get desperate. They were throwing almost every play to try and get back into the game but our defense was having none of it. We held them to a three and out for all but one of their possessions.
Finally with about 10 minutes left in the game we lined up for a second and 10 at our own 20. Jake in the shotgun with me to his right. Andrew was in at tight end and he was my lead blocker on that play. Jake sent a receiver in motion and faked a jet sweep to him, handing the ball to me and I went in the opposite direction. New York's defense fell for it hook line and sinker and I was off to the races. 80 yards later I barely had any oxygen left in my lungs but I was in Andrew's arms celebrating and he was screaming his head off. I spent the rest of the game on the sideline as the scrubs played the rest of garbage time and as the final seconds ticked down I was on cloud nine.
The crowd cheered as the final seconds ticked down and we all headed for the locker room. I could tell that Coach Thompson was really proud of us despite it not being all that great of a performance overall.
"Gentlemen we've got a lot of work to do. But if there's anyone who gets the game ball today it's Palmer," he said motioning for me to stand up and he flipped me the ball. My teammates all cheered and the lineman next to me gave me a nice pat on the shoulder pads.
"We're signing a new kicker this week and you're officially a running back," he continued as the rest of the team screamed their approval.
"And Caldwell gets one too because if it weren't for him Palmer would still just be the kicker," he said as he tossed him a ball while everyone else laughed.
"Take this weekend to celebrate and be ready to work on Monday," he said as he left the locker room. We all showered and changed and rode the bus back to the hotel. Once we got there Andrew and I got into his car and headed back to our apartment. We fell onto the bed but Andrew just couldn't hold it in anymore.
"DUDE HOLY FUCK WHAT A GAME YOU HAD!"
"I can't believe it," I said still trying to be modest.
"Dude you scored every point. That's why I told you try and get some reps! Dude you just won yourself a starting job for the rest of the season."
"Come here dude," I replied as I moved in to kiss him. He slid his hands under my shirt and ran them over my chest.
I reached down for his shorts and found a bulge sticking out as I slid my hand under his waistband. We kissed passionately as we undressed each other. Andrew's body to me was like a Christmas present that I got to unwrap again and again.
"Let's 69," I suggested. "I'm too tired to fuck."
"That's a good idea," he replied.
I got off the bed and laid back down so we could get into position and took Andrew in my mouth as I felt the sparks of his tongue on my dick. For a minute I thought I was truly in heaven as I was pleasuring him, teasing him with my tongue and running the tip on the roof of my mouth. Andrew let out a muffled cry as a firehose of cum went blasting down the back of my throat and that pushed me over the edge. It was maybe a few milliseconds after he started to cum that I shot my load and the pleasure was so intense that I was just stunned for a moment.
I rolled over onto my back to catch my breath.
"Holy shit did that actually just happen?" I asked.
"Man you're so good at giving head," he replied.
"Today just feels like a dream," I whispered staring at the ceiling recalling everything that had just happened.
We both sat up and then we cuddled for a minute.
"I just wish we didn't have to keep it a secret," I whispered.
"Me too," Andrew replied. "Me too. I love you," he said and those words caught me off guard. I turned my head backwards to give him a kiss.
"I love you too," I replied sounding surprised because until then I couldn't let myself acknowledge that I loved him. Deep down inside I knew that we could have lost our next 11 games and this was still going to be the best season of my career.
Hey everyone, thanks for reading! Sorry about the delay in getting this chapter done, my personal life got really crazy and I went through a big life change too (and don't worry, it was very much for the better). I'm back writing again and I can't wait to hear what you all think. Feel free to drop me a line at AlexCenturyErotica@yahoo.com. Onto chapter 4!