Open In The End Zone, But . . . Pass Is Overthrown

Without any notice Coach Perry tells me to go in at tight end. In sixteen years of football I had never lined up once at tight end. As we huddle around him he tells our quarterback Deontae Brown I’m his first read and to hit me with a pass if I can get open in the end zone. As we line up I am on the right side of the formation and look at the defensive spacing and know exactly what I am going to do. I will release outside and cut back inside turning to the line of scrimmage with my hands up waiting for ball to thrown.
I wait for the hut signal and break from my position and make my cut turning to find the football. I picked up the flight of it as it spins toward me like a bullet . . . and I know it is going to be over my head. I focus on the tip of the ball and start to jump, already knowing it is going to be too high to catch. The football flies over my outstretched hands out of the end zone as I fall ass first to the ground with my helmet snapping into the end zone turf with a thud. There are no soft landings on a football field.