Chapter One: Day 992 on the Bench

His forty-yard dash was 4.51 seconds—fast, but not rare. His reach was good, but he did not have Kane’s hands, the kind that took footballs from above two defenders’ helmets. The GPL had no shortage of smart players. It had even fewer shortages of monsters who were smarter, stronger, and faster. On the last play, quarterback Eli Ward was sacked. The clock expired, sealing the Storm’s third straight home loss. The boos followed the players into the tunnel. As Lin reached the locker room, assistant coach Robinson stopped him and held out a brown paper bag. “Clear your locker tonight.” Lin’s hand paused over the bag. “Roster move?”