Chapter Three: Eighteen Catches and an Invoice from the Future

Grant watched Lin. He no longer looked at a reserve. He looked at a blade drawn from its sheath. “They’ll put three on him. Use him as the decoy. Eli keeps it.” At the snap, Lin attacked the middle of the end zone. Hall, the safety, and the linebacker all followed. Eli faked the pass, tucked the football, and ran through the vacant left side of the goal line. 32–31. Game over. Lin did not learn what he had done until he reached the locker room. Eighteen catches. Two hundred forty-seven yards. Two critical conversion receptions. One touchdown at the horn. Eighteen catches broke the league record for a player in his first start, while 247 yards set a Storm single-game record.