Chapter Three: Eighteen Catches and an Invoice from the Future

Lin could see the only opening—not between the defenders’ hands, but beneath the safety’s wrist in the instant before it dropped. Lin threaded his left arm into the gap. His fingertips touched the point of the ball. He rolled his wrist at an angle that seemed to defy the joint and hooked the ball toward his chest. Time resumed. Both defenders collided with him. Lin flipped backward and struck the turf. Hall immediately pointed down and shouted, “Incomplete! It hit the ground!” The official pulled bodies away. Lin lay six yards short of the end zone, both arms locked around the football. “Completed catch! First down!” Fourteen seconds remained.