Chapter Four: The Starting Job Is Not a Prize

For the final red-zone period, Grant replaced Mountain with a backup center. The defense delivered two free hits, and Kai completed both passes. On the third snap, a safety came from his blind side. *Hit the earhole. Make the kid stop listening.* Kai turned and ducked early. The safety flew over him. The entire field went quiet. No one could have seen that defender from the front. Tyler ripped off his helmet. “You grow eyes in the back of your skull?” Tinnitus rose in Kai's ears. He held up his wristband. “Mara's tendency report. After three failed strong-side pressures, they attack the blind side sixty-eight percent of the time.” Mara nodded from the boundary without expression. Her report existed. The true number was thirty-one percent.