Bleachers

“The games came back to him, though he tried to block them out. Those days were gone, he told himself for the hundredth time. Long gone.”

Neely and the rest of the Spartans are haunted by the memories of the glory days. The games, which once brought them so much joy, now only bring pain because they have the hindsight to know it doesn’t last. The novel is both about remembering, and letting go of, the past.

“You had no choice in this town. Rake had us in uniforms when we were in the sixth grade. Four teams—red, blue, gold, and black, remember? No green because every kid wanted to wear green.”

Though Neely expresses he wishes he had never been a football player, Paul reminds him that would have been impossible in Messina. The town raises their children to be athletes, and the parents turn their sons over to Rake from a young age. This only heightens the influence Rake has on them because he is the player’s role model, coach, and mentor from young adulthood.

“You count the years until you get a varsity jersey, then you’re a hero, an idol, a cocky bastard because in this town you can do no wrong. You win and win and you’re the king of your own little world, then poof, it’s gone.”

Paul’s expression of his own fall from glory is reflective of what each of the Spartans experience to some degree. It introduces the idea that the football players were given such a status of respect and power in high school, one that is mostly unrealistic in the real world, that life after high school could never fully satisfy them.

“Every player had seen Rake, on a particularly bad day, throw his body at a running back and take him down with a vicious hit. He loved the violence of football and demanded it from every player.”

Though prior pages in the novel have mentioned him shouting, this is the first time it is said that Rake enjoys the violent aspect of football. This sets up the conflict between him and the other players, as it is this love for violence that eventually drives a wedge between Rake and his team, and later between Rake and the town.

“Rabbit leaves them on all night. His version of a vigil. When Rake dies, the lights go out.”

The lights serve as a “ticking clock,” which is a literary device that reminds the reader that time is of the essence. When Neely and his friends are on the bleachers, the lights are always in sight, reminding them that Rake is on his deathbed and could pass away at any given moment. Once the lights go out, this means that Neely’s time in Messina must come to an end, giving him more urgency to see the people he needs to, like Cameron.

“‘Rake had a problem with the stars,’ Paul said. ‘We all knew that. If you won too many awards, set too many records, Rake got jealous. Plain and simple. He worked us like dogs and wanted every one of us to be great, but when guys like Neely got all the attention then Rake got envious.’”

This quote highlights conflict between Rake and Neely, specifically. It sets Neely apart again as the best player, the all-American, and raises the stakes between him and Rake. It also gives Neely another reason to wrestle with the question of whether he loves or hates Rake.

“To his recollection, he had never met Mal Brown. He wasn’t the Sherriff when Neely lived in Messina. Neely knew the legend, but not the man.”

Mal is another football hero from decades ago, whose name still holds weight in the town of Messina. Neely acknowledges that he only knows the rumors and stories told about Mal, but that the real Mal is a mystery to him. Just as the real Neely is a mystery to so many others.

“Because it happened so often, he knew how to lift it just so and quickly shift all his weight to his right leg, and to keep walking as if everything was normal.”

One of Neely’s character traits is that he avoids and ignores pain, both emotional and physical. He does this so as not to appear weak, but as the novel progresses and he is more vulnerable, Grisham makes the character more relatable and likable. This injury symbolizes the negative aspects of Neely’s football past.

“There were quick glances and awkward stares, but the others seemed content to brood over the coffee and ignore him. After all, he had ignored them for fifteen years. Messina owned its heroes, and they were expected to enjoy the nostalgia.”

While being a town celebrity had many benefits, it made it difficult to go through life peacefully and privately. When Neely returns, he does his best to avoid the small talk with the locals, but there is a pressure there to perform since the glory days wouldn’t have occurred had it not been for the thousands of fans worshiping football

“These are nice folks-mechanics, truck drivers, insurance salesmen, builders, maybe a lawyer, maybe a banker. Solid small-town citizens, but not exactly earthshakers. I mean nobody here is making a million dollars, but they’re entitled to a championship every year, right?”

This quote again emphasizes the importance of football in the small town. Neely points out the hypocrisy of the townsfolk—they demand greatness from their football team but don’t demand greatness from themselves. Paul responds that the people are seeking bragging rights, which reveals the futility of football worship and the pain the players endured after their fall from grace.

“Number two on the list of dreaded tortures, just behind the Spartan Marathon, was the assault on the bleachers.”

The assault on the bleachers is what killed Scotty Reardon and ultimately what ended Rake’s coaching career. It is an example of Rake’s methods going too far, and the fact that it is the second worst gives more perspective to how grueling the Spartan Marathon really was.

“Rake’s greatness, however, was winning with players who were small and slow. He took thin talent and still delivered scores that were lopsided. He worked the lean ones harder, though, and few teams had seen the intensity that Rake brought to the field in August 1992.”

One of Rake’s greatest qualities is his ability to make heroes out of underdogs. Even though Nat is not a great player, Rake keeps him on the team and treats him like every other Spartan. He has to work harder to get some of the underdogs who don’t look like typical football players to greatness, but more often than not he is successful. The tragic exception is Scotty Reardon.

“The team played with more guts than I’d ever seen. Years later, this one kid told me it was such a relief playing football for the sheer fun of it, and not playing out of fear.”

The sport of football itself is not to blame for the pain it has caused the Spartans. When the motivation behind the game is to play for the love of it, without the incredible pressure from Rake or the fans, it can completely change the mindset of the players. It boosts morale and gives the team a better reason to try to win.

“There had always been a very small group of people who were opposed to spending more money on football than on science and math combined. We traveled by chartered bus while every academic club carpooled with their parents. For years the girls had no softball field, while we had not one but two practice fields. The Latin Club qualified for a trip to New York but couldn’t afford it; the same year the football team took the train to watch the Super Bowl in New Orleans. The list is endless. Rake’s firing made these complaints louder.”

Messina’s financial priority has always been football. However, while many people in town support that, there are many who see the inequality and fight to change it. The emphasis on football leaves no support, from fans or the booster club, for anything outside of it. This quote shows the harm Messina’s obsession has a farther reach than those directly involved with the football team. The implication is that it harms the quality of education at the school.

“Eddie Rake’s not a sweet man, but he is human. He suffered greatly after Scotty’s death, and he had no one to turn to. He prayed a lot, went to Mass every morning. I think fiction helped him; it was a new world.”

Nat gives one of the first realistic depictions of Rake’s character. He isn’t the deified, flawless coach that half the town paints him as, nor is he an entirely evil and violent man. He is a human being who feels emotions greatly, even if he rarely expresses them. Nat’s words make Neely begin to see Rake in a different light.

“He gave me the courage, man. Then he convinced me to open this place, and when I was sure I had made a huge blunder, Rake started hanging around here and word spread.”

Rake’s support for Nat shows that there is more to him than the violent coach Neely knew on the field. Rake’s love for his players extends past graduation, and he continues to be a voice of encouragement off the field.

“I hated your guts. Cameron was a close friend from kindergarten, before you came to town. She knew I was different, and she always protected me. I tried to protect her, but she fell for you and that was a huge mistake. Screamer decided she wanted the all-American. The skirts got shorter, blouses tighter, and you were toast. My beloved Cameron got thrown aside.”

Nat and Cameron had a deep, lasting friendship, and each of them saw the other for who they truly were. Cameron’s character, too, is further developed here because it shows the loyalty and protection she has for people she loves. Had Neely chosen differently, he could have had that same loyalty and protection.

“‘Come back in a few years, big boy, and they will not now your name,’ Neely thought. ‘Your fabulous career will be a footnote. All the cute little girls will be mothers. The green jacket will still be a source of great personal pride, but you won’t be able to wear it. High school stuff. Kid’s stuff.’”

When Neely visits his old school, now as an adult with hindsight, he is given the opportunity to observe the current quarterback as an outsider. While most of Neely’s thoughts about losing the glory days involve looking back on his own memories and feeling foolish, this moment is important because it shows that the cycle continues. There are still high school kids being worshiped for playing football, and they will continue to have rude awakenings when the world doesn’t bow at their feet the way Messina does.

“We’d just pulled off a miracle, against all impossible odds. With no coaches. Nothing but sheer guts. Just a bunch of kids who’d survived under enormous pressure. We decided it would be our secret.”

The fraternity of Spartans, specifically within Neely’s team, is solidified in this moment when they decide to hide Rake’s assault against Neely. The teamwork and trust established in this moment is what carries their friendships to the next level and creates bonds that last for life. It also becomes the moment they enable Rake’s behavior and indirectly facilitate the death of Rake’s future player, Scotty.

“It’s such a stupid sport. Boys and young men mangle their bodies for life.”

Cameron, who voices the opinions of those who don’t worship football in Messina, bluntly expresses her disgust for the risks football players take with their bodies. Neely is a prime example of someone who is permanently injured because of the sport. Rabbit, likewise, never recovers from his stunt on the field. Though it may seem important to them in the moment, it is not worth destroying their physical well-being in the long run.

“Few of us will ever do anything that will be recognized and remembered by more than a handful of people. We are not great. We may be good, honest, fair, hardworking, loyal, kind, generous, and very decent, or we may be otherwise. But we are not considered great.”

Messina’s obsession with football stems from its obsession with greatness. Small towns are often overlooked or are subjects of ridicule. So, when something propels them to praise and recognition, they start to crave more of that glory for themselves.

“He said he didn’t care what color we were. All his players wore green. His playing field was perfectly level. Hard work won games, and he didn’t believe in losing. I remember sitting there on that rubber mat, mesmerized by this man. He immediately became my Coach.”

For all his flaws, Rake had a great sense of justice. He urged integration in a town that likely would have opposed the notion, had he not been at the helm. Because he supported all of his players equally, he earned their trust and respect.

“Coach Rake was not easy to love, and while you’re playing here you don’t really like him. But after you leave, after you venture away from this place, after you’ve been kicked around a few times, faced some adversity, some failure, been knocked down by life, you soon realize how important Coach Rake is and was. You always hear his voice, urging you to pick yourself up, to do better, and never quit. You miss that voice. Once you’re away from Coach Rake, you miss him so much.”

Neely spends the duration of the novel wrestling with his feelings over Coach Rake. When he finally admits that he loves Rake and sees the good he brought in Neely’s life, it is a cathartic release both for Neely and the readers. This quote conveys that Rake had a dual nature, just as most people do, and Neely accepts that here.