Football Genius

Troy suddenly remembers Nathan and Tate and explains what happened to Mr. Langan. Mr. Langan manages to get Nathan and Tate released and lets them stay on the sidelines with Troy. With halftime almost over, they all head towards the field.

Tate and Nathan stay behind the bench with Bob McDonough while Troy heads onto the field with Mr. Langan.

Mr. Langan, Troy, and Tessa all stand together so that Tessa can pass the messages on to Seth. Troy watches the action but cannot immediately figure out the pattern: “The Raiders probably made some changes at halftime” (219). The Raiders score another field goal on their first drive. Seth offers words of encouragement to Troy and assurance to Mr. Langan, who quietly waits.

So close to the field, Troy finds himself mesmerized by the sights and sounds the action: “It was like stepping into the battle scene of an action movie” (221). Two plays later, his gift begins to work. He can see the strategic adjustments that the Raiders have made. Troy lets Mr. Langan know and passes the signals on to his mom, who relays them to Seth. Troy’s prediction is correct, and Seth disrupts the next Raiders play.

The Falcons begin to turn the momentum of the game, scoring a touchdown on offense. Using Troy’s insights, Seth and the defense shut down the Raiders offense, and the Falcons win 40-34. Seth is the star of the game and is carried off the field on the shoulders of his teammates.

Troy’s mom, Tate, and Nathan all celebrate with Troy: “It was louder than the lunchroom and happier than Christmas morning. It was a light-headed excitement unlike anything Troy had ever felt before” (225).

That night, Troy’s mom lets him stay up late to watch the Sunday Night Football halftime show with her and Seth. Seth’s performance that day is the highlight of the show.

The next day before school, Mr. Langan offers Troy a job as a ball boy, thereby allowing him to continue helping the team from the sidelines without attracting attention. Mr. Langan offers to pay Troy $10,000 per game.

Troy helps the Falcons win the next two games and gets $20,000 put into his bank account. Somehow, he feels unsatisfied. He keeps thinking about his own team, the Duluth Tigers, and how he wants to play quarterback instead of sitting on the bench.

One day, Seth arrives at Troy’s house unannounced, and the two begin talking about football and striving for success in life. The two realize they see the world in a similar way. Troy’s mom joins them, and Seth asks to talk to her, inviting her to come to the Bahamas with him for a holiday. Confused, Tessa turns him down, saying she is a mother and can’t be more than that right now.

Embarrassed, Seth tells Tessa to keep the tickets to the Bahamas and checks to make sure she is okay that they both work together with Troy, before heading for the door.

After he leaves, Troy comes into the kitchen. As they talk, Tessa slaps the envelope with the tickets against her leg. Suddenly, the envelope bursts open, spilling its contents onto the floor. When Troy goes to help Tessa clean up, he sees one of the tickets has Troy’s name printed on it, and they realize that Seth meant to take all three of them on the vacation. Tessa runs after Seth to stop him. After clearing up the misunderstanding, she kisses Seth.

Seth drives Troy to practice in his truck where it is announced that Coach Renfro has been released due to his coaching style of yelling at the children. Coach Renfro stomps his whistle into the grass in disgust at this idea, assuming that since he will not be coaching, neither will any of his assistants. Coach Renfro says the team will therefore need to forfeit the final game and end the season immediately. Suddenly, Seth’s voice pipes up from behind Coach Renfro, startling everyone. Seth offers to step in and coach the game.

Seth digs Coach Renfro’s whistle out of the grass and takes over the practice. The dads all step in to shake Seth’s hand. Seth lines up the first-string offense with Troy as quarterback, asking one of the dads to set up a defense. Seth instructs Rusty to run as fast and as far as he can and tells Troy to “let it fly” (242). On the snap, Rusty takes off down the line, quickly getting much farther than Troy has ever thrown before. When Troy finally cocks his arm to throw, he no long feels the anger that used to fuel him. He is instead filled by a new energy. Troy sends this energy through his arm and launches the ball all the way into Rusty’s waiting hands. Troy feels different now, as if it wasn’t him who threw the pass at all.