Page 29 of Chasing Football Dreams

“Yeah, uhm. I told them that I wouldn’t do it without my team,” I looked into his eyes, seeing that conflict there.

“They want to do an interview with you,”

I shrugged. “I know but if you think about it. I couldn’t have done this season without my team. I got this position because of you and the team members believing in me. Every one of you deserves as much praise as I do,”

“You let a girl on the team. That was a big risk but yet, you accepted the consequences,”

He cupped my cheek in his palm. “I saw skill. I didn’t care about your gender,”

“You are a good man, Duncan Jones,” I stepped onto my toes and found his lips for the hundredth time. “And I love you for it,”

Chapter Fourteen

Everyone showed up at the ESPN studio together. The squad was quite excited to appear on TV as it would give them a boost in their future careers as football players. We were relieved and excited when we found out that the host was Ian Lawrence.

He was friendly and didn’t show any signs of misleading us more specifically me.

We met him at the door and he accompanied us to the stage. After our final checks, the show was ready to start. Duncan and I planned to sit a few chairs apart. He made Xander sit next to me so when anything happened, he was at least nearby. Talk about my defender on and off the field.

“Today, I have quarterback star, Zoey Reynolds and her team known as the Warriors with me.” Ian started by introducing everyone. He read our scores, our wins, and our losses. And then he started with the integration.

“Now, Zoey here is the first-ever female to play in the quarterback position and what we’ve learned so far is that she can definitely rock that position with her long passes.” The audience cracked smiles and some chuckled.

“I mean just look at her.” He said playing replays on the screen behind us of me and my passes or whenever I made a run for a touchdown. The audience cheered when he showed me my latest record-breaking pass.

“Right from the hail Mary you didn’t hide that you are a girl ” He noted. “You showed up and went for it. It’s a huge risk you took. Were you afraid that your team would reject the idea of a girl as their quarterback?”

I looked to my left and right, finding my team giving me reassuring grins and nodes. I then gazed back at Ian—my hands curled into a ball on my lap. “As a girl, it’s sometimes hard to imagine that you would be accepted into a male-dominated sport but I was lucky enough to have found a team that knew from the tip of the bat of my skill. They are the ones who approached me after their First-String Quarterback, Riley sustained an injury that cost him his season,”

I thought Ian was content with my reply when he nodded and smiled. “You were also in competition with BJ who took over the position but later through the season, you were put in his place. It came to our attention that BJ wasn’t welcomed with open arms by the team,”

I controlled the urge to roll my eyes on live TV. “BJ got replaced because he couldn’t get out a hail Mary when we were in the fourth quarter and relying on him. Zoey, on the other hand, didn’t dwindle under the pressure and led us to victory,”

I bit the inside of my cheek when Duncan answered the question. It was evident in his voice that he wanted to smash Ian’s smash into his desk. I wasn’t far behind him.

“Duncan Jones everyone. All-state Center and captain of the Warriors,” Ian introduced.

“I don’t want to look but I think Duncan is ready to end this interview,” Xander whispered to me.

I shrugged. “The whole team is giving me those vibes,”

He chuckled but wiped the smile from his face when we caught Ian looking at us.

“It must have been nerve-wracking for you to be sent out right at the end of the game,” Highlights of the night popped up and I noticed that he didn’t miss to include the massive tackle on me.

I smiled instead of pondering into a corner. “All was unplanned but worth it as I finally got the taste of victory,”

He nodded, looking at his clipboard. “According to Coach Shane, it was your request to have your whole team here with you?” He asked.

I nodded. “I am who I am because of them. They could’ve shown me away but they didn’t. They gave me a chance and I owe them.” The boys all cheered and gave me pats on the back.

“Looks like you and the team are very close.” He said looking at them.

“We are. Even if it was hard in the beginning and we had our arguments but worked through it and we are stronger than before.” I felt Wesley's hand on my shoulder.

“Was it hard for the boys to accept Zoey?” Ian asked looking directly at Duncan.

“We more awed by her skill than cared whether she’s a girl,” Duncan answered curtly.

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