At his next practice, Mick tries harder than ever. In particular, he tries to outdo Drew Carney in every drill. Afterwards, he sees Coach Rooney looking at him. The coach gives him a respectful nod and congratulates them all on a good practice. As they’re leaving, Drew tells Mick that his efforts made the practice better, and he invites him to come play flag football with him and some other guys that afternoon. He and Drew quickly see that they work naturally together. Their practice in flag football carries over into their real games, and soon they are a formidable duo.

During the season, a man has begun showing up at their games. He stands next to Rooney and writes in a notebook. His name is Mr. Trahane, and he is Shilshole High’s defensive backfield coach. He is there to see which players would make good recruits for his varsity team. Mick hears many times that being on the junior varsity team is horrible: bad coaches, bad players, and nothing but losses. Having Mr. Trahane at the games makes every game feel like a tryout to Mick. He begins to obsess over his performance. His dad is encouraging: “You’re not going to get the invite because of one play, and you’re not going to lose it because of one play.