Number 12. Marcus Thorne. Helmet on. Jaw set. Nobody expected Marcus to win. The local paper ran the headline: “Seasons End as QB Falls.” They’d already written the obituary for the team’s hopes. But Marcus didn’t read the paper. He ran the huddle like a librarian running a silent reading period—calm, precise, boring.
Because in the end, we’re all just trying not to be in our own lives. This article was originally published in "The Deep Bench: Stories from the Shadows of Sport." Have you ever been the backup in a relationship? Share your story in the comments.
He nodded.