We Must Keep Moving Forward

#. December 14, 2020

#-1. Athens, Georgia, USA

#-2. University of Georgia

#-3. Rankin M. Smith Student-Athlete Academic Center

Life as a football scholarship athlete is a little different from ordinary student life. Fridays are mostly class-free, and supplementary lessons at the academic center are a regular fixture.

Exams are no exception.

From today through Wednesday, the football scholarship players would sit for their finals across three days — and the first day's schedule had just wrapped up.

“Exhale—”

“All finished?”

“Yes, ma'am.”

“….”

Mrs. Eva Whitacker took my exam paper and read through it slowly, from top to bottom. If there was even the slightest gap in my answers, she would find some way to nudge me toward it.

It was, technically, outright cheating.

It was also completely routine.

Because an athlete's academic standing directly affected his career and his paycheck, the academic advisors threw every method they had into raising our grades. The university itself had built double and triple safety nets to keep its scholarship athletes passing, so failures were vanishingly rare.

And if, against all that, someone still flunked out?

Then it came down to one of two things. Either the athlete had given up his scholarship — or the school had given up on him.

“Flawless.”

“Really?”

“Mm. At this level, you might even pull an A+.”

“That's great to hear.”

“What are you projecting for the semester?”

“At least a 3.7. That's the floor I want.”

Georgia ran on a 4.0 scale, where 3.7 sat right around an A- — Excellent. The minimum threshold to keep a scholarship was a 2.3, C+ — Satisfactory, but I intended to stay above 3.7 for as long as I was in college.

I also had it in mind to re-enroll at Georgia after entering the NFL and settling into my career, to finish my remaining year and complete my degree. Plenty of NFL players actually did it.

For their own retirement, after all.

After handing in my exam, I stepped out of the SAA Center. There had been no morning practice today, which meant I'd been at a desk since first light — and my whole body felt sluggish and heavy from it.

First order of business: head over to Butts-Mehre.

Grab lunch there.

Get a massage, too.

Ding—

There was a girl I'd recently started exchanging messages with. A new photo had just gone up on her Instagram. I checked it out — and sent a DM.

The girl's name was Leimakamae Freitas.

Miss Hawaii Teen from last year.

She hailed from Kailua-Kona.

When her first message had come in, I had no idea who she was — turns out she'd been pretty famous on the island back in our high school days. These days she was enrolled at the University of Hawaii, majoring in the traditional Hawaiian language.

Ding—

Lei's reply arrived.

Trading DMs with Lei, I felt like I'd picked up one more reason to get back to Hawaii.

She had exams coming up soon, so I sent her a message of encouragement.

She answered with a heart emoji.

Phone in hand, I wandered back across campus.

Compared to August and September, the place was unmistakably fuller — more people, more life. A third wave of the pandemic was rolling through with the winter, but with self-quarantine recommendations shortened to ten days, it felt like the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠world was slowly learning to live alongside the disease. Vaccines were due to roll out soon, and we athletes — courtesy of a certain privilege — would be among the first in line.

Tragedy kept unfolding beyond our walls. But mourning it and moving forward were not mutually exclusive. We had to keep going.

“Hey, Moi.”

“Hey.”

A stranger whose name I didn't know threw me a friendly greeting, and I tossed back a quick reply and kept walking — that kind of thing.

It was Monday of SEC Championship week.

The feeling still hadn't quite settled in.

#. December 15, 2020

#-1. Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA

#-2. University of Alabama

#-3. Thomas-Drew Practice Fields

From the moment the SEC Championship matchup against Georgia was locked in, Alabama's players had been burning with fighting spirit. It was a chance to avenge their earlier defeat — and, just as much, a chance to humble the insolent nose of one Dwayne Moi Stone, the man behind that Mac Jones Who? remark.

An underdog's fire simmered across the entire team.

Nick Saban found it deeply satisfying.

“Losing always stings, but it's never purely a bad thing. There are lessons a win will never teach you.”

“Everybody's champing at the bit, Coach.”

“I know. Which is exactly why we have to manage it.”

Nine wins, one loss.

Third in the AP rankings.

Since falling to Georgia, Alabama had torn through five straight games at an average of 49.8 points scored and 10.0 allowed — a flawless balance of offense and defense.

The defensive transformation, in particular, had been dramatic. Over that stretch, they had become the stingiest scoring defense in NCAA D1.

Pete Golding — who until then had shown no spark beyond multi-looks and blitz adjustments — unveiled a startlingly improved defensive scheme, and the Alabama defense of the second half of the season was an entirely different animal. The defenders who took the field played faster and more aggressively than before, each of them visibly playing with a defined purpose.

A defensive unit that had once felt like scattered grains of sand.

Now it moved like a single organism.

This SEC Championship would be different.

That was Nick Saban's conviction.

And on offense —

“Mac's focus is remarkable right now.”

“He's fully awakened.”

“Yes, sir.”

Setting aside the 54% he posted against Georgia, Mac Jones had hit at least a 66% completion rate in every other game he'd played.

As if to prove with his whole body how absurd the perception of him had become, Mac Jones had played like the best quarterback in the NCAA across the six games since the Georgia loss.

Which was exactly why this game mattered to him all the more.

His standing as a surefire first-round pick had wobbled. To restore his rightful place, he had to make amends for that mistake.

And what made that possible was victory.

And a flawless performance.

Fortunately, Alabama currently had two offensive weapons performing at a level the word "incredible" couldn't contain.

Running back Najee Harris.

And wide receiver DeVonta Smith.

DeVonta Smith in particular was rated, alongside Dwayne Moi Stone, as the player closest to this year's Heisman Trophy.

And Nick Saban believed this:

Weighing both teams' recent form, their defenses, everything — the game would be decided above all by the quality of the weapons available to the quarterback tasked with punching through it.

His pride had been scraped once already.

There would be no second time.

Nick Saban's Alabama — out to seize the twin rabbits of revenge and victory in a single bound — was deep in relentless training right now.

All to be the one smiling last.

#. December 16, 2020

#-1. New York City, New York, USA

#-2. CBS Headquarters

#-3. Sports Division, Main Conference Room

As it did every year, CBS would carry this year's SEC Championship Game. Expected to comfortably clear the 11.8 TV rating set back in 2009, the game was, in a sense, drawing more attention than CBS's own national championship broadcasts.

The Alabama Crimson Tide — champions of the inaugural SEC Championship (1992), and the program with the most all-time title game appearances at thirteen.

Georgia, meanwhile, didn't make its first SEC Championship appearance until 2002, and this Sunday would mark its ninth trip to the final.

Narrow the window to post-2015, though, and the two teams met a neat parity: this would be each program's fourth SEC Championship Game.

“The storied power. And the rising one.”

“….”

“….”

“Let's build the narrative that way. If Nick Saban turned Alabama — a traditional SEC powerhouse — into the best team in the NCAA, then focus on how Kirby Smart, who worked under that very Nick Saban, has dragged his team to the SEC Championship four straight years since 2017. What do you think?”

“Not bad.”

“Actually pretty solid.”

CBS's SEC staff had gathered for a meeting to produce the promotional video, which would be edited over the next two days. The rivalry frame they chose would determine the pre-game buzz — and with TV viewership projected to hit an all-time high, the promo's importance had never been greater.

Once the basic frame — storied power versus rising power — was settled, the group latched onto one more fact.

Specifically:

“Georgia has never beaten Alabama in the SEC Championship. They fell 28:32 in 2012, and lost 28:35 in 2018. Lean into the number 28. Frame it like it's Georgia's ceiling. And above all, make people remember the 2018 loss. Make it feel like a saga, like drama. Because Georgia led that game 28:14 — and couldn't survive the final eighteen minutes.”

The fifty-one-yard touchdown pass Tua Tagovailoa dropped into the arms of Jaylen Waddle.

The ten-yard touchdown strike Jalen Hurts and Jerry Jeudy connected on with 5:19 left on the clock.

Georgia then got its chance to close out the game, only to hand possession back to Alabama barely 2:15 later — and with 1:04 remaining, Jalen Hurts punched in a fifteen-yard touchdown.

For Alabama fans, a comeback win that would live long in memory. For Georgia fans, a nightmare they'd give anything to forget.

After putting that history under the lights first, the screen suddenly cut to October 17th of this year.

“Dig up the most jaw-dropping plays Moi recorded that day and splice a few of them together. Then close on his latest interview. Mac Jones Who? — after milking Mac Jones's misery, this time you roll out his brilliance, play after play. So, everything after the Georgia game. You following me? At the end of the day, football has to be about the quarterbacks. Establish the coach-versus-coach, quarterback-versus-quarterback axes, cut in quick hits of the key players, swing back to the coaches, and finish on the quarterback matchup. Good. Get moving on it now.”

Their first cut had just been rejected by the higher-ups for "lacking vision and appeal" — which left them exactly sixteen hours on the clock.

While the video team scrambled, the broadcast crew that embodied SEC CBS was deep in its own review of the material.

Brad Nessler.

Gary Danielson.

Jamie Erdahl.

“The receivers are where it gets interesting.”

Brad Nessler looked up from his notes and spoke, flagging the detail that had caught his eye first.

“Alabama has a crystal-clear Plan A. Georgia's Plan A is a little thin, but they do everything well across the board. The question is whether we call that a scheme difference, or whether we tie it to the quarterback.”

Just as the voice of CBS college football had said, the two teams' receiver numbers told starkly different stories.

Alabama held a hammer in DeVonta Smith (15 receiving touchdowns — 2nd) and Najee Harris (22 rushing touchdowns — 1st). Georgia, by contrast, spread its production evenly across a crowd of players.

A difference so clean it was almost funny.

On top of that, Georgia had racked up 13 receiving touchdowns at tight end, where Alabama managed only 4.

“How about we build the segment around that axis, Gary?”

“Interesting. Yeah, I think it works.”

Once the broadcast crew settled the broad strokes, the script staff would flesh out the details afterward. The script would be delivered to the play-by-play man and the analyst the day before the broadcast — and also fed into the teleprompter on game day itself.

A meeting running at full tilt.

CBS, too, was buzzing in the final days before the game.

#. December 17, 2020

#-1. Athens, Georgia, USA

#-2. University of Georgia

#-3. Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall

#-4. Quarterback Room

Since October 31st, Alabama had allowed just 7.2 points per game — the lowest mark in NCAA D1.

Remembering what that defense had looked like when we faced them a couple of weeks back, it was no exaggeration to call this a total overhaul. A completely different team.

Changes in the midfield zones. Fluidity along the middle of the field. Player rotation.

A great many things had clearly shifted — and all of them had produced real results on the field.

But a weakness remained.

For example:

“I've been saying it for a while — we need to attack number 13.”

“The freshman, you mean.”

“Yes, sir. We should target wherever he lines up.”

Alabama's cornerback Malachi Moore had a weakness in lateral movement then, and he still had it now. He knew it himself, which was why he played deeper than a typical corner — and even so, a simple double move up top shook him loose and surrendered easy position.

Pickens and Jordan should carve him up without breaking a sweat.

“What plays do we have for that?”

“Spider 2-3 X-Corner. Trips Nasty formation with an X Swell Shadow. I-Hug X 18 Force Z Dart.”

“Hmm. All of them look solid.”

“Yes, sir. A few of them should work fine as audibles too.”

“Swell Shadow looks the best.”

“Yes, sir.”

Two days until kickoff.

Today and tomorrow were for final preparation.

Thankfully, the game ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was being played in Atlanta — so we could train through tomorrow evening and travel after.

Alexi had messaged me yesterday saying she'd be coming to watch and cheering me on. I read it and left it at that — no reply. I'd blocked her, so I'd wondered how she'd even managed to message me. Apparently she'd changed her number.

Anyway.

At today's quarterback meeting we ranked ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the coaches' pre-built schemes by priority and flagged anything that needed revision or additions, to be handed down to the team at tomorrow's morning session.

Because the plays we'd use kept shifting like this, football demanded more meetings than any other sport on earth.

Two hours, every single day.

Some days, three.

But me?

Mine ran as long as five.

Today we were already four hours and twenty minutes deep.

“Alright. Next one.”

Click.

“….”

The quarterback meeting ground on.

And with every slide, the SEC Championship drew one step closer to being real.