The Underdogs

By the end of the week, Will’s joy turns to worry. Even with himself, Tim, and others recruited from last year’s team, there are only 10 players. They cannot convince any other boy in the seventh grade to join. Worse, they have lost Bobby Carrington, their quarterback, and his father, Mr. Carrington, who coached their team. Mr. Carrington is moving the family so he can take a banking job in Toledo, Ohio. Another player, Carlos, intends to play soccer for Castle Rock instead of football for Forbes. A boy named Brendon cannot play due to a broken arm. Will, Tim, Jeremiah, and Chris meet at Will’s house to eat pizza and brainstorm solutions. They each provide reasons why their own fathers can’t coach, and they cannot think of other options. Will’s father stops in to encourage their efforts but offers no real help.

Will visits Toby Keenan, a former teammate. Toby played on the team two years ago, but he walked off the field mid-game as a result of his own father’s bullying comments from the stands. Toby’s father, Dick Keenan, was a mean, aggressive guard on Joe Tyler’s team in high school. Dick consistently badgered his son, wanting him to emulate his aggression. Instead of allowing his father to goad him into embracing a mean-spirited approach to athletics, Toby left the game and never returned. Will implores Toby to reconsider, reminding him what a good and valuable player he was. Toby declines Will’s request but thanks him for asking.

Will turns his attention to the task of finding a new coach. He prepares to meet this challenge by thinking through football games in which losing teams had, at the last moment, won against overwhelming odds. During one such game, the Philadelphia Eagles scored 28 points in the last seven-and-a-half minutes and won against the New York Giants.

Will’s father is sore from working on his bad leg at the gym. Regardless, Will shares a rehearsed argument about why his father should coach the team, citing his father’s skill and passion for the game. Will further states that his father should not let fear stop him from allowing football back into his life.

Will’s father is unconvinced. He provides a host of reasons why he cannot coach, including his busy schedule. Will is undeterred and continues his rehearsed argument, saying “[W]e talk all the time about getting back up after you get knocked down […]. I just think that when it comes to football […] it’s time you got back up” (90).

His father heads up the stairs. By the time he reaches the top, he agrees to coach the team. Will rushes up to hug him.

Will goes to Shea Stadium alone to practice. Hannah arrives, and after some good-natured trash talking, they practice passes and kicks. Eventually, Hannah asks to join the team. Will is shocked; he knows no one among his teammates, his new coach, his town, or the league officials would permit it. Hannah, however, claims the rules for the league say nothing about gender. Will admits she is good enough to play but still insists she cannot join because she is a girl. Hannah pushes the ball out of his arms and says, “You’re the girl” (104). Then she leaves.

That Saturday, Will and the team meet for the first practice with his father as coach. He notices that his father wears an old pair of Forbes Flyers football cleats. Joe Tyler tells the team that they should practice as if they might play with only 10 players instead of 11. Before they start practicing, he outlines practice sequences and asks the boys to name the team. Will suggests the name “Bulldogs,” which they like. After a few hours of skills work, Will makes a touchdown, ending their five-on-five scrimmage.

Hannah, angry with Will, refuses to engage with him at school. Unable to deny her talent any longer, he approaches his father about letting a girl try out. His father initially refuses on the grounds that it would be unsafe for her. Eventually, though, Will talks him into seeing what Hannah can do. Hannah meets them at the stadium with her ball. After seeing her pass, punt, and kick, Will’s father allows her to join the team—as long as her parents and the other boys agree to let her play.

Hannah reminds Joe that he is the coach, and he can choose to add her to the team regardless of what the other players think. Joe disagrees and says it would be better for everyone if the boys accepted her without being forced to do so.