Did he pee his pants?

I called my mom this morning. I asked her, "Is he still smiling?" She said, "Let me look . . . yes." Next, I said, "Did he pee his pants?" She said, "Willie, did you pee your pants?" I heard Willie say something in the background. My mom's voice came back on the phone and she said, "almost."

Why all the excitement?Short story: Willie got to dress varsity for Hunter's first game of the season (against Kearns). During the last 2:16 of the game, Hunter had a strong lead (ended up winning 24-7), so they sent in a new O-line. Willie got to play left tackle for a few plays!

Long story: Monday was the last day I got to cart Willie from football to home and back. I reported to school on Tuesday and my summer duty had to come to an end. When I picked him up on Monday morning from practice he was pretty bummed. He said he had to be back up there in a couple of hours even though 2-a-days ended the week before. I asked why and he told me that the coaches told him to come back for the varsity practice. I told him that was cool, but all he could say was, "but I'm so tired." So all week long, Willie and a few other sophomores continued going to both the sophomore practices and the varsity practices. I think he literally had 8 hours of football every day this week. Crazy!

On Thursday night, we stopped by my mom and dad's for a minute to give James a job interview pep talk. Willie came home while we were there (granted it was after 8:00 and he had been at the school since 2:00) and he was sporting a new outfit and a smile wider than his face. He showed off his new Hunter football t-shirt and shorts. The shorts have his number on them - #74. My mom says, "Where is the rest of your stuff?" Willie giggles and says, "I even got a locker and now I can leave my pads there." Wow! He continued to tell us about practice, the team dinner, and the football testimony meeting afterwards. Weird.

He said, "I'm nervous. What if I actually have to play?" We all told him, "Don't worry. You probably won't get in. Just be glad to be there." I guess we were wrong.

And how did he do? After 400 years of my life spent watching football, I still just don't get it. I don't really know what each position is supposed to do and I really, honestly cannot tell you after a game if my brother is doing well or not. Is he supposed to hit that guy or the other guy? Is it okay that someone got passed him that time? Is he supposed to keep following that guy? I'll never get it. I think he did okay, though. He looked nice on the sidelines!