Your Chance

Prologue

Carrie watched as Harrison jogged out to midfield, his teammates following. He was their leader, and they were only one win away from their second Super Bowl in two years.

Harrison shook hands with the official, then the quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Ben Roethlisberger. He stepped back and awaited the results of the coin toss. The official nodded a response to Harrison before indicating that Pittsburgh would receive the ball.

She continued to watch as he ran back to the sidelines, fastening the chinstraps on his light grey helmet. His team, the Dallas Cowboys made it to their second straight Super Bowl. This year, the Cowboys defense preformed above expectations, the coach giving Harrison more authority to call and switch the plays.

The opening kickoff concluded and Carrie watched with a smile as her number 56 headed out to hopefully lead the Cowboys to another Super Bowl victory.

The defense set up, Harrison pacing around the line of scrimmage as he always does. The Steelers quarterback began waving his arms around, shouting for receivers and tight ends to set up in a new formation. Harrison mimicked him, setting the Cowboys defense up in the dime package.

The center snapped the ball, both offense and defense battling in front of the quarterback. Carrie lost track of Harrison for a second, but finally spotted his light green sleeve, not blending in with his white jersey and light blue pants. He kept running towards the quarterback and Carrie found herself standing and cheering with the rest of the crowd as he tackled Big Ben for a sack.

The next play the Steelers ran, Harrison positioned himself as a cornerback instead of his normal linebacker position. He was guarding Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown. Brown was fast, but Carrie had no doubt that her Harrison could keep up with him.

Brown took off down the sidelines and Harrison followed closely behind. He could see the ball coming from the corner of his eye as he ran side by side with Brown. The ball came closer and Harrison slowed up, careful not to touch Brown or he could be called for pass interference. He slowly jumped, twisting in mid air, his feet touching the turf as the football pressed into his chest.

Harrison ran toward the Cowboys end zone, the ball pressed tightly into his side. He avoided several tacklers before stepping foot in the Cowboys end zone for the first touchdown of the Super Bowl!

•••

Carrie stood, waving a Cowboys flag for what would most likely be the last play of the game. The Cowboys were down 4 at the Steelers 40 yard line with 7 seconds left on the clock.

Harrison ran out, joining the Cowboys offense in the tight end position. Carrie watched him on the huge screen that stretched almost the whole length of the field in AT&T Stadium.

He set up, his foot just behind the line of scrimmage. The ball was snapped and he shot down the field, all the way to the end zone.

It happened in slow motion. He jumped up, the defender tackling him in mid air, and the ball tucked securely in his hands behind the defenders back. Harrison dragged his toes as he was being brought down out of bounds. He stood, looking at the official with both arms raised and spiked the ball.

He was about to start his touchdown dance when the referee picked a yellow flag off the turf. "Pass interference, number 25 on the defense. The penalty is declined. Touchdown."

Harrison jumped up into the crowd. The Cowboys had won the 2013 Super Bowl! He slid down the wall, taking a Terrible Towel with him, and ripping it in half as he ran to join his teammates for a celebration.

Carrie yelled along with the rest of the crowd, joining in with the Harrison chant. "HARRISON! HARRISON!"

When she was finally allowed on the field, she ran up to him, gasping as he let her hold the Lombardi Trophy. "Are you serious?"

"Yes," he answered, placing the trophy in her hands.

He was handed a championship hat, which he immediately placed on her head, slowly pulling her hair through the hole.

Carrie handed the trophy back to him, and he raised it up one more time before handing it to the nearest teammate to pick her up instead.

She wrapped her arms around him as best she could with all his padding. "I'm a real winner," he said.

"Yeah, two Super Bowls that's amazing!"

"Well yes, but I've won with you. You've come to every single one of my games, never missing one for the world. Thank you."

Carrie smiled, pressing her forehead against his. "I love you," she said before kissing him.

"I love you too."