The Guy Named Harrison: Book One

66

The Panthers hosted the Packers this afternoon. Next week they hosted the Buccaneers on Christmas Eve. Then it was Christmas. Both his parents and brother, as well as her mom and Todd, were coming to North Carolina for Christmas. Carrie had the best Christmas present for him. It was so hard to keep it a secret, but she had to see his reaction on Christmas morning.

The Packers were giving Harrison and the defense some trouble this afternoon. The usual shut down defense from the Panthers had yet to be seen. All throughout the game, the lead had been going back and forth between both teams until now, with less than two minutes left in the game, it was tied at 17.

Aaron Rodgers was leading the Packers right down the field once again. The atmosphere of Bank of America Stadium was very uptight. Fans were sitting on their hands, hoping the Panthers could pull this one out. If they couldn't, there went the chance at the undefeated season. They already won the NFC South, and secured the number one seed in the playoffs, but the undefeated season still remained.

Back on the field, Harrison called a timeout after the Packers picked up another first down. He called all the guys in a huddle.

"I don't know what you guys think, but we're not playing the best we can play right now. Is that right?"

Many of his teammates nodded. "I don't want to lose this game. Do you?"

There was a response of heads shaking. "Who cares about the possible undefeated season? I think we're allowing our record to put too much pressure on us. Right now, our 13-0 record doesn't matter. This game is what matters. We gotta play this game like it's our last, like it's the Super Bowl, or the game to get into the playoffs."

He quickly looked over his shoulder to see the Packers offense in a huddle of their own. "We're better than them. Hands down. It's time to go out there and show the world. LET'S GO!"

They all clapped hands as the Packers huddle dispensed as well. Both teams set up at the line of scrimmage. Just like always, Harrison read the play and shouted it to the rest of the defense.

The Packers ran the ball. Harrison got blocked by the right guard who opened up a hole for the running back. Luke and David were there and able to keep him to a small gain.

Meanwhile, Harrison shoved the lineman's arms off himself. It was an obvious hold the refs didn't see. The guy was pulling him by his jersey.

He jogged back to the huddle and delivered the next play. The Panthers were able to stop another run and pass to put the Packers at 4th & long with only 3 seconds left in the game.

They brought out the field goal unit. This time, Harrison stayed out on the field and jogged all the way down to the end zone. It would be a 55-yard field goal attempt, with the wind blowing into the kicker.

He watched as the kick sailed towards the goalposts. All of a sudden, a gust of wind blew hard, causing the ball to come down before it had a chance to go through. Harrison caught it in the back of the end zone.

He was off in a full sprint along the sidelines. Up ahead, the rest of the special teams unit was blocking for him. Harrison was through the blocks his teammates set up for him when he encountered the first unblocked Packer.

Harrison quickly spun around him and was hit by the next player. He tried to spin once again, and was able to make it out of the players reach as yet another one ran up on his side.

He won this one with pure strength. As the guy came in for the tackle, Harrison stiff armed him and knocked him to the ground.

Then it was a clear shot to the end zone. He ran as fast as he could until he was within a few feet of the goal line. Harrison did a flip and landed on his feet inside the end zone. Then he spiked the ball as the Panthers team stormed the field and ran down to the end zone.