The Guy Named Harrison: Book One

93

It was Tuesday morning. The last practice before the Panthers left for Minneapolis. And they had quite the turnout at practice.

They even moved practice inside Bank of America Stadium to accommodate all the people that showed. Every time someone made a catch, or a block, or Harrison simply moved, the crowd cheered so loud it felt like they were playing a game.

Carrie was loving the experience. They weren't even in Minneapolis yet and she could feel the Super Bowl energy coming from everyone. The entire staff was excited, the excitement was clear in the players, and even the coaches were pumped up.

She loved her job here in Charlotte. First that came with meeting Harrison. Then she got to experience the excitement of a competitive team. Carrie never covered a team in the postseason until she came to work for the Panthers. And now to be able to follow her fiancé and his team to a Super Bowl. That was so exciting.

Carrie took a couple pictures to finish up practice before the guys headed into the locker room to pack. She spotted Harrison run over to the wall beside the tunnel and climb it until he fell back in the crowd.

People immediately began patting him on the back, on the helmet, and one lady put her arm around his waist. Carrie couldn't help but smile as she took a picture of it. Her smile widened when he pulled his phone out of the pocket of his sweatpants and took a selfie with all the people around him.

Harrison jumped down. He then found a sharpie in his pocket and began to sign a few autographs. As Carrie walked past behind him, he quickly unstrapped his helmet and handed it to her.

"Thanks," he said with a smile as she walked by.

Then his attention turned back to all the autographs awaiting him. "Can we get a picture?" Somebody asked.

He handed the football back to where it came from and climbed the wall again. The fans gave him some help this time as he sat on the edge and took a few pictures.

"Good luck next weekend," somebody beside him said.

"Thank you."

Harrison was handed a jersey. It was his black jersey with the Super Bowl 52 logo on the right side. Since he was the team captain and they had to travel further than the Steelers, they got to choose what jerseys they wanted to wear as well as if they wanted to be home or away. The team chose home and Harrison chose their black and grey jerseys for the game, just like they wore two years ago.

After signing a few more autographs, he jumped down and jogged into the locker room to pack his things.

❺❾

Carrie was almost done packing when Harrison got home from practice. He hauled in two huge duffel bags before heading upstairs to find Carrie rattling things off to herself.

"Laptop, iPad, camera, laptop charger, phone and iPad charger, camera charger plus batteries, memory cards, lenses, card reader, tripod, and strap."

Then she moved to another bag. "Hats, three pairs of sweatpants, coat, jeans, Harrison's jersey, shirts, sweatshirts, gloves, socks, shoes, underwear, bras, brush, toothpaste and toothbrush, glasses, contacts, another pair of extra contacts, contact solution, the essentials, makeup, boots, dog food, and make sure Harrison packs everything."

"Geez, are we moving?"

Carrie spun around. "For a week and a half, yes."

She asked, "did you pack everything?"

"Almost there."

Harrison stole her list and looked it over, hoping it could jog his memory of something he may have forgotten.

"What's the essentials?"

Carrie just looked at him. "Do you really not know?"

He shook his head. "Tell me."

She didn't answer right away so he asked, "does this have to do with you getting moody during certain days?"

"Yes it does."

"Oh. Okay then."

Carrie gave him a playful punch as she walked by. "Get used to it. We might have a daughter."