From his birth, Red Arrow Jr. knew what he wanted to do with his life. He has had one goal his entire life, and he has stuck to that goal from day one. There is nothing else that he was going to do with his life, and he knew from the beginning that he was going to play football, no matter what. For Red, it was not a choice, or an option, it was a given. In this first episode chronicling the entire football career of Red Arrow Jr., we will take a look at some of his earliest football days, and see where all of his success truly began.
But first, let’s take a step back.
Back in the S21 days, Red Arrow dazzled the then NSFL (now ISFL) with his skills. From unmatched speed, to fantastic agility and amazing hands, Arrow was a star wide receiver in the league that he loved. Arrow had quite the journey to get to the NSFL. He started as a quarterback at Georgia Tech, which at the time was not a football school in any sense of the matter. Arrow had a great career in college, turning around a low football program into one of the top ACC schools. Arrow only lost six games in his collegiate career, an astounding fact considering Georgia Tech had lost seven games the season prior to his debut. Arrow came into college with high regards, winning Mr. Ohio in his senior season and a certified five-star product, who chose GT because they had hired the former coach from Ohio State, Urban Meyer.
Even though Arrow found fantastic success at Georgia Tech, the consensus around the league was that his skill set would not quite transfer to success in the pros. He was a very fast quarterback, and had some of the top speed at the quarterback position, but his arm had many question marks. At the NSFL Pro Combine, Arrow struggled with accuracy and the deep ball, and the rough performance tanked Arrow’s draft stock quite dramatically. After a long discussion with his agent, Arrow made the tough decision to switch to wide receiver, a position he had long loved, but had not had much of any experience with. Arrow had played quarterback since he was in middle school, a small kid who just happened to be athletic enough to make up for any other specific skills.
After switching to wide receiver and having a new workout, which many teams attended, Arrow was drafted in the later round to the Kansas City Coyotes. There, Arrow found himself a really solid career in the two seasons he spent down in the minors. Arrow transitioned from a number two receiver to a top receiver in the minor leagues, as his speed and natural athleticism that was more well suited to his new position rather than his former. Arrow loved his time on the Coyotes, and according to him it was “some of the best memories he has had in the league.”
When it came time to get drafted into the big leagues, Arrow was a semi high pick to the Colorado Yetis. As a member of the Yeti’s, Arrow was a certified top 30 receiver, a solid number two on a really successful team. Arrow gelled very well to the Yetis scheme and it was mutually beneficial to the team and to him. However, it was here that Arrow’s injury troubles began to set in. Arrow’s rookie season came to a rough end in the first round of the playoffs when he tore his ACL in a horrific non-contact injury that shook the league. In his sophomore season, he was forced to sit out for two weeks due to a concussion from an illegal hit to the head from a defender on the punt return. After his second concussion of the season three weeks later, Arrow was taken out of punt return duties to protect his health.
Even with his injury troubles, Arrow continued to succeed in the league. He was consistently featured in highlight reels with his amazing catches and in his third campaign he was a top 10 receiver in terms of catches, receiving yards, and touchdowns. Arrow’s touchdown celebration went viral and he gained dozens of sponsorships that season. It was also that season that he had his son, Red Arrow Jr. Unfortunately, his football career meant that he could not be around for the first couple years of Junior’s life, but Arrow Sr. still persevered and continued chasing his goals as a complete wide receiver.
In what would end up being his final season in the NSFL, Arrow started the season on fire. He scored touchdowns in the first five games of the season, and led the Yetis to an undefeated start. However in the sixth game, a familiar sight happened, and that was a concussion after another amazing touchdown grab. Arrow was knocked out cold and removed from the field via a stretcher. The good news was the injury was not as bad as it appeared. It was, however, another concussion and this one forced Arrow onto the injury reserve for the remainder of the regular season. However, the Yetis continued on without him, and clung onto a playoff spot after a clutch win in the final seconds of the final game of the season. As the bottom seed in the league, there was a lot stacked against the Yetis in the playoffs, but thankfully Arrow was cleared to play in the playoffs.
In the first game in the playoffs, Arrow’s presence was immediately felt. He led off the game with an 80 yard touchdown grab, and led the team to a stunning upset of the top team in the league, who had been undefeated up until that point. It was at that moment that Arrow and the rest of his team knew that something special was going to happen, they knew that their team had something different. In the second round of the playoffs, they continued their dominance and easily won their game to advance to the next round. After the game Arrow reportedly had some light dizziness and a small headache, but he kept it to himself to help the team keep winning, as the team was undefeated that season when he was in the lineup.
The Yeti just kept on rolling, and they ended up in the Ultimus against their stark rival. In this game, it was clearly the Red Arrow show, as he dominated with 9 catches, 140 yards, and three touchdowns to win the MVP of the game. Arrow led his team to the ultimate prize, the goal they had all worked so hard to achieve. It was the greatest moment for every single player on the roster, and it called for a hearty celebration. Hours after the game had ended, the team was still celebrating the huge victory in the locker room. Exactly four hours after the game ended, Red Arrow collapsed in the locker room.
Red Arrow was immediately taken into the hospital, as he was not responsive for a couple minutes. The entire team was worried sick for the teammate who had battled so hard with them for the whole season. Arrow was in the hospital for over a week, and his health varied from good to decent condition. He was never close to death, something that made the team very happy to hear. In the end, it was revealed that the multiple concussions Arrow had suffered in the past two years had caused his condition to worsen dramatically. Every tackle he felt had made it worse, and the Ultimus game had been his breaking point.
Unsurprisingly, the doctors quickly told Arrow the bad news, and that was that his career as a football player was over. They told him that he could not safely play football for the rest of his life, as any hits to his helmet or neck area could end his life. This news shocked Arrow, and deeply troubled him for the rest of his life. He did not know what to do with himself without football, and he spent the next year searching for his next career choice. After a long thought and many deep talks and sleepless nights, Arrow decided to pursue a career in the other sport he had excelled at in high school, and that was baseball. Arrow was a star shortstop in high school, and he decided he would go back to the sport, after he did successfully get doctor’s clearance to continue playing baseball, with some minor precautions that protected his health.
Arrow then went and played a full and successful baseball career, winning several championships and eventually being inducted into his team’s hall of fame. However, it will always be a question of what could have been. However, the Arrow name was not done playing football forever, as this story is not the journey of Red Arrow Sr., but rather his son, Red Arrow Jr.
Red Arrow Jr. was born into football, quite literally. He was born inside of the Colorado Yeti’s stadium, during halftime of Week Four. His father was present for his birth, in his pads and sweaty and dirty from the game he was playing. Arrow Jr. was born and immediately dressed into a Yeti’s jersey, beginning the connection that Arrow Jr. and football would share for the rest of his life.
Arrow Jr. began playing football basically as soon as he could consistently walk without tripping over himself. He was signed up for a youth camp when he was only three years old, and he immediately took to football, or at least as much as a kid at his age could. When he was old enough to play flag football, of course he was signed up for it. He was placed on the Yeti’s, a fitting team that was most likely an intentional choice by the higher-ups of the league. Arrow, like most kids at that age, rotated around the field and played a variety of positions. He had a solid introduction into the game of football, as even from this young age he had so much raw athleticism that he quickly turned into one of the better players in the league. His favorite position at this point was quarterback, although his coach’s son played quarterback, so he saw a lot of time at his father’s position of wide receiver. Despite Arrow’s pleas to play the quarterback position, the coach stood his ground and defended his choice, citing that he assumed Arrow would want to play the same position that his dad currently played.
As a young child, this really upset Arrow. He hated playing wide receiver as a young kid, probably mostly because a young quarterback could not make the throw to him, even after he ran fantastic athletic routes and breezed by the corners and safeties. Arrow Jr. hated playing wide receiver, and even as this young kid who had not yet played a single down of tackle football, Arrow vowed to never again play wide receiver.
For the next couple of years, Arrow Jr. floated around the field, playing every position from strong safety to offensive line. He was pretty much the best player on his team at every position for every year up until middle school. He could choose whatever position he wanted to play on any given day or even specific drive or play, and the coach would let him do this because it made the team very strong as a whole.
The real story of Arrow Jr. and his football career begins when he finally reached junior high. Middle school represents the awkward years as a child begins to transition into some real responsibilities, as they start hitting puberty and begin to grow and mature as a person and in their respective sport. Arrow Jr. was always a very small kid, and as others began to grow several inches over the summer leading into his seventh grade year, Arrow Jr. failed to hit a large growth spurt and remained smaller than most of his peers. He did not mind this too much, but it was something he noticed when looking around at all of his teammates and friends and he kept this in the back of his mind as he continued to play sports.
When Arrow Jr. first stepped foot onto the small middle school turf practice field on a cold Ohio day, he was immediately met with a very large assistant coach with a very large stomach on him. This coach was one of many who knew who Arrow Jr.’s father was, and he knew he could push Arrow because of this. He slapped Arrow Jr. with his nickname, “Junior,” partly because of his surname and partly because of his smaller stature. “Junior,” as he was known as from this point on, did not hate the nickname, although it would certainly take some getting used to.
When the coach asked who played quarterback, Arrow’s hand immediately shot up into the air, even though it was probably the position that Arrow had played the least out of every position on the football field. Naturally, he was not the only kid to raise his hand, as there were probably four other kids that also raised their hands when the question was asked. Arrow took a look around at the other kids, and he smiled to himself, because he knew he was more athletic than all of them combined and was confident that he could easily take the starting quarterback role, and he knew he would never give up that role for as long as he continued to play this game of football.
The coach took all of the kids who raised their hand to play quarterback into a corner of the field, and began working on them with some footwork drills and some general throwing technique. Arrow Jr. instantly took to these drills at a much faster and much stronger pace than the rest of the kids. It was immediately obvious to anyone watching that Arrow Jr. was the superior quarterback on the field that day. By the end of that very first practice, “Junior” was named the starting quarterback, and the other kids were told that they could fight for a chance to be the backup quarterback, and possibly get their chance after Arrow had played, if he struggled.
Normally, telling a kid that young that he was already the starter and giving him all of the power would make them complacent, and they would struggle to find the drive to improve, but that was not Junior. Instead, giving him the starting role this early fired him up and gave him supreme confidence to work even harder. Arrow Jr. was dedicated to his craft and was determined to be the greatest starting quarterback that the middle school had ever seen. Arrow Jr. was always seen at the practice facility, or in his makeshift weight room in his garage that his father had helped him construct, or with his private quarterback coach who he had personally asked himself to see and start working with. His quarterback coach was not used to working with kids that young, and was taken aback by the request to start taking private lessons, but after one lesson the coach saw something special in Junior, and decided to keep working with him to get him to where he could eventually be.
When the season finally rolled around, Arrow was already a much better quarterback than when he was named as a starter. In his first game, on the first play of the season, he pump faked a throw then ran 80 yards down the length of the field for a quick touchdown to start the season off with a blast. From there, Arrow only continued to impress. Every Saturday that he stepped out onto the field, he was dominant and clearly a step above everyone else on the field. Since it was only middle school, many of the stats and records were not tracked, so the exact numbers are unclear, but those around the school are very confident that Arrow shattered almost every record for an offensive player, including rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. It was a fantastic rookie campaign for the young middle schooler who somehow seemed to improve every game he played.
When eighth grade rolled around, it was just more of the same for Arrow Jr., who at this point had already become somewhat accustomed to this routine of success that he had developed. He was always doing something football related, whether it was watching the blurry tapes of the games that were recorded by his mother sitting at the top of the small bleachers at his football games, or doing some workouts recommended to him specifically from his father’s ISFL strength coach, who had already formed a strong bond with Arrow Jr., or it was him studying his diet and trying to make his eating habits as efficient and as effective as possible. Arrow’s dedication truly was unmatched at this young age, and it showed when Arrow somehow performed even better than he did the year before against much, much stiffer competition. Arrow was clearly above middle school football, and he instantly set his sights on his next goal, becoming the varsity quarterback as a freshman, something that was unheard of at the time, especially at the very large school district that Arrow happened to go to school at.
When the summer before his freshman year began, Arrow immediately started attending the summer workouts and practices that were open to all high school students. It was definitely a whole lot tougher than the easy workouts at the middle school level, but Arrow Jr. was more than prepared for it from his plentiful experience doing his own home workouts. Arrow Jr. had managed to condition himself wonderfully and already was more in shape than many of the high school students, including the seasoned juniors and seniors that were very used to the program and the high expectations of the football team. The current starting quarterback on the team was a rising senior who had been a two year starter and was a tireless worker as well. Arrow Jr. took careful note of every single action that the starter did, and every movement he made was noticed by Arrow. Arrow tried to match the starter in every single aspect of his life, and worked as hard as possible to match up to the starter who’s place seemed solidified as a third year starter.
Arrow’s work never stopped throughout the long and hot summer that seemed to drag on forever. After two months of hard non-stop work, Arrow was placed into a practice group with the Junior Varsity squad. As a freshman, this was quite good and not typical for any player, so it was in fact quite the accomplishment for Arrow, yet Arrow was far from satisfied with this move. After two days of practice on the junior varsity team, where Arrow saw he was far and away the starting quarterback on this team, he went to the coaches office to ask for an unprecedented request. Arrow went in to respectfully demand that he be a part of the varsity team. Arrow Jr. came in with a strong argument, he pointed out his skillset and how it could be used on the varsity level, even if it was not in a starting role, he said he could take a Taysom Hill role and do anything to help the team win, he did not need to be held to a strictly quarterback role on the team. He also pointed out how he had already excelled on the junior varsity level, and he felt that there was no growth left for him at the level, and he was ready to help the team win. The coach was astounded by Arrow’s argument. He was not expecting a freshman to argue to be put on varsity, especially one who was already in a nice role as a starting quarterback as a freshman, with a clear timeline ahead of him to be starting by next season. But Arrow was different, and he was not happy with simply being a junior varsity quarterback throwing away his season wasting away with the players who are not good enough to play at the varsity level.
The coach told Arrow to leave the room and he would have an answer for him in 24 hours. After a lot of mulling it over by the coach with the rest of the coaching staff, they decided that Arrow’s request was fair and warranted, so they promoted Arrow to the varsity roster a mere 20 hours after Arrow’s original meeting. Arrow Jr. was very excited to get to work with the varsity roster and all of the really good player that were on the team. Arrow began by taking second team reps at quarterback, and he got a lot of work in that was really productive to his growth. Arrow also started taking some reps as a tailback/wildcat quarterback blend. Arrow’s natural athleticism and speed meant that he could be a running back quite easily, and he used this to his advantage as it allowed him to take the field more than he otherwise would have seen. Arrow was told that he was in a variety of plays in the scheme that would be ran on the first game of the season, and that he would be seeing the field in a variety of ways right from the beginning. This really excited Arrow, and he could hardly sleep for the whole week leading up to the big game.
When Friday night finally came around, it was time for the big game. Arrow’s high school was kicking off the season against a big division rival team, the team that knocked them out of the playoffs last season. Arrow was on the field for the kickoff, and when the ball was kicked off and Arrow’s teammate started his return, Arrow was right behind him. When the ball was punched out of the returner’s hands, Arrow was right there to lunge on to the ball to keep the possession in his teams hands. When Arrow jogged over to the sideline he was greeted with a slight head nod of approval from his head coach. Arrow knew at this point that he was ready to play. Arrow did not get on the field on the first drive, which was a drive that saw his team storm down the field before a red zone interception from the quarterback led to six points for the other team. However, on the next drive, Arrow was on the field for the first play. Arrow took the handoff from the QB and split through a hole created by the offensive linemen for a first down. That was the only play Arrow was on the field for, but his team did manage to string together a couple good plays and they ended the drive with a field goal. For the rest of the first half, Arrow saw three more plays, all as a running back, where he had about 50 yards, a great performance, but his team trailed by fourteen at the half.
The head coach told everyone that they needed to step up their game if they wanted this to be different from last year, but that he knew they had it in them to be able to win this game. When the next quarter started and Arrow’s team got the ball, they decided to do some trickery with some fun plays. They ran the Philly Special, a toss to Arrow who was motioning towards the quarterback, who passed it to the quarterback, who was wide open for a big gain. Arrow then took the handoff and burst through the outside for the first down and much more, as Arrow glided into the end zone untouched. The quarter back was first out next to Arrow to congratulate him for this moment, and just like that the team was back in the game.
The score stayed the same throughout the rest of the third quarter and the first half of the fourth quarter, but with two minutes left Arrow’s team got the ball back on their own 20 yard line with the chance to storm down the field and tie the game up. Arrow pleaded with his coach to be put in for the drive, but as the team ran down the field Arrow remained on the sideline. With one minute left a checkdown to the running back led to him twisting his ankle as he ran out of bounds, and instantly Arrow ran out onto the field to come in as the replacement. Arrow set up wide left of the quarterback and ran down the length of the field as a receiver. He was wide open, and the quarterback heaved a throw downfield, but it was plenty short of Arrow, and fell into the hands of a nearby safety, who picked the ball off and went down in a slide, sealing the victory for his team. Arrow and the rest of his team were devastated. They were so close to the big victory that they knew they needed so badly, but they had failed, and the failure was a group failure indeed. After the game, Arrow knew he would’ve been able to win the game for his team if he was in at quarterback, but he held back, not wanting to stir up controversy as a young freshman who had only played one game, albeit a great performance in that one game. Nevertheless, Arrow continued to work hard in practice and in the weightroom. Arrow took to every drill as if it were the Super Bowl and treated the weight room as if he were a professional lifter. He saw the gains on the field and in the gym very quickly and it was very apparent how Arrow had gained strength and skill at such a quick pace. He also took the time in the classroom to get the grades to stay on the field, as he easily got a 4.0 GPA and was one of the most intelligent players on the field at any time. Arrow would later say that his success in school really helped him on the field, as he felt he had the knowledge to play football and not just the skill.
On the field, Arrow continued to produce at his flex position, seeing the field in many different ways but playing well, as he had throughout his whole life. The starting quarterback was wildly inconsistent, with one game where he passed for over 400 yards, but the next game he would fail to cross 100 yards and would throw four interceptions. Slowly, Arrow began to get some first team reps during practice. At first, it was nothing major, just Arrow playing some snaps while the starter was getting treatment or taking a few snaps off. But slowly, as Arrow continued to do well in these circumstances, his playing time began to increase slowly during these practices. By week 8, the two quarterbacks were splitting time evenly during practice, yet it was Arrow who was not seeing any game time as a quarterback. That all changed during week nine, after a hard hit from a star defensive tackle left the starter with the wind knocked out of him.
When Arrow came into the game, still a small freshman, it was very clear that the opposing team assumed he was going to be mostly handing the ball off, with maybe a few read options. The team put a QB spy on Arrow and sent the house at him, blitzing what felt like twenty men to Arrow. After two failed attempts to hand the ball off, Arrow was given a play action pass. The play caught the defense totally out of position, and Arrow was easily able to connect deep to a wide open wide receiver for Arrow’s first touchdown. The crowd erupted in joy and Arrow was beyond happy, however when he came back to the bench he found the starting quarterback beginning to warm up again, and the head coach came over to Arrow to tell him personally that he was going to go back to the bench and the starter was going in.
Arrow’s team lost that game, and with that loss it looked as if they were not going to qualify for the state playoffs, something that had not happened to the team in over twenty years. After taking a close look at the schedule it was determined that they did not control their own destiny, however a win from them and a loss from one other team would put them in the playoffs. This was going to be one of the biggest games in the team’s recent history, and Arrow wanted to be at the helm for it.
Arrow burst into the coaches room yet again, and this time he was pleading to start. He exclaimed about how well he has played in limited time, and how inconsistent the quarterback had played over the course of the entire season. The coach told him that he was planning on starting Arrow, but the young freshman was on a very tight leash, and he would not be afraid to go back to the original starter at any moment. Arrow was ready for this moment and he knew it would be his time to shine. He took almost all of the first team reps during practice, and his teammates began to develop some confidence in him as a pass thrower and as a leader. Even though he was only a freshman, his skill and dedication had given him immense amounts of respect from his teammates. They knew he was ready for this moment, and they believed that they could win this game with Arrow as the starting quarterback.
To be continued...
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But first, let’s take a step back.
Back in the S21 days, Red Arrow dazzled the then NSFL (now ISFL) with his skills. From unmatched speed, to fantastic agility and amazing hands, Arrow was a star wide receiver in the league that he loved. Arrow had quite the journey to get to the NSFL. He started as a quarterback at Georgia Tech, which at the time was not a football school in any sense of the matter. Arrow had a great career in college, turning around a low football program into one of the top ACC schools. Arrow only lost six games in his collegiate career, an astounding fact considering Georgia Tech had lost seven games the season prior to his debut. Arrow came into college with high regards, winning Mr. Ohio in his senior season and a certified five-star product, who chose GT because they had hired the former coach from Ohio State, Urban Meyer.
Even though Arrow found fantastic success at Georgia Tech, the consensus around the league was that his skill set would not quite transfer to success in the pros. He was a very fast quarterback, and had some of the top speed at the quarterback position, but his arm had many question marks. At the NSFL Pro Combine, Arrow struggled with accuracy and the deep ball, and the rough performance tanked Arrow’s draft stock quite dramatically. After a long discussion with his agent, Arrow made the tough decision to switch to wide receiver, a position he had long loved, but had not had much of any experience with. Arrow had played quarterback since he was in middle school, a small kid who just happened to be athletic enough to make up for any other specific skills.
After switching to wide receiver and having a new workout, which many teams attended, Arrow was drafted in the later round to the Kansas City Coyotes. There, Arrow found himself a really solid career in the two seasons he spent down in the minors. Arrow transitioned from a number two receiver to a top receiver in the minor leagues, as his speed and natural athleticism that was more well suited to his new position rather than his former. Arrow loved his time on the Coyotes, and according to him it was “some of the best memories he has had in the league.”
When it came time to get drafted into the big leagues, Arrow was a semi high pick to the Colorado Yetis. As a member of the Yeti’s, Arrow was a certified top 30 receiver, a solid number two on a really successful team. Arrow gelled very well to the Yetis scheme and it was mutually beneficial to the team and to him. However, it was here that Arrow’s injury troubles began to set in. Arrow’s rookie season came to a rough end in the first round of the playoffs when he tore his ACL in a horrific non-contact injury that shook the league. In his sophomore season, he was forced to sit out for two weeks due to a concussion from an illegal hit to the head from a defender on the punt return. After his second concussion of the season three weeks later, Arrow was taken out of punt return duties to protect his health.
Even with his injury troubles, Arrow continued to succeed in the league. He was consistently featured in highlight reels with his amazing catches and in his third campaign he was a top 10 receiver in terms of catches, receiving yards, and touchdowns. Arrow’s touchdown celebration went viral and he gained dozens of sponsorships that season. It was also that season that he had his son, Red Arrow Jr. Unfortunately, his football career meant that he could not be around for the first couple years of Junior’s life, but Arrow Sr. still persevered and continued chasing his goals as a complete wide receiver.
In what would end up being his final season in the NSFL, Arrow started the season on fire. He scored touchdowns in the first five games of the season, and led the Yetis to an undefeated start. However in the sixth game, a familiar sight happened, and that was a concussion after another amazing touchdown grab. Arrow was knocked out cold and removed from the field via a stretcher. The good news was the injury was not as bad as it appeared. It was, however, another concussion and this one forced Arrow onto the injury reserve for the remainder of the regular season. However, the Yetis continued on without him, and clung onto a playoff spot after a clutch win in the final seconds of the final game of the season. As the bottom seed in the league, there was a lot stacked against the Yetis in the playoffs, but thankfully Arrow was cleared to play in the playoffs.
In the first game in the playoffs, Arrow’s presence was immediately felt. He led off the game with an 80 yard touchdown grab, and led the team to a stunning upset of the top team in the league, who had been undefeated up until that point. It was at that moment that Arrow and the rest of his team knew that something special was going to happen, they knew that their team had something different. In the second round of the playoffs, they continued their dominance and easily won their game to advance to the next round. After the game Arrow reportedly had some light dizziness and a small headache, but he kept it to himself to help the team keep winning, as the team was undefeated that season when he was in the lineup.
The Yeti just kept on rolling, and they ended up in the Ultimus against their stark rival. In this game, it was clearly the Red Arrow show, as he dominated with 9 catches, 140 yards, and three touchdowns to win the MVP of the game. Arrow led his team to the ultimate prize, the goal they had all worked so hard to achieve. It was the greatest moment for every single player on the roster, and it called for a hearty celebration. Hours after the game had ended, the team was still celebrating the huge victory in the locker room. Exactly four hours after the game ended, Red Arrow collapsed in the locker room.
Red Arrow was immediately taken into the hospital, as he was not responsive for a couple minutes. The entire team was worried sick for the teammate who had battled so hard with them for the whole season. Arrow was in the hospital for over a week, and his health varied from good to decent condition. He was never close to death, something that made the team very happy to hear. In the end, it was revealed that the multiple concussions Arrow had suffered in the past two years had caused his condition to worsen dramatically. Every tackle he felt had made it worse, and the Ultimus game had been his breaking point.
Unsurprisingly, the doctors quickly told Arrow the bad news, and that was that his career as a football player was over. They told him that he could not safely play football for the rest of his life, as any hits to his helmet or neck area could end his life. This news shocked Arrow, and deeply troubled him for the rest of his life. He did not know what to do with himself without football, and he spent the next year searching for his next career choice. After a long thought and many deep talks and sleepless nights, Arrow decided to pursue a career in the other sport he had excelled at in high school, and that was baseball. Arrow was a star shortstop in high school, and he decided he would go back to the sport, after he did successfully get doctor’s clearance to continue playing baseball, with some minor precautions that protected his health.
Arrow then went and played a full and successful baseball career, winning several championships and eventually being inducted into his team’s hall of fame. However, it will always be a question of what could have been. However, the Arrow name was not done playing football forever, as this story is not the journey of Red Arrow Sr., but rather his son, Red Arrow Jr.
Red Arrow Jr. was born into football, quite literally. He was born inside of the Colorado Yeti’s stadium, during halftime of Week Four. His father was present for his birth, in his pads and sweaty and dirty from the game he was playing. Arrow Jr. was born and immediately dressed into a Yeti’s jersey, beginning the connection that Arrow Jr. and football would share for the rest of his life.
Arrow Jr. began playing football basically as soon as he could consistently walk without tripping over himself. He was signed up for a youth camp when he was only three years old, and he immediately took to football, or at least as much as a kid at his age could. When he was old enough to play flag football, of course he was signed up for it. He was placed on the Yeti’s, a fitting team that was most likely an intentional choice by the higher-ups of the league. Arrow, like most kids at that age, rotated around the field and played a variety of positions. He had a solid introduction into the game of football, as even from this young age he had so much raw athleticism that he quickly turned into one of the better players in the league. His favorite position at this point was quarterback, although his coach’s son played quarterback, so he saw a lot of time at his father’s position of wide receiver. Despite Arrow’s pleas to play the quarterback position, the coach stood his ground and defended his choice, citing that he assumed Arrow would want to play the same position that his dad currently played.
As a young child, this really upset Arrow. He hated playing wide receiver as a young kid, probably mostly because a young quarterback could not make the throw to him, even after he ran fantastic athletic routes and breezed by the corners and safeties. Arrow Jr. hated playing wide receiver, and even as this young kid who had not yet played a single down of tackle football, Arrow vowed to never again play wide receiver.
For the next couple of years, Arrow Jr. floated around the field, playing every position from strong safety to offensive line. He was pretty much the best player on his team at every position for every year up until middle school. He could choose whatever position he wanted to play on any given day or even specific drive or play, and the coach would let him do this because it made the team very strong as a whole.
The real story of Arrow Jr. and his football career begins when he finally reached junior high. Middle school represents the awkward years as a child begins to transition into some real responsibilities, as they start hitting puberty and begin to grow and mature as a person and in their respective sport. Arrow Jr. was always a very small kid, and as others began to grow several inches over the summer leading into his seventh grade year, Arrow Jr. failed to hit a large growth spurt and remained smaller than most of his peers. He did not mind this too much, but it was something he noticed when looking around at all of his teammates and friends and he kept this in the back of his mind as he continued to play sports.
When Arrow Jr. first stepped foot onto the small middle school turf practice field on a cold Ohio day, he was immediately met with a very large assistant coach with a very large stomach on him. This coach was one of many who knew who Arrow Jr.’s father was, and he knew he could push Arrow because of this. He slapped Arrow Jr. with his nickname, “Junior,” partly because of his surname and partly because of his smaller stature. “Junior,” as he was known as from this point on, did not hate the nickname, although it would certainly take some getting used to.
When the coach asked who played quarterback, Arrow’s hand immediately shot up into the air, even though it was probably the position that Arrow had played the least out of every position on the football field. Naturally, he was not the only kid to raise his hand, as there were probably four other kids that also raised their hands when the question was asked. Arrow took a look around at the other kids, and he smiled to himself, because he knew he was more athletic than all of them combined and was confident that he could easily take the starting quarterback role, and he knew he would never give up that role for as long as he continued to play this game of football.
The coach took all of the kids who raised their hand to play quarterback into a corner of the field, and began working on them with some footwork drills and some general throwing technique. Arrow Jr. instantly took to these drills at a much faster and much stronger pace than the rest of the kids. It was immediately obvious to anyone watching that Arrow Jr. was the superior quarterback on the field that day. By the end of that very first practice, “Junior” was named the starting quarterback, and the other kids were told that they could fight for a chance to be the backup quarterback, and possibly get their chance after Arrow had played, if he struggled.
Normally, telling a kid that young that he was already the starter and giving him all of the power would make them complacent, and they would struggle to find the drive to improve, but that was not Junior. Instead, giving him the starting role this early fired him up and gave him supreme confidence to work even harder. Arrow Jr. was dedicated to his craft and was determined to be the greatest starting quarterback that the middle school had ever seen. Arrow Jr. was always seen at the practice facility, or in his makeshift weight room in his garage that his father had helped him construct, or with his private quarterback coach who he had personally asked himself to see and start working with. His quarterback coach was not used to working with kids that young, and was taken aback by the request to start taking private lessons, but after one lesson the coach saw something special in Junior, and decided to keep working with him to get him to where he could eventually be.
When the season finally rolled around, Arrow was already a much better quarterback than when he was named as a starter. In his first game, on the first play of the season, he pump faked a throw then ran 80 yards down the length of the field for a quick touchdown to start the season off with a blast. From there, Arrow only continued to impress. Every Saturday that he stepped out onto the field, he was dominant and clearly a step above everyone else on the field. Since it was only middle school, many of the stats and records were not tracked, so the exact numbers are unclear, but those around the school are very confident that Arrow shattered almost every record for an offensive player, including rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. It was a fantastic rookie campaign for the young middle schooler who somehow seemed to improve every game he played.
When eighth grade rolled around, it was just more of the same for Arrow Jr., who at this point had already become somewhat accustomed to this routine of success that he had developed. He was always doing something football related, whether it was watching the blurry tapes of the games that were recorded by his mother sitting at the top of the small bleachers at his football games, or doing some workouts recommended to him specifically from his father’s ISFL strength coach, who had already formed a strong bond with Arrow Jr., or it was him studying his diet and trying to make his eating habits as efficient and as effective as possible. Arrow’s dedication truly was unmatched at this young age, and it showed when Arrow somehow performed even better than he did the year before against much, much stiffer competition. Arrow was clearly above middle school football, and he instantly set his sights on his next goal, becoming the varsity quarterback as a freshman, something that was unheard of at the time, especially at the very large school district that Arrow happened to go to school at.
When the summer before his freshman year began, Arrow immediately started attending the summer workouts and practices that were open to all high school students. It was definitely a whole lot tougher than the easy workouts at the middle school level, but Arrow Jr. was more than prepared for it from his plentiful experience doing his own home workouts. Arrow Jr. had managed to condition himself wonderfully and already was more in shape than many of the high school students, including the seasoned juniors and seniors that were very used to the program and the high expectations of the football team. The current starting quarterback on the team was a rising senior who had been a two year starter and was a tireless worker as well. Arrow Jr. took careful note of every single action that the starter did, and every movement he made was noticed by Arrow. Arrow tried to match the starter in every single aspect of his life, and worked as hard as possible to match up to the starter who’s place seemed solidified as a third year starter.
Arrow’s work never stopped throughout the long and hot summer that seemed to drag on forever. After two months of hard non-stop work, Arrow was placed into a practice group with the Junior Varsity squad. As a freshman, this was quite good and not typical for any player, so it was in fact quite the accomplishment for Arrow, yet Arrow was far from satisfied with this move. After two days of practice on the junior varsity team, where Arrow saw he was far and away the starting quarterback on this team, he went to the coaches office to ask for an unprecedented request. Arrow went in to respectfully demand that he be a part of the varsity team. Arrow Jr. came in with a strong argument, he pointed out his skillset and how it could be used on the varsity level, even if it was not in a starting role, he said he could take a Taysom Hill role and do anything to help the team win, he did not need to be held to a strictly quarterback role on the team. He also pointed out how he had already excelled on the junior varsity level, and he felt that there was no growth left for him at the level, and he was ready to help the team win. The coach was astounded by Arrow’s argument. He was not expecting a freshman to argue to be put on varsity, especially one who was already in a nice role as a starting quarterback as a freshman, with a clear timeline ahead of him to be starting by next season. But Arrow was different, and he was not happy with simply being a junior varsity quarterback throwing away his season wasting away with the players who are not good enough to play at the varsity level.
The coach told Arrow to leave the room and he would have an answer for him in 24 hours. After a lot of mulling it over by the coach with the rest of the coaching staff, they decided that Arrow’s request was fair and warranted, so they promoted Arrow to the varsity roster a mere 20 hours after Arrow’s original meeting. Arrow Jr. was very excited to get to work with the varsity roster and all of the really good player that were on the team. Arrow began by taking second team reps at quarterback, and he got a lot of work in that was really productive to his growth. Arrow also started taking some reps as a tailback/wildcat quarterback blend. Arrow’s natural athleticism and speed meant that he could be a running back quite easily, and he used this to his advantage as it allowed him to take the field more than he otherwise would have seen. Arrow was told that he was in a variety of plays in the scheme that would be ran on the first game of the season, and that he would be seeing the field in a variety of ways right from the beginning. This really excited Arrow, and he could hardly sleep for the whole week leading up to the big game.
When Friday night finally came around, it was time for the big game. Arrow’s high school was kicking off the season against a big division rival team, the team that knocked them out of the playoffs last season. Arrow was on the field for the kickoff, and when the ball was kicked off and Arrow’s teammate started his return, Arrow was right behind him. When the ball was punched out of the returner’s hands, Arrow was right there to lunge on to the ball to keep the possession in his teams hands. When Arrow jogged over to the sideline he was greeted with a slight head nod of approval from his head coach. Arrow knew at this point that he was ready to play. Arrow did not get on the field on the first drive, which was a drive that saw his team storm down the field before a red zone interception from the quarterback led to six points for the other team. However, on the next drive, Arrow was on the field for the first play. Arrow took the handoff from the QB and split through a hole created by the offensive linemen for a first down. That was the only play Arrow was on the field for, but his team did manage to string together a couple good plays and they ended the drive with a field goal. For the rest of the first half, Arrow saw three more plays, all as a running back, where he had about 50 yards, a great performance, but his team trailed by fourteen at the half.
The head coach told everyone that they needed to step up their game if they wanted this to be different from last year, but that he knew they had it in them to be able to win this game. When the next quarter started and Arrow’s team got the ball, they decided to do some trickery with some fun plays. They ran the Philly Special, a toss to Arrow who was motioning towards the quarterback, who passed it to the quarterback, who was wide open for a big gain. Arrow then took the handoff and burst through the outside for the first down and much more, as Arrow glided into the end zone untouched. The quarter back was first out next to Arrow to congratulate him for this moment, and just like that the team was back in the game.
The score stayed the same throughout the rest of the third quarter and the first half of the fourth quarter, but with two minutes left Arrow’s team got the ball back on their own 20 yard line with the chance to storm down the field and tie the game up. Arrow pleaded with his coach to be put in for the drive, but as the team ran down the field Arrow remained on the sideline. With one minute left a checkdown to the running back led to him twisting his ankle as he ran out of bounds, and instantly Arrow ran out onto the field to come in as the replacement. Arrow set up wide left of the quarterback and ran down the length of the field as a receiver. He was wide open, and the quarterback heaved a throw downfield, but it was plenty short of Arrow, and fell into the hands of a nearby safety, who picked the ball off and went down in a slide, sealing the victory for his team. Arrow and the rest of his team were devastated. They were so close to the big victory that they knew they needed so badly, but they had failed, and the failure was a group failure indeed. After the game, Arrow knew he would’ve been able to win the game for his team if he was in at quarterback, but he held back, not wanting to stir up controversy as a young freshman who had only played one game, albeit a great performance in that one game. Nevertheless, Arrow continued to work hard in practice and in the weightroom. Arrow took to every drill as if it were the Super Bowl and treated the weight room as if he were a professional lifter. He saw the gains on the field and in the gym very quickly and it was very apparent how Arrow had gained strength and skill at such a quick pace. He also took the time in the classroom to get the grades to stay on the field, as he easily got a 4.0 GPA and was one of the most intelligent players on the field at any time. Arrow would later say that his success in school really helped him on the field, as he felt he had the knowledge to play football and not just the skill.
On the field, Arrow continued to produce at his flex position, seeing the field in many different ways but playing well, as he had throughout his whole life. The starting quarterback was wildly inconsistent, with one game where he passed for over 400 yards, but the next game he would fail to cross 100 yards and would throw four interceptions. Slowly, Arrow began to get some first team reps during practice. At first, it was nothing major, just Arrow playing some snaps while the starter was getting treatment or taking a few snaps off. But slowly, as Arrow continued to do well in these circumstances, his playing time began to increase slowly during these practices. By week 8, the two quarterbacks were splitting time evenly during practice, yet it was Arrow who was not seeing any game time as a quarterback. That all changed during week nine, after a hard hit from a star defensive tackle left the starter with the wind knocked out of him.
When Arrow came into the game, still a small freshman, it was very clear that the opposing team assumed he was going to be mostly handing the ball off, with maybe a few read options. The team put a QB spy on Arrow and sent the house at him, blitzing what felt like twenty men to Arrow. After two failed attempts to hand the ball off, Arrow was given a play action pass. The play caught the defense totally out of position, and Arrow was easily able to connect deep to a wide open wide receiver for Arrow’s first touchdown. The crowd erupted in joy and Arrow was beyond happy, however when he came back to the bench he found the starting quarterback beginning to warm up again, and the head coach came over to Arrow to tell him personally that he was going to go back to the bench and the starter was going in.
Arrow’s team lost that game, and with that loss it looked as if they were not going to qualify for the state playoffs, something that had not happened to the team in over twenty years. After taking a close look at the schedule it was determined that they did not control their own destiny, however a win from them and a loss from one other team would put them in the playoffs. This was going to be one of the biggest games in the team’s recent history, and Arrow wanted to be at the helm for it.
Arrow burst into the coaches room yet again, and this time he was pleading to start. He exclaimed about how well he has played in limited time, and how inconsistent the quarterback had played over the course of the entire season. The coach told him that he was planning on starting Arrow, but the young freshman was on a very tight leash, and he would not be afraid to go back to the original starter at any moment. Arrow was ready for this moment and he knew it would be his time to shine. He took almost all of the first team reps during practice, and his teammates began to develop some confidence in him as a pass thrower and as a leader. Even though he was only a freshman, his skill and dedication had given him immense amounts of respect from his teammates. They knew he was ready for this moment, and they believed that they could win this game with Arrow as the starting quarterback.
To be continued...
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