CHAPTER 47 Miller Banks
The Hardest Week of the Year
It’s strange waking up to a cruise director announcing groups that need to get the fuck off this boat, but I guess the crew needs to turn this place around so it’s ready for the next group of people boarding later this afternoon.
Part of me doesn’t want to get off the ship. I think about our first day here, sitting out on the balcony with the week in front of us, feeling like we were in paradise as we sipped our pina coladas with edible straws, and now here we are, a week later, and everything has changed.
We shouldn’t let it, and deep down, I know this. Maybe it’s just me bracing for the season. I don’t really know because I’ve never been in a serious relationship as I looked toward training camp. I’ve never felt like I was leaving someone behind, but I do this time.
The other part of me is ready to face what’s coming next.
We’ve had a nice, long offseason, and life sure looks different than it did in January when our season ended.
I’m ready to get to work. The competitor in me has missed the hell out of the game I love so much, and I’m ready to get back on the field and do what I was born to do .
We meet the rest of the family at the buffet for a quick breakfast, and then we disembark. It’s pretty much pure chaos, and Soph and I end up sharing an Uber with Tanner and Cassie to get to the airport. We catch our flight back to San Diego, and then I have a week to prepare for camp.
To me, that doesn’t mean we have one more week off.
That means I need to fix what I fucked up on the cruise—meaning instead of having a dessert after every meal, I need to eat right.
I need to work off any extra body fat I picked up over the last six months.
I need to run drills for agility and footwork.
In short, I have a week to get ready for the season, and it’ll be the hardest week of the year for me as I put all my focus back into my sport.
And it starts now.
It’s late by the time we get home, so we unpack and head to bed.
Sophie missed a week of work while we were on the ship, and she’s diving back into things there as I plan to meet with the other running backs at Coach Cook’s house on Saturday morning.
He’ll coach us through some drills, and it’ll give the three running backs returning from last year a chance to meet with Jalen Jones, the rookie we picked up in the draft, along with a couple of the guys from the practice squad.
The practice squad guys benefit the most from this since they’re all leaving everything on the field when it comes to training camp.
It’s their shot to make the active roster, and I know how much they want it.
But the three of us coming back from last year and our rookie are all pretty solid, so I’m not sure any of them will get the chance.
When I get to Coach Cook’s house, I see I’m the last one to arrive. It feels like it’s not a good look.
If I want to be the leader of this position, it’s up to me to show up on time and ready to work .
I’m not late—but I’m not early, either.
Coach Cook has dedicated his entire life to the game and specifically this position, and his kitchen has the perfect setup for a team meeting while his backyard is the perfect place to run drills.
He lets me in the front door when I arrive, and I join the others already sitting at the table.
Everyone here was at mandatory minicamp last month, so it’s not like it’s the first time we’re meeting as a group.
But this feels different, anyway. We’re meeting now as a group of men working toward a common goal, yet we’re still battling it out for who’s going to start, who’s going to sit, and who’s going to even make the fifty-three-man roster.
It's always been such a strange dynamic to me. We’re forming a brotherhood and a bond no one can break, but next season, we could all end up on different teams where we’re battling against the men who were brothers the year before.
I guess it’s why I’ve learned to focus on the present rather than what lies ahead. We don’t know what lies ahead, and we certainly can’t predict it. Just ask my brother, who sat on the sidelines all of last season with his ACL injury.
It could happen to any of us at any time, and I’m always hyperaware of that fact.
“Miller Banks,” Isaiah Lowe says as he stands and holds up a hand for a shake.
I clap my hand against his, and we hold on as we lean in for a hug.
We got close last season, and while I was in the starting position, he was close on my heels, often stepping in for plays and making his mark on each game.
Drake Hawkins greets me next, and then the rookie Jalen, and finally, the two practice squad guys, Roman and Byron.
Coach stands at the head of the table and starts talking.
“Now that we’re all here, I just wanted to touch base on what you can expect in camp.
The coaches have met, and we decided we’re going to put a big focus on fundamentals this year.
For our position, that means a few different things.
Our stats improved with ball carrying, but we can always practice keeping the ball secure.
We’ll run footwork drills and spend a lot of time with tape studying defense and analyzing how to read it.
But before we start all of that, I thought it was important to work through some team-building drills, which is why I asked you all here today. ”
I hear a series of groans from the athletes gathered at the table. Team building usually means something that’s going to be a waste of our time when the real team building takes place on the field.
“What is it, a blindfolded obstacle course?” Isaiah asks, and we all snicker since that’s what Coach Cook had us do last year in his backyard.
“You’ll see,” he says. He checks his phone. “Our ride is here.”
“Our ride?” I repeat quietly to Jalen, and he gives me one of those are we supposed to be talking kind of looks. Leave it to a rookie, I guess.
There’s a party bus waiting out front, which is kind of nice since we all have rather thick legs and we each get our own seat.
The wide receivers are already waiting on the bus as we step on.
Spencer holds up a hand for a fist bump as I walk by him, and I spot Clayton Mack and one of our new guys, Madden Bradley.
He’s on the older side in his thirties, and we acquired him in a trade deal from Chicago.
I don’t know much about him other than the fact that he’s from the Bradley family, a name as well-known throughout the league as the Nash name.
The other wide receivers on the team—Zach Moore, DJ Evans, and Sam Collins—are there, too, and we all share in greetings as we take our seats on the bus .
We head through town and pull up in front of Laser Zone.
“Laser tag?” I ask, and we tumble out of the bus and through the front doors.
Coach Cook and Coach Clark, the wide receiver coach, booked one of the courses for the next two hours, and we gear up and head out. Both coaches are playing, too, and for the next hour, we run around like a bunch of little kids, playing each for ourselves.
You’d think we’d just play for fun, but the competitive spirit is alive and well as we race around the course dodging fire and navigating obstacles.
We have to constantly be aware of who is where if we want to get the highest score, and it’s easy to spot the weaknesses in my teammates as Jalen is predictable, Roman is slow to react, and Isaiah always hides out in the same place.
In the end, Madden surprisingly emerges the victor, but I’m a close second. Very close.
I wish I wasn’t so competitive, because I’m actually kind of pissed off that I lost.
For the second hour, we’re divided into teams, and the coaches don’t play along but instead watch and observe.
My team wins, but I’m still bitter I wasn’t the winner of the first round.
I’m quiet on the way back to Coach’s house, and he has lunch waiting for us when we get back. We’re dropped first, and the wide receivers must go off to their own coach’s place for similar meetings.
We talk a bit about how the fundamentals of what we just did relate to our position—agility, speed, and situational awareness were all part of it, and in the second hour, teamwork and communication became more important because we weren’t just playing as individuals anymore.
All in all, it was a fun morning, but after lunch is when we put in the work .
We’re at Coach’s place until dinnertime. I decide to surprise Sophie with dinner since I’ve been away all day, but to my surprise, when I get home…she’s not there.
I guess communication is important to more than just laser tag and football.