DAD
The coach is here
He’s waiting outside
Sarah
Please don’t start with him
MOM
Please don’t start what?
I just want to hear it from his own mouth, in his own words
I want him to tell us he didn’t know what was happening, he didn’t know that my son was in danger
I want to hear that from him
I want him to look me in the eye and say it to my face.
INSIDE
I hear you
I hear all of you
Too many
Too much
I am glad to be alive
I am glad you’re here
But I miss the silence
This is loud
Everyone trying to find someone to blame
But sometimes no one is to blame
Sometimes everyone is to blame
Sometimes both
COACH
This will only take a minute, if I may
My daughter and I just want to give Teddy a small gift
It’s a game ball signed by all the guys
Before the season even starts, the first game ball of the season
We’ve never done this before
But we wanted to do it for you
We believe in you
Camille, did you want to say something?
CAMILLE
Hey, Teddy
Uh
I know I look terrible
And uh
I need to know if it’s true
What kids are saying
COACH
Oh
Not now, honey
Honey, please—
CAMILLE
Teddy, did someone really do this to you?
Someone hurt you on purpose?
It can’t be true, right?
I know you can’t answer me right now, but I need to know
People make stuff like this up all the time
People just want to gossip and spread rumors
Everyone says they want you to get better, and they do
But also people want to make trouble
They want to make stuff up
That’s just—
MOM
Okay, uh yes, would you
Thank you for the ball
But that is not
I agree with your daughter
We just need to know the truth, Coach Bizetti
I would like to hear the truth.
COACH
The truth
The truth is I love these boys
I’m starting to hear things that are making me sick to my stomach
And I promise you as soon as this is over
We will stop at nothing to find out exactly what happened
MOM
So you’re saying you still don’t know what happened?
That’s what you’re saying?
You don’t know?
Isn’t this your camp?
Your team?
I find that—
DAD
Thank you, Coach, for stopping by
It means a lot
But we should probably
It’s not a great time for visitors right now
MOM
Yes, everybody out
Everybody out
PLEASE
Teddy, I didn’t
This is
I don’t mean to yell
Oh no
Please don’t cry, Camille
It’s not
It’s not your fault, sweetheart
COACH
Mrs. Youngblood, please
We are here to support your son
We are here because we care
People are calling our sport and our program destructive
Calling us animals
Barbarians
But I came to support my player
Your son
So please
There is no need to raise your voice.
DAD
Okay
Okay
Please everyone stop
We cannot have—
Teddy?
Teddy?
What’s happening?
What’s happening!
Teddy?
Teddy?
Sarah
I need to go get somebody
Sarah
We need to go get somebody now.
INSIDE
Where is the silence
I need the silence
NURSE RICKY
Okay
Okay now
The doctor is on her way
She’ll be right here
I need to ask everyone to stop raising their voices
Give Teddy some peace and quiet
Please
Thank you.
INSIDE
Eden
Who is Eden?
Where is Eden?
Don’t be soft
Don’t do it
Do it
Don’t
MOM
Where is the doctor?
My son needs a doctor
NURSE RICKY
I know
I understand, Ms. Youngblood
I know you’re upset
The doctor is on her way
I’m going to have to clear the room
Thank you all for understanding
I’m going to have to clear the room
Clear the room please.
MOM
I’m not going anywhere
I’m not
I’m not going anywhere until I see the doctor.
INSIDE
Loud
Why
Please
Not
DAD
Sarah
MOM
No
No
This is your fault, Jim
This is your fault for letting him play
Not just letting him play, but encouraging him
Loving every second of it
Even though I said no, your mother said no
You loved it
You loved watching him play this violent stupid game
DAD
I’m not even going to dignify that with a response
Who walked out on this family?
Who left because she couldn’t handle it anymore?
Who left because the pressure was too much?
Who walked out?
DR. SPARKS
Everyone, please
That is not helping to say the least
Let’s all take a deep breath
Teddy’s heart rate is accelerating but he is stable
Teddy is okay
He is trying to tell you something
His body is doing what his brain is not quite ready to do
He is telling you to stop
The yelling
The fighting
The blaming
This is what he is reacting to
There is plenty of time for everything
To find out what happened
But not now
So please, everyone, let’s calm down
Let’s calm down so he can calm down.
MOM
I want something done
I want Teddy moved to another hospital
I don’t think he’s getting the care he needs here
I appreciate what you’re doing, Doctor, but I’m not convinced this is the best place for him
DAD
Sarah, please
Be reasonable
We can’t have this discussion in front of Teddy
We need to go outside
Let’s go
MOM
I want to speak to someone else
I want to speak with a different doctor
I want to find out about moving to a hospital in the city
DAD
This isn’t how you make up for lost time, Sarah
That’s no
t how it works
MOM
How dare you
DR. SPARKS
Please
Both of you, please
Fine, Ms. Youngblood
If that’s what you want, you can come to my office
I will make some calls
We all want to do the right thing here
We all want your son to get better
I need to ask everyone to step outside
Please step outside
Thank you
CAMILLE
Dad
Dad let’s go
I don’t want to be here
I’ll come back, Teddy
I’ll be back to see you
I promise
INSIDE
Don’t be soft
Hit someone
Hit someone
COACH
Perhaps we shouldn’t have come today
My daughter is friends with your son
They’re friends
But I’m not sure what the right thing to do is anymore
MOM
This isn’t about you doing the right thing
This is about our son
DAD
Sarah
MOM
I want to leave this hospital
I want better care
JANEY
Everyone please stop
Please stop
DAD
I can’t
MOM
I don’t
DR. SPARKS
Can we all please step outside
Let’s go outside
DAD
I’m trying
I’m trying to—
CAMILLE
Ethan?
MOM
Who is this?
Who are you?
CAMILLE
Ethan
What are you doing here?
DAD
What’s going on
Who are you
Is this
COACH
Young man, are you sure you want to—
MOM
Wait
Oh
Oh my God
INSIDE
What
What is happening
MRS. METZGER
Hello
I’m Ann Metzger
Ethan’s mom
I
This is incredibly difficult
I’ve been praying for your son
Ethan is
He’s been suffering
I know, it’s nothing compared to what you and your son are going through
But he wanted to come here to be with you
To help everyone understand
To help everyone heal.
MOM
Is your son the one?
The one responsible?
And now you’re here to help everyone heal?
My son is lying unconscious in a hospital bed
And your son needs to heal?
DAD
Sarah, that’s not—
MRS. METZGER
I know
I understand
Truly
I can’t even imagine
I really can’t
I—
ETHAN
Mom
It’s okay, I can talk
I
Mr. and Mrs. Youngblood
I wanted to see how Teddy was doing
I was talking to Mr. Rashad
And together we decided I should come
I wasn’t sure
The police have been to our house
The truth is going to come out eventually
It’s already happening
People are starting to say things
Kids are saying stuff online
Stuff that’s not true
It’s crazy
But no one knows the full
The real truth
Mr. Rashad told me you can’t go back in time
You can’t relive the past
But you can’t run from it either
So I wanted to come here and tell everyone the truth
The truth about what happened
Because it was
Yes
I did it
I hurt Teddy
But it was
It’s complicated
It wasn’t anyone’s fault
It was something that just
It just happened
Something that went wrong
Really wrong
I wanted to come see Teddy
I wanted to tell him it was okay
I wanted to make sure he knew what happened was okay
It wasn’t his fault either.
MOM
What
Let me get this straight
You wanted to tell Teddy it was okay?
That it wasn’t his fault?
You hurt him
You’re the one that put him in the hospital
You nearly killed him
But you wanted to tell him it wasn’t his fault?
DAD
I have to say
I don’t understand that either
I don’t understand that at all
Why did you come here?
MRS. METZGER
Mr. and Mrs. Youngblood, please
ETHAN
I don’t
Mr. and Mrs. Youngblood
You don’t know
DAD
What don’t we know?
What is it we don’t know?
MOM
Hold on
Fine
I want to hear this
Jim
It’s okay
Let’s hear what he has to say.
ETHAN
Hey, Teddy
It’s me
Ethan
So
I wanted to
I want to talk to you about what happened
I just need a sip of
I guess I’m nervous
So anyway
Uh
Yeah
MRS. METZGER
Take your time, honey
Take your time.
ETHAN
Okay
Okay
So
Everyone kept talking about how it was too hot for football. The sun was pounding and everyone was dripping sweat and cursing that we were out there, but it wasn’t a choice. If you were an incoming freshman and wanted to play football in high school, you had to go, everyone had to go to preseason camp. We were in full pads and helmets, and a couple of times I thought I was going to throw up. At first it wasn’t that bad, but later in the week it got so hot that even the coaches said we could take breaks if we needed to. But no one listened to them because we knew they didn’t mean it. If you took a break, the coaches and the other kids would think you were soft. You can’t be soft in football because then no one will respect you and you might not get to play. Everybody knows that.
INSIDE
Show me you can hit somebody
ETHAN
So even if you didn’t feel good or you felt like you were going to totally lose it, you had to suck it up and keep going. The older kids kept telling us it builds character. They thought it was funny when we complained about being hot or tired or sore. They tried to scare us by saying that in high school, it gets really intense. I guess that’s true because the high school coaches are really tough. Like hyper and scary and a little crazy to tell you the truth. Not Coach Bizetti but all the other coaches, the assistant coaches. Coach Bizetti seemed like the nicest one but he never told the other coaches to knock it off. And they would curse and say gross things sometimes and call us names and things and some words that I never heard before but the high school kids didn’t even seem to care. They thought it was funny. I guess they were used to it and had heard it all before.
Then on Wednesday, I got hit really hard and my arm killed, so I skipped a tackling drill while the trainer gave me some ice. One of the assistan
t coaches noticed and asked what I was doing. When I told him my arm hurt, he yelled at me and said that smaller kids like me need to be tougher than everyone else. I said I would go back in as soon as it stopped stinging, and then the same coach called me a girl and asked if I wanted to wear a dress to camp the next day. A lot of people thought that was hilarious and started laughing and I almost lost it but somehow made myself not. I wanted to play so bad, and even though my arm really hurt I needed to stay on the field, because if I left the field then people would think I was soft or a quitter, which is the total worst thing you can be. And I was scared people would think I was a baby. So I went back in but it hurt like crazy.
INSIDE
I love the game
I love running to daylight
I love getting hit
It hurts so bad
And it’s the greatest feeling in the world
Game Changer Page 9