THE FORGOTTEN PICK

Danny loved football.  His dad bought him a football for Christmas when he was five years old and he loved the game ever since.  Danny took the football everywhere he went.  It didn’t matter if he was in the shower or in his bed; his football was right there with him.  The only place he could not take it was to school.  Danny did not like going to school; the kids there did not like him for some reason.  They called him weird and strange, so during recess, he learned to play by himself.  He would run around, pretending he had his football in his arms, running for the game winning touchdown.  The other kids would always laugh at him but it didn’t bother Danny, he just kept running.  

One day, during gym class, the gym teacher gathered the students to play football.  The teacher selected two team captains to pick classmates for their teams.  The two popular jocks quickly picked the biggest and strongest-looking girls and boys first.  One by one, each student rejoiced as their names were called.  Finally, Danny was the last person standing.  Knowing his inevitable decision, the last captain shook his head and called Danny’s name.  Danny was instructed to stand in the back as the other kids moved into position to defend the other team.  Carelessly, he ran to the back, eager and focused on playing the game he loved so much.  Danny didn’t care that no one wanted to pick him; all he cared about was playing football.
 
The very first play, the quarterback threw a deep pass down the sidelines.  The player covering the wide receiver fell down, leaving Danny as the team’s last line of defense.  Danny ran towards the ball that seemed to be floating in the air.  The wide receiver misjudged the ball and jumped too early.  The ball sailed over him and landed right into the arms of Danny.  Danny’s eyes grew big as the other team began to run towards him.  He started to remember all of the days he practiced catching the ball and running for touchdowns at recess.  Danny took off; he dodged and sprinted past everyone until he reached the end zone where his team comforted and cheered for him. 
 
Danny was never the “popular” one or even seen as valuable but Danny the forgotten pick, now the pick that will never to be forgotten again. ​