He’d been denigrated by nearly every blogger and podcaster in the sports world. The message boards were filled with faceless assholes who thought they had the right to criticize him. They went on and on about his downfall from being the most exciting rookie in years to a has-been in the span of a few games. He’d endured their ridicule and had vowed not to be fodder for any more of their stories.

“This is why I didn’t want it to get out,” Jamar said in a strangled whisper. “I knew the backlash would be brutal if I failed.”

“Jamar, have you thought this through?” Micah asked. “Why don’t you take a day or so to reassess. The workout isn’t until Friday.”

“Taking a day or so won’t make that twinge in my knee go away,” he pointed out.

“Has a doctor seen your knee?”

“It’s my knee. I don’t need a doctor to tell me that something isn’t right. I can feel it,” Jamar said. “Even if I did manage to get through the workout, I honestly don’t think it would hold up past training camp.”

“Will it hold up past the workout?” Micah asked.

Jamar cut him an incredulous look. “What does that matter?”

“Hear me out,” Micah said. He placed his elbows on his desk and tapped his fingers against his lips. “It won’t be easy, but there’s a way that you can still save face, even if you never play another down of professional football again.”

Jamar hated to admit just how high up saving face was on his priority list. There were so many more important things he should be concerned with, yet his mind chose to focus on all the naysayers who’d called him a has-been, and how humiliating it would be to admit they were right. If Micah had devised a strategy that would help Jamar avoid that, the least he could do was hear him out.

“How do you propose I do that?” Jamar asked. “You don’t think those team reps will be eyeing my knee like an eagle?”

“It doesn’t matter what the reps think. All you have to do is convince the public that you can still play. The key is to spin it in a way that makes the teams the bad guys here.”

Jamar shook his head. “I don’t know about this, Micah. There are no bad guys here, just bad luck. I got hurt. It happens. It’s taken me a long time to come to terms with it, but I now understand that no one is to blame.”

“Fine. You’re enlightened. You’ll still be dragged like a rag doll on Twitter if we cancel.”

“How do you think you’re going to stop that?” Jamar said. “You still haven’t explained how I can save face by going through with this workout.”