Bigger Than The Program

[The JZA]

[The JZA]

[Captain Canada]

Cortez took it to them boys, goddamn.

Swag definitely better on him than what you had Jodi wearing

[The JZA]

The First Of Many
(SZN 1 , EPI 6)

Deep in the regions of Staten Island, New York, on Luten Avenue, the Tottenville Pirates and its High School witnessed an upset that no one saw coming for years in the making.

For three years, Tottenville had dominated. For three years, John F. Kennedy Campus had been the butt of the jokes in the one-sided rivalry. For three years, Cortez had not found a way to overcome the mighty Pirates. But the last three versions of Cortez that had met the Tottenville Pirates had not wanted this win as much as this version of him did. The senior quarterback, the one that grew to have a chip on his shoulder, on and off the field. This Cortez, the one that was focused, the one that rallied, the one that took chances, the one that improvised quicker before the play began to break down... this version of Cortez had finally arrived.

After setting the tone in the first half, JFK showed that they would not simply roll over and take another B.T.A. Their defense had vastly improved as they showcased their efforts to minimalize the home team's offensive scoring.

Three times Tottenville had to rely on their kicker, Heath Goodman, to put points on the scoreboard.

In the second half, Tottenville amounted a comeback. And despite forcing two fumbles, the Pirates couldn't profit off the turnovers. This only motivated Cortez to take charge. Two times in the fourth quarter, Cortez struck gold in the endzone, collecting his third and fourth passing touchdowns on 22-of-34 passing for 234 yards. The feat was done, the fate was seal. All that remained was time.

Aft the final whistle, the helmets came off.

The John F. Kennedy Knights had defeated the Tottenville Pirates, ending their three-year drought against them. The Knights did not celebrate on their opponent's field. They didn't want show how much this season opener game meant to them. They didn't want the Pirates to see how much they needed this win.

So they waited.

The team lined up, hugged, shook hands, congratulated each other. Cortez's leadership translated sportsmanship for his team. And even after all these years of losing, the Knights gave respect where respect was due.

Little did Cortez knew, there were eyes on the sideline that had came from New Jersey to scout Tottenville's star cornerback. Jameis Dorsett. But with the turn of events taking place, interest had taken place and a new prospect had landed on recruiting board.

Greg Schiano made his presence to Cortez and introduced himself. Schiano had came to Tottenville for defense, having already had a list of names of Staten Island's top defenders assess, but he couldn't deny the potential he saw. The heart, the grit, the take, but don't give mentality.

For Schiano, that was enough for him to learn Cortez Terrano's name.

When the dust settled and the teams cleared the field, The knights patted themselves on the backs of each others for a earned win. When the team loaded the bus to head back to the Bronx with the savory win, before the bus driver could ignite the engine, that's when the erupted.

For the next few minutes, Cortez and the team shouted and celebrated in joy. The bus was a ruckus of exuded excitement as Coach Lloyd stood aside and let them basked in the moment. The John F. Kennedy Campus Knights had one goal this Friday evening, and they set out to accomplish it. They not only accomplished it, but they set the tone for the remainder of the season.

It might've been one win to start the season on the right foot, but it was the win that put Cortez on the map finally.

———————————————


Saturday was nearly half gone before Cortez opened his eyes. Sunlight had crossed the bedroom wall and reached the edge of his bed. Outside, New York had already started living without him. Children shouted along the sidewalk, music traveled between open windows, a delivery truck blocked half the street while drivers leaned on their horns as if sound might convince several tons of metal to vanish. Fall had begun pushing summer out in earnest. The light remained warm, but the air entering through the window carried less weight. Heat no longer sat on the neighborhood’s chest. Leaves shifted beneath a breeze that promised colder mornings ahead.

Cortez remained on his back. Every part of his body felt used. His throwing shoulder carried a deep ache. His ribs remembered two hits the adrenaline had concealed the night before. One calf tightened when he flexed his foot beneath the sheet.

He smiled anyway.

For several seconds, the victory felt like a dream assembled from everything he had wanted.

Then memories returned.

The comeback, the scoreboard holding the final score in Kennedy's favor, the celebration on the bus, Greg Schiano’s hand closing around his, implying Rutgers would be in touch.

Cortez stared toward the ceiling.

A faint light blinked near the edge of the nightstand. His phone’s notification indicator had been firing long enough to create a small graveyard of alerts. Cortez reached across the mattress and unplugged the device as his eyes adjusted to the light. Messages filled the screen. Teammates reliving the game, students from Kennedy congratulating him in group chats, associates who had not spoken to him all summer suddenly behaving like they had always believed. Jennessa had sent several messages, unfortunately. He left them unopened.

Two notifications stood above the rest.

The first was from Maria. She was free that evening and wanted to catch up. Cortez read the message twice before allowing himself a small grin.

The second notification came from Gmail. He opened the app. The subject line stopped him: Rutgers Football.

Cortez sat upright.

The email contained an invitation for an official campus visit. Details followed beneath it—dates, contact information, instructions, and language formal enough to make the opportunity feel more real than the handshake had. He read from beginning to end, then again to make sure it wasn't one of those spam or phishing e-mails. When the invitation was verified, the room changed around him. Every predawn workout in Van Cortlandt Park, every rep inside Antonio’s gym, every recruiting list that buried his name beneath quarterbacks from better-known programs, every time someone described him as raw, undersized, reckless, or almost good enough.

They had not disappeared. They had led to this moment.

Cortez threw the blanket aside and got dressed in whatever clothes his hands reached first, barely checking whether the shirt matched the sweatpants. He left his room while still pulling the shirt over his head.

Two voices carried from the kitchen, Antonio and Kareem. A brochure rested on the counter between them as they appeared to be discussing meal planning, protein intake, and the difference between eating for performance and simply eating everything within reach. Cortez entered carrying enough energy to change the pressure in the room.

"Fellas! Fellas! What's good?! Top of the morning!"

Both men turned.

"It is a beautiful day to be the kid! The one that's finally on the map!" He moved between them, dapping Kareem before reaching toward Antonio.

Antonio ignored the offered hand and pulled him into a full embrace. "What's up, Nephew? What got you all excited today?"

He released Cortez and returned one hand toward the brochure. His expression shifted when he registered the wild light in Cortez’s eyes.

This was not the ordinary post-game confidence.

Kareem raised one eyebrow. "You look like you just hit the lottery. What kind of sleep you getting?"

"Even better, my man! Even better." Cortez unlocked his phone and reopened the email. He slid the device into the center of the counter like a gambler revealing the winning card.

"Your boy got an official campus visit offer from Rutgers!"

Antonio’s eyes moved across the screen before they widened. His jaw dropped slightly before pride broke across his face. "What?! No shit?! Kiddo, way to go!"

He pulled Cortez into another embrace, this one harder than the first. His palm struck Cortez’s back repeatedly. "This is exactly what we've been working towards. I'm so fucking proud of you, champ."

Antonio released him only to take possession of the phone and read every line himself.

Kareem’s reaction arrived with less volume but no less meaning, a wide grin spread across his face. "Look at my boy actually finally getting some shine!"

He stepped forward, bumped Cortez with one shoulder, and clapped a hand against him.

"This is what we been talking about since freshmen year, fam. You making that top ten list and you puttin' in that work."

Kareem leaned against the counter and folded his arms, looking at Cortez as if the result had always been expected.

"That's big, man. Real big. You gonna visit the campus or what?"

"Yeah, maybe." Cortez attempted to sound measured. The performance lasted less than a second.

"Aight, more like definitely."

He leaned against the counter with both elbows, hands clasped beneath his chin. "I'm not trying to sound all excited like I'm going on a full scholarship offer already."

Antonio looked up from the screen. "It's a little too late for that."

Another notification appeared. Antonio’s thumb moved instinctively before he considered whether the message belonged to him.

His expression shifted. "Damn, kiddo, did you check all your e-mails? It's not just Rutgers, but Purdue too."

"Purdue?"

Cortez straightened.

"Let me see?"

Antonio turned the phone. Kareem leaned closer and released a laugh.

"Damn Purdue?" He looked toward Cortez with open disbelief. "They were in your top ten list? You can't be that desperate."

"Nah man, don't play me." Cortez cut his eyes toward him.

"I mean, I changed the list a couple times between freshmen and sophomore year, but Purdue never made the list."

He took the phone and scrolled through the message. "I was dreaming big back then. USC, Oregon, Ohio State, Alabama, Miami, UCLA, those type of schools."

The names had once occupied notebook paper above his bed, written in different colors and rearranged after every televised game. At fourteen, geography had meant nothing. Distance had meant nothing. He wanted logos, stadiums, and programs that appeared every Saturday.

Reality had changed what mattered.

"Now, I'm looking to stay close. Pittsburgh, Syracuse, UConn maybe. But Rutgers is a start."

Cortez returned to the inbox. Messages had gathered beneath the Rutgers email, overlooked in the shock of seeing the first invitation.

He opened them one at a time.

Interest, introductions, requests for academic information and future contact.

Programs he had never believed were watching. "Tulane. USF. Vanderbilt. And Wake Forest?" The final name came out almost as a question.

Antonio leaned against the counter beside him and nodded as Cortez repeated the list.

"Not bad, kid. Tulane's a good program, and Vanderbilt." He whistled softly. "Vandy, that's SEC territory. Coach must be seeing something special in your game."

Antonio folded his arms and studied Cortez’s reaction. "So which one's catching your eye right now? Or are you waiting to see who else might reach out?"

Kareem answered before Cortez could.

"Definitely wait it out, bro." His voice carried the experience of somebody who had been dealing with college attention longer.

"Because once you start visiting campuses, it gets real. Schools start competing for your signature and coaches start expecting answers. Right now... Do what I'm doing and wait it out. No verbal commitment. Keep working on your game through the season and get your buzz up. If they really want you, they'll hold a scholarship for you."

Cortez stared at him for a beat, then looked toward Antonio. "You hear this man? Kareem over here dropping knowledge!"

Kareem shoved him. "Screw you."

"Yeah, but Kareem's right though." Antonio’s expression grew more serious. "As happy as I am to see my alma mater take interest in you, it'd be smart to let it play out and keep building off the season. You already got multiple offers."

His fingers moved across his goatee, the Rutgers email remained on his mind.

"But... If Rutgers is genuinely interested—and I mean genuinely—don't waste that opportunity. That program's rebuilding, and if Coach Schiano see potential in you being part of that, then it would make your Uncle proud to see you in Rutgers colors..."

The possibility entered the kitchen.

Cortez in scarlet, Antonio returning to the campus that had once belonged to his own younger life and family sitting beneath stadium lights with "Terrano" printed across the back of a college jersey.

Antonio allowed the image to remain without forcing it. "Just saying—if it feels right, roll with it."

Cortez scrolled through the emails again. Excitement moved faster than he could process it. Each message seemed to create another future, another campus, another road leaving the Bronx.

Then he remembered the one person missing from the kitchen. His head snapped up, "Wait, where's Lauri? I want to share the news with her."

Antonio moved around the counter and returned to the dietary brochure.

"She's out. She wanted to get her hair done. " He found the section he and Kareem had been reviewing. "She said something about a photo shoot collab thing."

"Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. Some brand called, "Street Kingz" was doing something with her. It was supposed to go down last week but got pushed back."

Cortez lifted his eyebrows. Lauri would find out soon enough. She would probably scream louder than anyone in the kitchen, demand screenshots, and begin planning outfits for a campus visit that had not yet been scheduled.

A different notification waited near the top of his phone: Maria.

Cortez remembered the evening ahead. "Speaking of which, I gotta get myself ready too. I got a date tonight."

Antonio stopped and looked up "A date? Since when?" The brochure lost his attention entirely. "And who might this mystery girl be? Anyone I know, or another girl you met at school?"

"Nah. Me and Lauri was kicking at Bethany and Shane's function last weekend. And you know... ol' girl was looking at your boy!"

Cortez wiped both hands theatrically across his chest and shoulders as if removing invisible dust from an expensive suit. "A college girl from NYU. It ain't nothing serious though but... you never know."

Kareem stepped closer and punched him lightly in the shoulder.

"Look at you, sly dog!" His laugh filled the kitchen. "Colleges and college girls, the world's your oasis!"

The joke faded as his tone shifted. "But yo, be careful with that. You think Jennessa is a mongoose, college girls move different."

"Mhm, no lies detected." Antonio nodded. "There's some good ones out there, but most of them play by their own rules once they get a little freedom. Don't let this girl suck you into a world you're not ready for, you're still a high school kid."

Cortez raised both hands. "Chill, Unc. I'm a Terrano, you know I got this, baby!"

National Rank: 2796 | State Rank: 29 | Position Rank: 183
Interests: Purdue, Rutgers, Tulane, USF, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest

[The JZA]

Swag definitely better on him than what you had Jodi wearing

We're not taking Jodi slanders from anybody who took L's from Morocco

[Soapy]

Cortez took it to them boys, goddamn.

Swag definitely better on him than what you had Jodi wearing

the drip is finally here

[redsox907]

Swag definitely better on him than what you had Jodi wearing

We're not taking Jodi slanders from anybody who took L's from Morocco

don't forget about Dale and the sweater under the jersey. Disgraceful

[The JZA]

the drip is finally here

Chill B', it's not even him. Just a template with his name for the full games I play in exhib.

don't forget about Dale and the sweater under the jersey. Disgraceful

Thought you were the homie

[djp73]

TEAMBUILDER