Summary

Chapter 4, Dreaming of Heroes, I – This section occurs in the past. When Mike Winchell was thirteen, his father died from hard drinking, hard smoking, and an old oil field accident that cost him his leg. Mike’s older brother, Joe Bill, reminded Mike how much Mike meant to their father. It was their father who first got Mike into sports, beginning with Little League baseball. It was Joe Bill who helped encourage Mike to play football to be a part of the community, and to help take his mind off their father’s death. Mike enjoys the support of his brother. Mike loves his quiet, reserved mother deeply. In 1988, when Mike became quarterback, he knew that he, as well as twenty-thousand fans, expected something amazing to happen.

This section now returns to the present...