Daniel Martin returns to his alma mater, Pembroke High School, a husk of his past glories, tattered with felt letters and medals. Once considered an NFL prospect, he made national news when he was kicked off his scholarship for an addiction to painkillers. His body shrinks itself as each blank face asks to see the state rings choking his fingers into swollen stubs.

The near-misses, the almosts, the married ex-girlfriend who tells him it’s good to see him again; he guzzles each memory, recreating it in gulps and hiccups at the dive bars between practices. On Friday nights, he blinds himself to the monsters crushing the younger versions of himself as the Titans’ new coach while the ghosts murmur on the stands and he continues to stay, wanting an undefeated season.