Football Genius

Tim Green

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2007

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-5

Chapters 6-10

Chapters 11-16

Chapters 17-21

Chapters 22-28

Chapters 29-34

Chapters 35-41

Chapters 42-50

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Chapters 17-21Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 17 Summary

Troy returns the football to Seth and apologizes. Seth asks about Troy’s gift and wants to see it in action. They go inside to watch the Georgia Tech game on TV. Eventually, Troy begins predicting every play before it happens, and Seth is impressed: “‘Holy crow,’ Seth said, ‘you’re like a football genius’” (90).

Chapter 18 Summary

Troy’s mom returns home and is surprised to find Seth there. Seth explains he wants a Super Bowl ring and that e believed Troy could be his supercomouter. he believes Troy could help the team win. He assures her that he will take Troy under his care.

As Seth and Troy leave for the Falcons facility, Tate arrives. Seth finds it cool that she is the kicker for the Tigers football team and signs her ball. Seth takes Troy to the facility where he explains the Falcons’ complex playbook to Troy. He then brings him in to meet Coach Krock.

Chapter 19 Summary

Coach Krock immediately recognizes Troy from the Cowboys game. Seth tells Krock the story, but Coach Krock doesn’t believe him, saying that Seth is getting old and trying to play too much strategy now. Seth convinces Krock to give Troy a shot. Krock runs some film but snaps his fingers in front of Troy’s face to distract him when he cannot immediately predict the plays. For some reason, Troy cannot predict the plays. The patterns just don’t seem to be there. Krock laughs him out of the room.

Seth drives Troy home. Seth believes Troy could not perform under pressure. Troy tries to explain that the patterns didn’t make sense. Seth leaves as Troy throws his ball at Seth’s truck in frustration.

Chapter 20 Summary

The next day, Nathan tells Troy and Tate the story of how Coach Krock injured his leg and consoles Troy for not being able to perform under that pressure. When Troy gets home, his grandfather, Gramp, is waiting for him in the kitchen, and he asks Troy what happened. Instead of telling the story, Troy asks about his father. Gramp tells Troy that his father was a math major and a smart man.

Troy then tells his grandfather what happened with Seth and Coach Krock. Gramp and Troy manage to figure out why Troy could not predict the plays: Coach Krock played the tape of a pre-season game for Troy. Pre-season games, unlike regular season games, do not have a pattern or strategy but rather are just a series of random plays.

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They quickly switch on the Falcons game. Troy can predict all the other team’s plays. Troy feels vindicated as the Falcons lose. On the screen, they see Seth’s miserable expression.

Chapter 21 Summary

When Troy’s mom gets home from the game, Gramp implores Tessa to tell the Falcons about Troy’s ability and explains the pre-season game. The two argue about the subject. Gramp declares Troy a genius. Troy’s mom gets frustrated and slams her hand down on the table. Troy goes outside to practice throws. Before he leaves, Gramp tells Troy to follow his heart.

Tate, Troy, and Nathan grab tools from Troy’s shed and break a hole in the compound wall just big enough for Troy to fit through.

Chapters 17-21 Analysis

With a father figure in his life, Troy has another ally that can help him thrive in the adult world. The plot suddenly accelerates as Troy leaves his soul searching behind and jumps into action.

Krock is then established as the main antagonist against Troy’s attempt to enter the adult world. His rejection of Troy via the pre-season game twist is the most difficult thing Troy has had to overcome so far in the narrative, causing Troy to question his identity at the deepest level. When Seth attempts to empathize, however, he can only see the world through the lens of his own experience, one rooted in the physical performance of tasks under pressure. Ironically, this is the same perspective of Krock, as if the two are flip sides of the same coin.

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This part of the story represents the mid-point and the lowest point for Troy in his journey. He has failed to establish himself in the new world, causing him to look inside and question himself. This point in the Hero’s Journey is called the “Refusal of the Call,” when the hero loses faith and tries to refuse his destiny.

It is at this point that Troy receives archetypical “Supernatural Aide” in the form of Gramp. This supernatural aide is another part of the classic Hero’s Journey. Gramp not only helps figure out why Troy could not predict the preseason game but also gives Troy information from his past about his father that helps Troy recognize his own identity and where his power comes from—a mathematical intelligence. This represents the main revelation of the hero in the story. Troy’s friends suddenly arrive, and together they press on into the second half of the narrative as Troy returns to the compound to find his mentor, Seth.