As the new year began, Matt and Julie continued to settle in as new parents. Lily was now almost ten months old and getting big. Another thing was also getting big: Matt's desire to return to football. He had decided to take a year off to get his strength back. The work, though, was brutal.
One day, Matt's friend, Landry, asked him, "Why are you doing this?"
Matt said, "I'm not doing this for me." He looked at Julie and Lily, who were playing, and said, "I'm doing this for them. I want Lily to be able to see me play. She has changed my life and completely changed my priorities. And she doesn't even know it."
Landry said, "Yeah. It's like that for us godfathers, too."
Julie said, "Matt. Why don't you take a break and hang out with us? It's Lily's first birthday and we need to get ready for the party."
As the months passed, Matt continued to gain strength. By the end of the summer, he was at 100%. He made it all the way back.
Well, almost.
He would be the backup this season. But just making it back was huge for him. Due to his amazing return, he was the only backup introduced in the opening home game and received the loudest cheers. Although Matt was used sparingly and mainly in mop-up duty that season, he had a good experience nonetheless by just making it back.
When the season was over, Julie said, "Welcome back to the NFL, Matt. I am so proud of you!"
Matt said, "I know. But it would be even better if I were starting. A year from now, you know what would be awesome?"
Julie asked, "What?"
Matt said, "It's really far-fetched and probably will not happen, but a year from now, I would like to be on the podium with the Super Bowl trophy in my hands." They both knew, though, that that was little more than a dream.
