Chapter 66

“Blaming men that have to be in on every play and are expected to be perfect on every play isn’t what Navy football is about. Blame me. I wasn’t in for every play like the refs were, but I made more mistakes than they did. We’ve had too great a season to have it end with us players acting like spoiled kids. This is the test. Anyone can be a gracious winner. We lost. How we handle that loss will determine what kind of a team we are and what kind of men we are. So if anyone asks why we lost, blame it all on me if you need someone to be responsible.”

“I don’t think that’s accurate,” stated the halfback as he studied his shoes. “I fumbled the ball on that long drive in the third quarter. If I hadn’t dropped the ball, we would’ve scored.”

“Hell! I missed at least three easy tackles. One was when the punt returner ran the ball back for a touchdown,” declared Jake Dern, the big middle linebacker. “This loss is on me. We all know that.”

By the time the players had showered