The Boy in the Plaid Sweater

 

Wood, Grant. Plaid Sweater. 1931, University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art.

The University of Iowa offers periodic flash writing contests.  I think they are a fun challenge. I chose this painting as the 100 word micro-story prompt:

The Boy in the Plaid Sweater

Nile breathes deep the autumn air. He shuffles the smooth pig skin between his hands restlessly waiting for his chums to arrive at their makeshift field as the corn rustles along the edges. Suddenly in a blitz of crunching feet, he sends piles of leaves scattering back into the air. He places the football on the newly exposed yellowing ground and exhales in a cloud of crystallized impatience. Unaware of his future greatness, he practice snaps the ball to himself. A juke around the Duke and he darts down the field, strides wide. Touchdown!!!  The phantom crowd goes wild.

If you aren't familiar with Iowa Hawkeye football then I offer this epilogue for you.  Nile is the halfback from the University of Iowa that became the 1939 Heisman Trophy winner.  He was killed during WWII as a US Navy aviator at the age of 24.  The stadium is named for him and his statue stands where the current players can touch him for luck prior to all the home games.  He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951 along with Duke Slater.

Duke that Nile imagines to juke is for Duke Slater, tackle, at the University of Iowa from 1918 to 1921.  He became the 1st black lineman in the NFL! He went on to become a lawyer and a judge, the 2nd black judge in Chicago history. He lived to be inducted into both the College Football Hall of Fame and Pro Football Hall of Fame finally recognized his achievements in 2020.