最珍贵的礼物
In high school, I played varsity football. I wasn’t a star, but in my senior year I was good enough to start at defensive and offensive tackle. Four years of brutal preseason football camps, sweaty shoulder pads and buckets of black eye paint all came down to my last game. I urged my dad to bring our video camera. I wanted to capture the last plays of my football career for posterity1.
Dad got me to play football in the first place. I enjoyed throwing the ball around with my friends, but I didn’t think I had what it took to play on a team. “I’m no football player,” I told my dad.
“You’ll never know what you’re capable of unless you give it a try,” he told me. So, I did. I remember how proud he was when I won the most-improved player award my sophomore2 season, prouder than if I’d been the MVP, and the hug he gave me after I received my varsity letter. There was rarely a game that Dad wasn’t on the sidelines3, cheering me on.
I waved at my parents before the opening kickoff, and put on my game face. Our opponents had the ball first. I crouched down and awaited the snap. My pads crunched4 as I made contact with the offensive tackle. I grabbed at the jersey of the opponent and dragged him to the turf5. A loud cheer erupted from the sidelines. I sure hoped Dad got that one on tape. I straightened my helmet and looked over. There was Dad with the camera, cheering like crazy.
On the next defensive series, I did a spin move and burst through the line to sack their quarterback. A couple plays later, I made another stop of their running back. Great! My last game was turning my intensity up a notch6. It seemed as if every time I came off the field, the coaches were congratulating me for another great play. By the end of the game, I had seven tackles and a sack—my best performance ever. A perfect end to my career. I ran into my dad’s arms. I was sweaty and smelly, but he hugged me anyway.
I couldn’t wait to watch the tape. Relieve every moment. As soon as we got in the house, I took the cassette out of the camera and rewound it in the VCR. My dad, mom, sister and I sat down in the living room in front of the big screen TV and dimmed the lights. I pressed play.
The video started. The two teams lined up before the snap, then the running back taking the handoff, running up to the line, me reaching out, and then...clouds. I could hear my dad, screaming, “Way to go, A!” as images of the sky shook up and down on screen.
“Where’s Adam’s tackle?” my sister said.
“Sorry,” Dad replied, sheepishly. I learned forward to see the next big play…and the next and the next. Not one was on tape. Not even my sack! Every time, just as I was about to make a play, the camera would begin filming alternating bits of grass and parts of bleachers, and the audio of my dad’s loud cheering cutting in and out. “All right, Adam!” I could hear my dad yell. “That’s my boy! That’s my son!”
The tape ended and Dad was quiet. “I’m sorry, Adam,” he said, finally. That’s when it dawned on me. I didn’t have any of my football glory caught on tape—I had something better. A perfect record of Dad’s cheers, his excitement, his uncontainable joy in watching me play. His pride in me.
“I can’t believe I didn’t get anything on tape,” Dad said.
I smiled. “Yes, you did,” I said, and hugged him hard.
上中学的时候，我是校橄榄球队的主力。虽然我不是明星，但在高年级阶段，以我的水平足够可以担当防守或者进攻。四年残酷的赛前集训生活，被汗水浸透的肩膀护垫，还有那一桶桶黑色眼部涂料都在我最后的决战之后宣告结束。我强烈要求爸爸带上摄影机，我想要爸爸帮我记录下我橄榄球生涯的最后一场比赛，以后可以给我的孩子们看看。
爸爸坚持要我打前锋。我喜欢在朋友的加油声中投球，但其实我并不觉得自己真的具备那些前锋所具有的能力。“我不是橄榄球手，”我对爸爸说。
“如果你不尝试，你永远都不会知道自己到底可以做什么，”爸爸告诉我。于是，我接受了爸爸的意见。我还记得在第二年赛季中当我获得“最佳进步球员奖”时爸爸脸上洋溢着多么骄傲的笑容，他似乎比我获得“最有价值球员”还要感到自豪。当我收到校队的通知时，爸爸给我了一个热烈的拥抱。从那以后，只要我出场的比赛，爸爸从不曾错过，他总会在那里为我呐喊助威。
在开球前，我向爸爸妈妈挥了挥手，随即便戴上了比赛用的防护面罩。对方先发球。我半蹲在那里，随时准备接应猛烈的攻球。在我竭力阻截对方进攻的球员时，肩膀护垫吱吱作响。我抓住对方球员的运动衫并把他摔倒在草地上。看台上爆发出一阵阵热烈的欢呼声。我确信爸爸已经将这精彩的一刻拍了下来。我正了正头盔，朝看台望去。就在那里，爸爸手拿着摄影机，欣喜若狂地为我欢呼。
接下来我担任的角色是后卫，我像陀螺般旋转着突破对方的阵线，以便袭击对方的四分卫。后来我又阻截住了其他几个从后方袭击的球员。太棒了！我最后的比赛把我的球技提高了一个层次。几乎我每次走下球场，教练都会为我的又一次精彩表演向我祝贺。比赛结束时，我一共有七次阻截和一次抢夺。这是我有史以来在球场上最为出色的表现。这也为我的橄榄球生涯画上了完美的句点。我一下子扑到爸爸的怀里。虽然我浑身被汗水浸透，而且散发着难闻的气味，可是爸爸并不在乎，紧紧地拥抱着我。
我迫不及待地想要看录影带，我想再次回味体验每一个激动人心的时刻。一进家门，我便赶紧把录影带取出来并放进录像机。爸爸、妈妈、姐姐和我一起坐在客厅里的大屏幕电视前，我把灯调暗，并按下了播放键。
录像开始了。比赛开始前，两侧的队员列队等候，然后后边的球员争得了手递手传球的资格，一路向终点线跑去，我伸出手去接球，这时，屏幕上出现了云朵。我能听到爸爸在高声呼喊：“加油，亚当。”与此同时，屏幕上出现了一片上下摇动的天空。
“亚当在哪里阻截？”姐姐问道。
“很抱歉，”爸爸难为情地说。我努力想找到下一场重要的比赛??还有之后的很多场比赛。可是录影带上空空如也，甚至连我的抢夺酷姿也没有。每当我正要冲锋陷阵的时候，镜头里就会交替地出现星星点点的草地和一部分看台，还有爸爸洪亮的呐喊声时不时地从喇叭中传出来。“好的，亚当！”我能听到爸爸的喊声。“这才是男子汉，这才是我的好儿子！”
录像结束了，爸爸沉默不语。最后，他开口了：“我真的很抱歉，亚当。”就在那时，我猛然间明白了。虽然我在球场上英姿飒爽的帅气没有留在录影带上，但是我有更好的回忆——一盘载满爸爸为我欢呼雀跃的录影带，上面记录了他因看我的球赛而激动万分，因看我的球赛而情不自禁地喜形于色的情形。爸爸一直以我为荣。
“我真的无法相信自己什么也没拍到，”爸爸懊悔地说。
我微笑着说：“不，爸爸，您拍到了。”接着我们紧紧相拥在一起。