Dockery wakes up in a Cleveland hospital bed on the Monday morning after the AFC title game. Due to a concussion, he remembers nothing about his performance, but his agent Arnie soon arrives to fill him in. With the Browns winning big, Dockery had thrown three interceptions in the final quarter, allowing the Denver Broncos to come back and win. The Cleveland media is up in arms, and fans riot in front of the hospital hoping to get their clutches on Dockery. In short, Grisham's protagonist has hit rock bottom.
The Browns cut Dockery, and no other NFL team is willing to consider signing him. Grisham knows the mindsets of professional athletes enough to understand that Dockery can't quit. He asks his agent to find him a job somewhere, anywhere. Hence the comedy begins.
Grisham is a storyteller who keeps the narrative flowing at a swift pace. He also has a penchant for humorous dialogue. Here's agent Arnie calling his jobless client with the only offer available: "Listen to me, Rick, Parma Panthers." Dockery is dumbfounded. "Okay, Arnie, pardon the brain damage, but why don't you tell me exactly where Parma is." It's in northern Italy and a desperate Dockery goes there to play.
Grisham gives Dockery all the culture shock and resulting comedy readers could wish for. Dockery wakes one morning to find himself inexplicably placed in the custody of Parma police. Instead of some Kafkaesque scene, Grisham concludes the episode with Dockery being introduced to his new fullback, nicknamed Franco, who's not just a football player but also a powerful judge. When the judge/fullback shows Dockery his personal highlight film of greatest runs, the quarterback wisecracks, "Is this in slow motion?"
