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podium. The heat from the lights just added to the sweat that
     had already begun streaming down his back. Grabbing the microphone, he briefly hesitated, then said, “With the twentieth overall
     selection in the first round, the Colorado Mustangs select out of the University of Texas, linebacker Afshin Ziafat.”
    4:23 P.M. MDT
INVERNESS TRAINING CENTER
ENGLEWOOD, COLORADO
    Normally the Colorado Mustangs’ war room at the Inverness Training Center exploded with jubilation after such an important
     pick was made—a pick that represented hours upon hours of research and work for everyone in the personnel department; a pick
     that meant an enormous investment on the part of the team to a player they really didn’t know; a pick that would guarantee
     this young man millions of dollars and the assurance he would probably never have to work again after signing his name on
     the dotted line; a pick that would likely make that player an overnight household name—jerseys would be made, billboards would
     be erected, and endorsements would be signed.
    Now, only four months after the attack by the Cause during a Monday Night Football game, the question was whether this organization,
     this locker room, and this city were prepared to embrace a player with a Muslim name. Within minutes of the announcement,
     blogs and online message boards filled with people giving their opinions of the Mustangs’ move. Most of them were calling
     for Burton’s job, if not his head.
    A bevy of sports reporters waited desperately for Mustangs head coach Roy Burton to emerge. Some saw the selection as disturbing,
     while others saw it as an act of redemption or tolerance or maybe just insanity. All, however, saw it as a story that wouldn’t
     die for a long time.
    Burton burst through the door and mounted the podium as the room lit up with camera-mounted lights. The questions came crashing
     down like an avalanche.
    “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Burton recoiled. “I know precisely what the question is going to be, so let me be clear. We held the twentieth
     overall selection, and our greatest need was at linebacker. We had to address that position, especially with the uncertainty
     of Riley Covington’s status.
    “Afshin Ziafat was the top collegiate linebacker. In fact, he was ranked as the fourth-best player in this year’s draft. We
     never expected he would have dropped to number twenty. Face it: if the kid had a different last name, we wouldn’t be having
     this conversation.
    “As our pick came closer, we were faced with quite the dilemma. The next-best linebacker was ranked twenty-seventh overall
     on our board. You tell me one coach worth his salt who would bypass the fourth best player in the draft for the twenty-seventh.
     I don’t care if the kid’s mother named him Osama bin Laden; that’s just simple math.
    “Our other option was to draft not according to our need at linebacker but to go with the best available player after Ziafat,
     no matter the position. That player was a quarterback. Obviously, with Meyer we don’t have a need at the quarterback position.
     After that was a center. With the production we’ve had out of Gorkowski, that wouldn’t make much sense either. Our only other
     choice would have been to hope to get something worthwhile by trading down to a lower pick, but the offers we had were not
     in our best interest.
    “So, we had the opportunity to select a number-four player with a number-twenty pick at a position that addressed our greatest
     need. Any other time in our history, this pick would be a no-brainer. We’ve pulled everything on this kid that we could find.
     He’s a good kid—a bright kid.”
    Burton paused for a moment. “Look, bottom line is yes, he’s from a background that scares some people, and we do have a wound
     that is still raw. But I see this as the next big step in the healing process for this team, this city, and ultimately, for
     this country. So, I made the pick, and I need to