Accused

TJ! TJ! TJ! TJ! TJ!

Okay, don't fall for the slide-by.

He doesn't go for the single-leg

unless it's late in the round.

You make him come from your left,

and then you stay low and you're golden.

-Yes, Coach. -Hey, hey, hey, hey.

You got an audience.

Third time he's come to see you now.

You don't have to put on a show.

Just do what you do.

Let's go.

Okay, TJ, focus.

The defense will tell you that Justin Ward is a pillar

of the Moss Hill community.

That he turned around his school's wrestling team

when he returned to his hometown nine years ago.

They'll tell you that he himself was a decorated wrestler

who led Moss Hill's class of '84

to the State Championships.

They'll tell you that he checked his boys' report cards,

kept them out of trouble,

demanded excellence on and off the mat.

They'll say he is the sort of man you can trust.

And you will see why so many believed that to be true.

Pull the shoulder. Hit's a fireman.

Hit it! Yeah. Hit him.

Don't let him go. Don't let him up.

Go! Good. Good.

Headgear! Ref!

Bridge. Bridge. Turn on him!

Get outta there. Get out.

-Damn it! -Okay. Just hold on for a sec,

okay? Look...

You did great, all right? You did great. Relax, man.

He threw me by my headgear

and the ref didn't do anything about it.

The guy was top ten in the state last year, as a junior, okay?

-Don't beat yourself up. -It doesn't matter.

-I'm better than him. -I know you are. Just--

You didn't wrestle like it.

You got so pissed off,

you're so worried about lookin' better than him

that you forgot, when he thinks he has you,

he puts his guard down.

You didn't capitalize on that.

Hold on, hold on. TJ won.

Yeah, he didn't pin the guy, but he won by five points.

He qualified for State! Why...

Why are we acting like he slipped on a banana peel?

'Cause it wasn't just a match,

it was an audition.

What'd Coach Lewis say about the scholarship?

Wasn't a "yes."

But it wasn't a "no" either.

He didn't say much. He left in a hurry.

Listen, you...

you gotta get your head down,

and make yourself undeniable.

Sure, you can beat up on a trash can, huh?

But what about a real opponent?

Huh? Pick that up.

Help him.

Is he still in the running?

I'm selling TJ as hard as I can,

but there's another kid in the mix.

Duke is looking for a 175-pounder,

which would be Devon Marshall outta Saginaw High

or Vince Adkins outta Dover Catholic.

And, uh, apparently this Vince Adkins

can't write his own name without a cheat sheet,

so it's TJ versus Devon.

But, Marshall, he's better on paper.

It's been a while since I've seen that look on your face.

Usually, it was followed by you telling me you were too busy

working out to see me.

"Prom is temporary, Erica. Greatness is forever."

TJ's better than I was.

National champion better.

Olympics better.

Yeah, he works hard, but he's gotta work harder.

Hey, come on. Let's go. We're late to get Nico.

Thank you for pushing him so hard.

Of course.

- Hey, Dad. - Hey. Ty, what's up?

Hey. Thanks for the ride.

Rob.

Justin.

How you feelin', Pop?

Fine.

The nurse tells me that you're walking again after the fall.

Any pain in that hip?

Nope.

You sure?

Uh...

TJ won again today.

He's going to State.

A bunch of D-1 offers come in for him.

I'm trying to get him a full scholarship to Duke.

This is Erica's kid?

Yeah.

I been saying it since he was trucking kids in Pee Wee,

once-in-a-generation.

He's smart.

He's got a 3.0 average.

Helps with his brother.

Are you adopting him or coaching him?

Come on!

That's it! Good. Good.

Hit him.

Don't let him escape.

Nico's school can do a payment plan this month,

so we can put $300 towards the credit cards.

-Rob? -Yeah. Yeah, okay.

Used to be I was happy TJ wasn't out getting into trouble,

but now?

Hell, like, it's Saturday.

He oughta be with his friends. No?

We should be happy that he's working so hard.

State is in less than three weeks,

and Justin said that he had--

Justin is running him ragged.

He's helping him make something of himself.

We should be supporting that effort.

"Make something of himself?"

'Cause if he stays here, he's, what? He's nothing?

That's not what I said!

That's not even remotely what I'm talking about.

I've put roofs on two houses

and installed a football field's worth of gutter pipe!

This week!

I'm proud of that!

You haven't had a day off in weeks.

That's what you want for your son?

That's what you want for him?

I'm not the one who's unhappy with our life!

Justin gets to play hero without raisin' this kid!

You are not still threatened by him.

It's ridiculous.

He is not doing this for TJ.

He's doin' it for you.

Nice work, nice work, fellas.

How are you still two pounds over?

It just doesn't make sense.

Working out three hours a day, can't drop two damn pounds.

Sit down for a minute. I wanna talk to you.

I'm worried about you, TJ.

What's going on?

You're talkin' back in class.

You pushed that kid at lunch the other day.

I walked by him,

and then he made a big deal about it, okay?

Your grades are down, too.

In 25 years,

Duke has only given out

six full wrestling scholarships,

and none of them were below 3.0.

Richter says that you blew off his calculus midterm too.

-Forget calculus. -What?

It was an excused absence.

It was a family emergency.

-A family emergency? -Yeah.

Well, how do I not know about this?

-I could call your mom. -My dad pulled me, all right?

He needed my help with a job.

Is he havin' trouble finding free labor?

It was to see the grand opening

of his American Legion building he worked on.

So he wanted me to see it.

TJ, he... he wants you to see that there's a backup plan,

and there isn't. Duke is it.

Lay off my dad, okay?

I-I mean, I...

I don't want what he has,

but it's gotta be pretty difficult for him

to see me working so hard for a future

that has him in the rearview.

So, he's trying.

And so am I.

TJ. TJ!

Put your shoes back on.

You and your teammates still owe me laps.

I can't, Coach.

You have a 2.8 GPA.

You're two pounds overweight.

Twenty-eight plus two equals a nice round 30 laps.

How's that for calculus?

You told me you were gonna give it to me!

Okay. Just chill, okay?

You're acting like a tweaker.

- No, I'm not. -You're gonna get me in trouble.

No, I'm not.

I tested in November. I chugged that weird, that weird tea--

I am saying you need to slow down. Okay?

Give it to me. All right?

-Give it to me. -Yeah. Here.

-You want it? -Yeah!

Just take it easy, okay?

Whaddya got there?

It's my backpack.