TJ! TJ! TJ! TJ! TJ!
TJ! TJ! TJ! TJ! TJ! TJ! TJ! TJ! TJ!
- TJ! TJ! - Look at me 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.
Rescue 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, uh, he didn't say much. He left in a hurry.
Listen, you...
you gotta get your head down,
and make yourself undeniable.
Yeah, 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, c'mon. 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 oughtta 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's 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. - 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.
- 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. 28 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
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.
What's in it?
Tyson let me copy his homework,
- so that's what's in it. - Turn it over.
It was... It's nothing.
Steroids?
Oh, damn it, TJ.
No wonder you've been a wreck.
- Come on, let's go. - Where are we goin'?
Where do you think?
It sounds worse than it is, okay?
Listen steroids, they're just natural hormones
that my body's already producing.
It's not like its meth or something like that,
all right? I-I'm training hard.
I-I'm eating healthy.
I don't have the fancy wrestling camps
or coaches, I can't afford it.
I-I'm trying to even the playing field.
I know it was stupid. I'm sorry. I'm sorry!
I swear, I swear,
- after State, I'm done. - State?
You think I'm taking you to State all juiced up?
No, no, no, no, no, you can't do that.
We'll see what your parents have to say.
- You can't tell them! - Hey!
Oh my god, there you are!
Erica, listen, there's something that you should know.
I already know.
- Hey, Coach. - Hi, Coach, how are ya?
- Hello, TJ. - Hi. Hi, Coach.
I wanted to come and personally tell you
that I cleared it with our athletic department,
and I am very excited to offer you
a scholarship to Duke University.
Thank you so much. Thank you so much.
That's fantastic.
Congratulations, son. I've got your letter of intent here.
Wow. It's good.
Mr. Ward was relentless in driving them.
TJ Ellis in particular.
Not simply because he wanted to do right by them.
But because their victory would be his.
Because, by winning, he could matter again.
And for Mr. Ward, there was no price too high
to pay for the chance to matter again.
Though pay he did...
with someone else's life.
You know, your coach has been emailing me
every day saying you're the one.
He's got clips, diagrams, stat breakdowns.
I figured either I take out a restraining order on him,
or I offer you the scholarship.
He says that you're a deeply principled young man.
At Duke, that's a quality that we hold in high regard.
- It's all thanks to Justin. - Nah.
Our, uh, program gets a pool of money,
so we usually only offer partial scholarships
to lower-division wrestlers. But if you win,
well, I can make a case that you're worth the whole pie.
And what if he doesn't win?
- Oh, he'll win. - Dad, come on.
Hey, I'm just saying.
He's gonna be wrestling against the best wrestlers
in Pennsylvania, what if he doesn't?
He'll still have a place on our team, with a partial scholarship.
Partial? I mean, what's that?
Thirty K? Gee, thanks.
There are loan programs.
Loan programs. I forget I'm talkin'
- to Mr. Ivy League over here. - For how long?
All of like, eight months, was it?
I did two years at Cornell before I got injured.
You shoulda seen him senior year of high school.
Like he was Napoleon, and the rest of us
- were trailer trash. - Rob!
Drinkin' in the parking lot wasn't my style.
This is a funny story.
Erica was his girlfriend at the time,
drives him all the way up to Ithaca,
helps him move into his fancy new dorm,
and right as she puts down the last box, he dumps her.
- That was a long time ago. - Mm-hmm.
- Can I get you something to drink? Something else? - Uh, no. No.
Thank you. I should be going. I'm staying in Philadelphia tonight.
Long drive. TJ, once again, congratulations.
Mr. Ellis, thanks for your hospitality.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
- Uh, Coach and I will walk you out. - Oh, great.
Lookin' forward to havin' you on our squad, son.
- Thanks again! - Thank you, coach.
You trying to embarrass TJ?
This was supposed to be a celebration.
Look, he just wanted to make sure
TJ didn't commit to another school.
Erica, sit down.
Can you tell the court what the terms
of your testimony today are?
Uh...
The terms are, I won't be charged with a felony.
Right. You're instead being charged
with misdemeanor possession of schedule three narcotics
on condition of your cooperation with the prosecution,
a punishment which carries a fine
and community service, but no jail time?
- Yeah. - Can you tell the court
what it was you provided to Mr. Ellis?
My mom's a vet.
She has, uh...
Boldenone, this animal steroid,
it's what baseball players used to take,
so TJ had me swipe some.
He was stuck, you know? Rock and a hard place.
Coach pushing, his dad pulling.
It was just too much pressure for him.
I mean, protein powder wasn't gonna cut it.
A body can't bench press in the morning
and then haul bricks after practice.
His dad wouldn't give him a break,
it was like, it was like he needed to prove
- that it was a life worth living. - Don't talk about my dad!
Don't talk about my dad! He didn't do anything to you!
Okay, let's go. Come on.
Come on. Let's go outside...
- You're okay. I got you. - He knows it wasn't him.
He knows it wasn't him!
Let's take a recess for lunch.
We'll resume in 30 minutes.
If you tell them, my dad'll pull me.
You heard Coach, no State, no scholarship.
Forget college, forget everything I worked for.
What's the point then?
What's my life, then?
Please...
Please don't tell them.
Hey, hey, hey, college boy! Mom texted me!
Hey, Nico.
Congrats on getting in!
Not yet! Knock on wood, knock on wood.
Still gonna do our summer trip, though, right?
Of course. Of course. We got this whole summer
last hurrah trip planned.
I vote Europe, he votes Australia,
we've got about enough money for a bus ride to Cleveland.
We're gonna figure it out.
Uh, there's one problem with Duke, though.
What?
You look ugly in blue.
Yeah, so do you, asshat.
Come on. Come on.
You know I'm the pretty one, right?
Get outta here. Get inside.
The only place nearby that's half-edible
is the falafel truck, but the line's insane,
and we need to be back from lunch in half an hour.
- Are you hungry? - No.
No, not really.
Why don't we take a little walk? Get some fresh air?
- Sure. - Come on.
I've learned to grab my own lunch.
That's a ham and cheese from Lamana's.
You're welcome to half.
Seriously, you'd be doing me a favor.
- Thanks. - Yeah.
- I'm gonna... - Sure.
Erica said to stay outside.
Doesn't trust me to sit in court and not try to kill you.
Well...
If you wanna hit me, I... I understand.
I don't want to hit you, Justin.
I want my son back.
I'm sorry about earlier.
It was just too much.
You can stay outside if you want.
- You don't have to watch. - Yes, I do.
I have to be there.
I have to remember it.
I forget stuff all the time.
What if I forget him, too?
Coach?
Yeah, I... I've been thinkin',
when I was your age, I woulda done whatever it took
to get outta here,
so I'm not gonna say anything to anyone about this.
I'm gonna keep it to myself and let you go to State.
- Thank you! - On one condition.
Tomorrow morning, you meet me at my office
20 minutes before homeroom,
you hand over the rest of the drugs. All of them.
You understand me?
Yes, Coach.
Listen, kids around here, they don't get second chances,
so don't waste yours.
I won't. I...
I'm sorry I let you down.
Yeah, well, you made a mistake.
It doesn't mean you have to pay for it for the rest of your life.
Hey, listen,
you will win State,
and you will get that full scholarship,
but you're gonna do it on your own steam,
because you're the best wrestler on the mat.
You hear me?
Yes, sir. Thanks, Coach.
I saw a video where you can work on a cruise
- and sightsee on your downtime. - Hand me my water.
You wash dishes and then snorkel when you're free.
Nico. Hand me my water?
We have to apply, though. And if you're in,
it means we have to fill out all these forms, so...
Nico, not now.
- Sorry, I just... - It's okay.
You gotta lock in.
Don't suck.
- Love you. - I love you.
Hey. You all right?
Yeah, I'm fine. It's just nerves.
This is your fourth match in two days. And your last.
I used to get sick before my matches too.
My father would always say,
nothing can stop you as long as you know why you're here.
Why are you here?
I get the chance to do things that Nico can't.
I don't wanna waste that luck.
Plus, the kid learned how to walk twice.
I got no excuses for not giving it my all.
How about a little more luck?
Used to wear these at my matches.
Yeah!
Now, if you'll excuse me.
Don't grow old, kid,
the rest is just taxes and trips to the bathroom.
Are you TJ Ellis?
- Yeah. Hey. - My name's Aaron Gardner,
I'm a doping officer for the Pennsylvania
Interscholastic Sports Federation.
- You know the drill. - Uh, didn't you guys test
- at the beginning of the season? - We're re-testing.
I'm on the mat in 15 minutes, man.
It'll only take two minutes.
I assume you've been provided with the list
of banned substances; anabolic steroids,
hormone modulators, stimulants,
and any masking agents that might be used to fool the test.
So, are you guys testing everyone?
Or just the public school kids?
The tests are completely random. Per PISF policy.
If I didn't know better, I'd say you seem reluctant
- to submit to the test. - No, no. No, I'm fine.
Okay. Mind if I check your pockets?
Knock yourself out, man.
Up next, the 145-pound State final match.
TJ Ellis of Moss Hill High School
versus Louis Vega of Stonewood High School.
- Listen... - Come on.
He's made it this far.
- He's gonna do great. - Come on.
But if he doesn't win, it'll also be okay.
He's afraid of becoming me.
But it's not so bad.
Hey. Any last-minute advice?
What?
You're ready. Go kick some ass.
- Thanks for everything, Coach. - Yeah. Get in there.
Okay, TJ.
Okay. All right, TJ. Focus.
Hey, turn him. Turn him.
Go. Yep.
- Yeah. - Yes! Yes! Come on!
Okay.
- It's alright, TJ. Come on, get after him. - Come on.
Watch the big throw!
Get outta there!
Whoo-hoo!
Go! Come on!
All right. Yes, good.
Let's go. Yes! Yes, yes! Yes!
Yes! Let's go!
Yes!
Yes TJ!
Ladies and Gentlemen, your new Pennsylvania State Champion, TJ Ellis.
Yeah!
The heart's a machine. You know?
I never thought about it, but it is.
Pumps, valves, chambers.
But if you push a machine too hard for too long...
it breaks.
TJ? Hey, TJ. Hey, kid.
Medic! Hey!
- What's going on? - Wait here.
TJ!
What happened? TJ!
- TJ! - He's not breathing!
Justin did chest compressions the whole time.
He just kept doin' it.
Just kept doin' it. Just kept doin' it.
- Oh, my God! - No. Oh no. Come on.
What happened?
- What's happening? - Hey, come on.
What's happening? - Please, please.
Help him, please!
Please. TJ, come on.
- Come on, TJ. - TJ.
TJ!
What's happening?
Oh, my God!
Wasn't until I found out how he was responsible
that I figured it out.
He wasn't trying to keep TJ alive.
He was trying to save his own life.
He needed TJ alive because of what he had done.
It would have been hard enough having just one child
with TJ or Nico's temperament,
but together?
They'd bite kids at school,
they...
they'd destroy anything breakable.
They were like two little demons just setting the world on fire,
and Rob and I were always working, so...
I guess it was just a matter of time.
They were in their after-school program,
and somehow,
Nico found his way out the window,
and onto the fire escape.
TJ, he stayed behind.
Then the fire escape collapsed, and...
Nico fell four stories onto his back.
He hit his head on the pavement.
They didn't know if he would walk or speak again.
TJ helped him.
Nico needed a lot of help,
so we...
we put TJ in every sport we could think of.
Is that when Mr. Ward first took an interest in him?
He saw TJ play in a pee wee football game
and said for the safety of the other kids,
we should get him wrestling.
It was Justin's ticket out,
and... I thought it could be TJ's, too.
I'm sure you're aware of your son's autopsy findings.
You're aware that the steroid abuse scarred TJ's heart,
giving him the sort of artery blockages
usually found in middle-aged heart attack victims?
Yes.
Did you trust that your son was safe in Mr. Ward's care?
Yes.
Do you feel he broke that trust?
Can I have... Can I have a minute, please?
Let's take a five minute break.
Hey. What's goin' on?
I can't do it.
Because you don't want to testify against him,
is that it? He lied to us.
He's not your high school sweetheart,
he's an adult that should know better.
- Rob! - Why are you trying to protect
the man who killed our son?
Because it's not his fault. It's mine.
I'm sorry.
Erica.
I just came to clean out his locker.
Uh...
I'm sorry. I...
I would have called.
This no-contact order on the part of the judge. I...
Yeah. I know.
Bought that with my very first paycheck.
I swore I'd never open it
until one of my wrestlers was State Champion.
This will be the first bottle of booze
we've ever had together that was more than ten bucks.
Yeah.
Listen, I...
I have to enter a plea.
My lawyer thinks I have a defense.
Every wrestler needs a full medical clearance
in order to compete. And, um, I found TJ's health form
from December. And by the time of this checkup,
he had been using for about three months.
And with this level of steroid use,
he would have had heart palpitations,
high blood pressure, things they would have caught,
but this Dr. Powell, he didn't...
- Justin... - I know I-I should,
I should have told you. I-I should have stopped him.
I should have done everything differently. I...
But this was December, I didn't find out until April.
There were guardrails to prevent this,
way before I knew, and those guardrails broke.
- And this doctor... - There was no doctor.
What?
I forged... I forged the form.
TJ's checkups had always been perfect.
He was doing great,
and, and our insurance is through the roof
because of Nico, so I thought,
what's the harm of missing one checkup?
I mean, never in a million years would I have ever thought
there'd be anything to find.
I don't know.
Maybe they would have found something. Maybe...
Maybe he'd still be here.
Does Rob know?
I can't tell him.
But, um...
You should know it's not all your fault.
And you should tell your lawyer.
First, can I just say, Mrs. Ellis,
how sorry I am for your loss.
You always expected a great deal from TJ, didn't you?
- Yes. - Why?
Because the stakes were too high.
Someday, Rob and I wouldn't be able to work anymore,
and there's no pension plan.
Nico needed more.
So, you thought, by pushing one son,
you could help both of them?
TJ was his brother's keeper.
If he had a future, then so did Nico.
Right. And maybe that worry,
that need, made you a little reckless?
Maybe.
- So can I ask, Mrs. Ellis, how the form that I have here is... - No.
- What? - No more questions.
Not in front of her boy.
Are you out of your... This is the key piece of evidence.
- Counselor? - Uh just, just one moment,
Your Honor, I'm sorry. This is the reason
we took things to trial in the first place.
She checked a box on a form.
It wouldn't have made any difference anyway.
I can't make this right, but I can at least do this.
No further questions for the witness, Your Honor.
Do you promise to tell the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes.
Have you heard of the myth of Daedalus and Icarus?
Uh, sure. Uh, don't get too close to the sun,
that whole thing. Yeah.
You're not the first to make that comparison.
It's told as a tale of Icarus's hubris,
but who do you think was responsible
for Icarus taking flight? The boy or the man?
I made a mistake.
I should have said something as soon as I found out.
You told police that upon discovering
TJ Ellis's steroid abuse,
that you confiscated the steroids on April 16th,
eight days before the State Championships, correct?
- Yes. - What happens when someone
quits using steroids cold turkey for one week?
I don't... I don't know.
Can you read the highlighted portion
of this paper from the New England Science Monitor?
Uh...
"The immediate cessation of high-dose,
long-term anabolic steroid use
can cause weakness, fatigue, and muscle and joint pain.
Users are advised to taper off
over a period of four to six weeks."
If the sudden stoppage of steroid use
causes catastrophic effects on athletic performance,
TJ's heart would have had to work twice as hard
- to win that match. - His future was on the line!
A future your negligence deprived him of.
Objection, Your Honor, if I may...
You know, if this guy Daedalus thought it was worth it
to use wax wings to help his son escape,
then I'll bet he knew that staying trapped in that maze
was an even bigger risk.
Yes...
It was a risk to let TJ compete.
But it was a risk to let him stay in a town
that had nothing to offer him.
I know, I lived that life.
And I'm the lucky one.
Of the guys who were on my wrestling team,
four of them are dead.
One of them overdosed.
One of them took his own life.
One of them wrapped his car around a telephone pole
after a fifth of vodka.
And one of 'em had a heart attack
and it took his neighbor three days
to find him on his bathroom floor.
I thought I was saving TJ from that.
I thought if I pushed him...
he could get out.
But I pushed him right into the sun.
Well, I heard on the TV that uh,
even if they find you guilty,
you're not gonna get the full five.
Maybe three.
You were always great at pep talks, Pop.
Well...
If you'd invited me to the trial, I would have come.
Pop, you're in no shape
to spend eight hours at a trial.
Sounds like you got a little emotional on the stand.
It made it seem like it was your fault.
- Maybe it was my fault. - Yeah, but you don't admit it.
You never admit anything.
All right, you did the right thing.
The kid wanted to become a champion, you made him a champion.
You didn't know him.
Don't talk about what he wanted.
Why? You want to train a horse,
you gotta break it first.
You never rode a horse in your life.
No, but I raised a son, didn't I?
Same thing.
I never told TJ how proud I was of him.
He knew.
If Justin had come back to Moss Hill after college...
Would you still've picked me?
Would any of this have happened?
You remember how cold it was that fall after graduation?
I was staring down the next five decades
restocking shelves.
And it was snowing in October.
I hated the cold.
But you took me sledding.
I wanted to see my life through your eyes.
Thought maybe it would rub off on me.
But it didn't.
Maybe it still could.
We the jury, in the case of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania versus Justin Ward,
find the defendant guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
Jury, thank you for your service.
Given the potential penalty,
I'm ordering the defendant held pending sentencing,
which will occur October the 21st.
This court is now adjourned.
All rise.