Bleachers, Neely Crenshaw Character Analysis

In life, everyone makes mistakes. Some are minor, some are major, but all in all, it happens. Eddie Rake made his fair amount of mistakes in life but managed to gain forgiveness back from every player and family because of the positive impact he made on the lives of the people of Messina. In John Grisham’s, Bleachers, Neely Crenshaw, one of Rake’s former players, said, “Coach Rake was not easy to love, and while you’re playing here you don’t really like him. But after you leave, after you venture away from this place, after you’ve been kicked around a few times, faced some adversity, some failure, been knocked down in life, you soon realize how important Coach Rake is and was” (Grisham 223). This tells one that no matter how bad Rake hurt a

player or how bad he made a player feel, they forgave him because they knew they were almost dependent on Eddie Rake.
In the note Eddie left behind to be read at his funeral, he said, “I never dreamed I would be responsible for the death of one of my players, and I accept the blame for his death” (Grisham 204). Living with the guilt of knowing he killed a young boy, let alone a young Spartan, caused Eddie Rake a tremendous amount of guilt. Even though it was not on purpose, Scotty Reardon’s family and friends were thought to hold it against him forever. How could a parent ever forgive someone for killing their son? When the funeral of Eddie Rake came around, Father McCabe, the pastor for Rake’s funeral, announced that “with the consent of the Reardon family, he was laid to rest beside Scotty” (Grisham 196). Scotty’s family allowed Eddie Rake to be buried right next to their son which shows that the Reardon’s trusted Rake to take care of Scotty up in heaven. After all, he owed it to the family. This was also a final gesture of forgiveness between the two sides. I believe that the Reardon’s decided to forgive Rake because everywhere they looked in the small town of Messina, Eddie Rake was there in some way, shape, or form. It was virtually impossible to get away from Rake in Messina. Also, the family saw how Rake had impacted the lives of all the other young men and fans that were following the Spartan path. He made his mark on everyone in the town whether it was giving the fans the pride to be a Spartan or pushing his players to constantly be better and always work as hard as possible on everything in life. As one player once said about Eddie Rake, “You always hear his voice, urging you to pick yourself up, to do better, and never quit. You miss that voice. Once you’re away from Coach Rake, you miss him so much” (Grisham 223).
Coach Rake acted in heat of the moment during games.

Sometimes he said and did things he did not mean. In his mind, these things were used to provoke his players and make them mad which would ,in turn, make them play more aggressively. One game he took this method way too far. He explains this situation in the letter he left behind to be read at his funeral. In this letter he admits, “At halftime, in a fit of rage, I physically assaulted a player, our quarterback. It was a criminal act, one that should have had me banned from the game forever. I am sorry for my actions. As I watched my team rally against enormous odds, I had never felt such pride, and such pain. That victory was my finest hour. Please forgive me boys” (Grisham 204). Eddie Rake knew he messed up by getting physical with one of his players and he lived with that guilt every day, but the connection he had with his team overcame Rake’s actions. Neely proves his forgiveness toward Rake when he speaks at the funeral and says, “‘I’ve loved five people in my life’ ‘My parents, a certain girl who’s here today, my ex-wife, and Eddie Rake” (Grisham 224). His players knew he was never trying to actually hurt them; Rake just wanted them to win, and overall, be the best they can

be.
Coach Rake affected his players on more than just football; he also affected them in the choices they made in life. He made his players think that they were on top of everything and that they could do whatever they wanted. At the time, it worked out for them, but later in life, it may have caused some regrets. Neely has not forgiven himself for what he did to his ex girlfriend, Cameron Seawright. One can make this assumption when it says, “Neely passed the house three times before he was brave enough to stop” (Grisham 172). If he had forgiven himself, it would not be an issue for him to stop and talk to Cameron. When Neely finally gets the courage up to stop and talk to her after fifteen years, the full effect of what he did sinks in. It is easy to sense the guilt Neely is feeling when he says, “I can’t forget about it. And don’t be so nice”(Grisham 177). This shows that he does not expect Cameron to be so blunt and emotionless with the things she says to Neely. It is as if he wishes she was still upset about the whole situation, because that would show that there was at least still some feelings left between them. She also thinks that if Neely had not been the star player on Eddie Rake’s team, then maybe he would have been a completely different person. “When Neely realizes that this talk is not getting them anywhere because Cameron is not letting any emotions out, Neely decides to leave. “He walked down the sidewalk with a slight limp, through the gate. When he was near his car, she called out, ‘Neely wait’”(Grisham 184). At this point, it proves that Cameron has forgiven Neely for what he had done to her in their high school relationship because she is willing to talk about what happened.
Eddie Rake made his fair share of mistakes whether it was what he physically did to his players or what he mentally turned his players into. In the end, he gained forgiveness from them all because of the way he positively impacted their lives, which overrode the negative impacts. In life, everyone makes mistakes. It is impossible to go through life without making mistakes. Some mistakes are minor, some are major, but all in all, it happens. It is just part of being human.