The Wild Dreams Of Professional Athletes (Patreon)

A six word request by patron writing91 who asked for " Professional sportsmen swap experience different sport". Thanks for everyone's patience this week, being back at work has really sent me for a loop but hopefully I can keep productive on the weekends!

Tyler Seguin had just woken up from the strangest dream. He’d been out on the ice, a hockey stick in his hands and the puck at the end of it, advancing on the opponent’s goal. The rush of live sports and the roaring of the home crowd were familiar sensations and as he hit a slap shot and sent the puck rocketing into the back of the net, the place exploded in a thunderous stampede of noise. Adrenaline pumped through Tyler’s being, sweat trickled down the lean muscles of his back and it all felt so damn real, but there was one key issue: he wasn’t a hockey player.

The dream had been so captivating that during his waking moments he almost forgot that simple fact. For a few fleeting moments he could have sworn that he was the assistant captain of the Dallas Stars, but then reality sunk back in and Tyler’s brain rightfully reminded him that he actually played football, not hockey! He was a Wide Receiver for the New England Patriots, jersey number eleven, and a Super Bowl MVP - even in his barely-awake state, how could he have possibly forgotten any of that? “Too much to drink,” he grumbled to himself, swinging his strong legs out of bed and pushing himself up to his feet. As he did so his muscles twinged with pain, another reminder of the gruelling training camp he had spent the last month in. Tyler had respect for professional athletes of any sport, but he held his doubts that any were quite as gruelling as football could be. It wasn’t uncommon to see the new recruits chucking their guts up after a day out on the field and even though Tyler himself was a thirteen year veteran of the sport, even he had moments where it felt like his endurance was finally hitting its limit.

After freshening up in the shower and consuming his regular carb-heavy breakfast - he’d need all the energy he could get to help him through the training day - Tyler finally remembered to check his cell phone and was greeted by a number of messages. There were a few from his teammates bitching about how much of a hardass their coach was being, even compared to usual, plus one from his best friend Danny Amendola, and then another from an individual Tyler hadn’t actually conversed with for over a year at least. He would have thought nothing of it except the person in question happened to be the person whose life Tyler had dreamed about living the previous night: Julian Edelman. Even stranger, the message preview began with a simple “I had the weirdest dream last night…”

The curiosity was simply too much to resist and although he was on something of a time crunch - coach would surely chew him out if he was late for practice - Tyler took a moment away from getting his stuff for the day together in order to read the full message. “I’m pretty sure I dreamt that I was a Patriot but like not just any. I had your number bro but I wasn’t you?” the text began. Tyler’s heartbeat picked up with each word he read. “I was in training camp. Bill was being a real hardass and it felt weird not having Brady there. That’s wild, right? I mean I’ve never even met Brady… he’s your bud not mine!” It was true. Tyler had been a little bitter that one of his closest friends, Tom Brady, had decided to enter free agency and was traded to the Bucs. The new QB was good, but it would take them time to build up a rapport like Tyler had with Brady. “I don’t know why my brain came up with any of that but I thought you might get a kick out of it lol. Hope training camp is going well and good luck in the Dolphins match this Sunday!”

Tyler felt like a set of bowling pins that had been struck down with force, all from a simple text message. What were the chances that he and Julian could have had complimentary dreams, imagining themselves living the other man’s life? That had to be some sort of statistical miracle, because it wasn’t as if hockey or Edelman was regularly on Tyler’s mind. In fact in recent weeks he hadn’t had the time to think about anything other than football, even if he could now vaguely recall that Edelman’s team, the Dallas Stars, were inching their way through the playoffs and closer towards a Stanley Cup win. He’d have to remember to congratulate the other man for his team’s successes that season later, but it was also a stark reminder that he was going to be late for practice if he didn’t get a move on, and as one of the longest tenured athletes in the locker room, he was supposed to be setting a positive example. It was time for the Patriots to get to work: the football season was starting and Tyler was determined to prove that even without Tom Brady, they were still a dominant team and, with any luck, Tyler would be able to add another Super Bowl ring to his collection!