Illustration by Texas Monthly; Getty Texas politicians and journalists often use football metaphors to describe legislative efforts. Representative Bryan Slaton “threw a Hail Mary pass” when he unsuccessfully attempted to tack an amendment restricting medical treatment for transgender children onto an unrelated bill about a cost-saving drug program. When a flustered House Elections Committee chairman Briscoe Cain called a hearing on a bill he claimed to have written and then abruptly adjourned the meeting after it became clear he hadn’t even read the legislation, he had “fumbled the ball on the goal line.” Now San Antonio representative Lyle Larson, a die-hard Aggie, has a new football metaphor in mind for Republican colleagues who, a year after the Texas GOP withstood what Democrats promised would be a “blue wave” and won decisive victories up and down the ballot, want to make it harder for eligible voters, especially in minority communities, to cast ballots. Larson says his colleagues are “changing the quarterback and changing the offense [and] the defensive scheme, after we won the national championship.” In other words, Republicans are turning out their voters in record numbers, winning Texas elections, and even expanding their support among Latinos. So why make it harder to vote?