Chapter 2

Damian, Christian, G. J., Shawn and Jay went to breakfast with me. Pollock Commons was already decorated with signs to direct the incoming freshmen to the housing office, the post office and temporary parking. I didn't seem like it was only three weeks ago that we went through all of that.

I told the group about Christian's girlfriend Beverly arriving today. None of the other guys were going with anyone right now. Jay had dumped his high school girlfriend before he came to Penn State last January. He'd dated a few girls but didn't have a serious relationship. Shawn Byrd had been dumped by his longtime girlfriend after the prom last spring. G. J. and his girlfriend agreed it would be best if they split up after high school. She was attending Syracuse. Damian hadn't gone steady with anyone since eleventh grade. He was unattached. Christian and I were the only ones in steady relationships.

We passed cars bringing freshmen and their parents as we walked up the street to the practice fields for our morning practice. Campus was going to be livelier now that the other 50,000 students were arriving.

I made a few good plays in front of Coach Schroeder and Coach Valdez (Offensive Line Coach). The first time I caught a pass on a crossing route. I got a step on the nickel back, Shawn Byrd, made Tyler Madden, the free safety, miss and headed for the end zone before the coaches blew the play dead. The second time we were in short yardage mode at the 10 yard line. Jeremiah threw me a pass at the post. All I had to do was out jump Shawn and Tyler. I leaped and made the catch. I hung onto the ball when Tyler tried to knock it loose.

Coach Schroeder called me over when practice was done. "That was nice work today, Martin," he said. "Study hard. I expect we are going to get you in for some plays next Saturday when we play Kent State. Be ready."

"Absolutely coach," I answered. "I'll be ready." I floated back to the locker room on a cloud. They were going to put me on the field for our first game! The news got better after lunch.

Our special teams coach, Coach Ferguson, announced the lineup for Saturday's full scrimmage. I was #1 kick returner and #1 punt returner. Christian and then Alex Majerowicz would back me up as the punt returner. Tanner Riggs and Max Rosen would back me up at kick returner.

I convinced Steve Cobb and Mitch Jackson to give me extra practice at fielding punts after practice was over. They gave me an extra 45 minutes of help. Christian had disappeared by the time I had showered and went back to our room. He left me a note telling me he was meeting Bev before dinner.

Fourth floor Hartranft was crowded when I got back. Half a dozen more freshmen had arrived during the day. They were hanging out by the elevator waiting for Pete Klein to take them over to the dining hall. Pete let the rest of us know that we were required to attend tonight's orientation meeting at 7 o'clock.

Trevor, Tony, Shawn, Jay, Damian, G. J. and I met for dinner. Christian hadn't gotten back from his reunion with Bev at 5:30 when it was time for us to head to the Training Table.

My friends and I were eating dinner at our table when Christian finally showed up and joined the tail end of the dinner line. He took some good natured ribbing when he finally sat down with us. Jay asked, "Did you have a good reunion with your girlfriend?"

Christian agreed while Trevor and Tony sang "Afternoon Delight" to him. Shawn teased, "Christian, you look relaxed. Did Bev give you a massage – maybe a full body massage?"

Christian blushed and continued eating dinner. I couldn't blame my friends for assuming that Christian had gotten laid this afternoon. I would have assumed that too if I hadn't talked with him the previous evening. Christian didn't get mad about the teasing. He simple accepted it with good humor.

Coach Burton called for everyone's attention when dinner was over. He reviewed our schedule for the future. We were switching to our normal fall semester schedule. We would practice once a day at 3:45 in the afternoon. Any team or position meetings would be done after dinner. We would continue to eat at the Training Table for dinners. Breakfast and lunch would be in the normal Pollock dining halls. Coach wanted us to fit in conditioning this evening as it fit our schedule. He knew some of us had freshmen orientation this evening.

Pete gathered all the residents on our floor of Hartranft after dinner for the required orientation meeting. He had everyone introduce themselves at the beginning. I learned that Cameron Miller and Joel Peterson had moved into room 406 beside Christian and me. Both guys were freshmen. Erick Scott, a sophomore transfer from Penn State York, shared room 408 with Jeff Alford. Jeff was also a freshman. Christian and I noted who they were so we could introduce ourselves when the meeting was over.

Pete spent an hour going through the orientation information with us. By Saturday evening our floor would be filled to overflowing. We would have 51 regular residents plus eight extra temporary residents in our study room for the next month or two.

Pete discussed building security, campus health and counseling services, support available for gay, bisexual and transgender students, and dining hall operations. We spent quite a bit of time discussing personal conduct, diversity in the university, alcohol use, drugs and smoking. Our floor was designated as a non-smoking floor. Pete finished by discussing sexual conduct, date rape, no means no, and how to protect ourselves from HIV and other STD's. Pete warned us to check our university e-mail account tonight. Our academic advisors would be letting us know when we would go in to meet him or her to go over our fall course schedule.

Christian and I greeted Joel, Erick, Jeff and Cameron when the meeting was done. They seemed like decent guys. Joel was curious. "Did you and Christian move in today?" he asked. "I didn't see you around at all during the day."

"No. We moved in three weeks ago," I explained. "We're on the football team."

"Are you serious?" Cameron asked. "You're football players?"

Christian confirmed, "We are. It isn't a big deal."

"Don't get too impressed," I added. "We have thirteen football players on this floor." Christian and I listed the various players to them. Our dorm neighbors seemed a little too impressed by us. Hopefully they would get used to us in time. Christian and I went over to the Lasch Building for our evening workout.

I found two e-mails when I got back to my room after my workout. The first one was from Penny. I sent off a reply to my lover.

The second e-mail was from Dr. P. Thomas Henderson. Dr. Henderson was my academic advisor. I was scheduled to meet him at 8:30 the next morning to go over my fall class schedule.

I didn't mind quite as much as usual when Christian turned the lights out at 10:00 pm. I would need to get up earlier than usual to get showered and get breakfast before my meeting with my advisor.

Christian set up a breakfast date with Bev for Friday morning. He invited me along so I could get to know Bev and her roommate better. We met the girls in the dining hall at 7:30 in the morning. Christian introduced me to Bev's roommate Cindy Young. Cindy was average height with brown hair. She wasn't a classic beauty. Some people would say she was full figured.

Two other girls from Bev's third floor Beaver Hall joined us. My eye was caught by the girl sitting beside Bev. Her name was Kelly O'Keefe. Her flaming red hair was pulled back in a ponytail. She was taller, probably 5'-8" tall with fair skin and freckles on her face. Kelly was well built. My cock stirred as I checked her out. Kelly smiled at me when she caught me staring. I willed my cock to behave itself. I thought 'If I didn't have Penny I'd love to... ' The thought didn't get completed – I was in a committed relationship with Penny.

Bev introduced Kelly's roommate Jennifer D'Antonio. Jen was 5'-3", maybe 110 pounds. She had the look of a gymnast, which it turned out later that she was in high school. Jen wore her blond hair short.

Christian and I sat down with the girls. We compared information. Cindy was a meteorology major from Birdsboro, outside Reading, Pa. Kelly was from Pittsburgh and was studying journalism. Jen was from Berwyn, outside Philadelphia. She was studying English Literature. I already knew that Bev was studying to become a nurse. Bev and Cindy were in Room 316 of Beaver Hall. Kelly and Jen were next door in 317.

Breakfast was considerably more fun eating with the girls than it was eating with the guys from the football team. I was disappointed when it was time for me to leave to meet my advisor. I made a quick stop back at the room for a notebook and a campus map before I headed for Dr. Henderson's office in 228 Chambers Building.

I had to wait outside his office for a couple minutes while Dr. Henderson finished talking with another student. He waved me inside when he was ready. Dr. Henderson looked to be in his fifties. His once brown hair was more gray than brown now. He had a bald spot on the crown of his head. He had a neatly trimmed gray mustache and goatee.

He looked me over carefully before he said, "Kyle Martin, I presume?"

"Yes Sir."

He motioned for me to sit down in the chair beside his desk. He browsed through a file folder marked Kyle D. Martin for a minute before he spoke. "Mr. Martin, your schedule seems to be in order. When did you prepare it?"

"Thank you sir. The advisor that gave me the FTCAP tests in the spring helped me get my schedule done then."

"I see. May I ask you why you wish to become a school teacher?" Dr. Henderson asked.

"A teaching degree will go well with my second career objective. I want to coach football."

"Football?" Dr. Henderson asked. He leafed through my folder again. "I see. You are attending on an athletic scholarship."

"Yes sir."

"Education is a serious career, not something for athletes to play around with. Teachers serve to pass the sum of mankind's knowledge onto the next generation. Do NOT expect favorable treatment in your education courses, if you decide to stay in the College of Education."

"I'm not expecting special treatment," I explained. "I agree with you about teaching being an important profession. I expect that I will have to work hard to be successful. I've been a counselor at a scout camp for the last four summers. I enjoy the teaching. I think I will be good at it."

"Time will tell Mr. Martin," Dr. Henderson answered. He handed me a print out of my class schedule for the fall. "Don't forget about the freshman swim test. I would suggest you get this done before classes start."

"Yes, sir," I replied. "I'll do that." Dr. Henderson dismissed me with a wave of his hand. I left his office feeling confused and a little uneasy. I hadn't expected my meeting with my advisor to go like this. Hopefully I wouldn't see him in the classroom.

I looked over the schedule that Dr. Henderson gave me. I hadn't remembered exactly which courses I had signed up for back in May when I visited the Harrisburg campus. My list of courses for this semester included: EDPSY 014 – Learning & Instruction, HIST 001 – The Western Heritage I, MATH 110 – Techniques of Calculus I, PL SC 01 – Introduction to American Government, and ENGL 015 – Rhetoric & Composition.

It was only 9 o'clock. I decided to get my books on the way past the bookstore at the HUB (Hetzel Union Building). The athletic department gave me a card authorizing me to charge my textbooks at the store. I wandered the aisles of the bookstore collecting my various textbooks. The stack was immense. It had to weigh at least forty pounds. My total came to $423.97 when the clerk rang them up. I smiled as I signed the charge slip for my books. It was a good day to have a full athletic scholarship!

I lugged my books back to my room. I browsed through my textbooks for awhile. I left them scattered on my desk. I spent the rest of the morning studying plays in the playbook. Christian came in lugging his stack of new textbooks around 11:30. He invited me to go to lunch with him, Bev and Cindy. I had decided to get the swimming test out of the way that day. I asked Christian and Bev if they wanted to come along. They couldn't. Christian promised to help Bev get her books before football practice.

I headed back to my dorm room and changed into a swim suit and headed up Bigler Road to the Natatorium. The lady at the front desk sent me outside to the outdoor pool. I joined the line of freshmen waiting their turn for the swim test. I waited fifteen minutes before I got to the head of the line.

The lifeguard was about 20 or 21 years old and dressed to the regulation lifeguard look: aviator sunglasses, whistle around the neck, and deep tan. Before he even looked at me he said, "Can you swim?"

"Yes," I answered. The lifeguard finally looked at me.

"Oh ... I guess you can. Where did you guard?" he asked.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"You're a lifeguard right? Where did you work?"

"How did you know?" I asked.

"Your trunks," He said. He pointed at the word "LIFEGUARD" clearly printed on my red swim suit. I hadn't thought about it. I just grabbed the first suit I found when I changed back at my room. This was one of the ones I wore at scout camp. The red suit identified aquatics staff members to the campers.

"Oh, yes. I have worked aquatics at my Boy Scout camp for the past four summers."

"I guess you won't have any problem with this test," the guard said. "You need to swim one lap of the pool and then float or tread water for the remainder of fifteen minutes. Stay off the sides and bottom."

"OK, I got it."

The guard sent me to the other guard at the end of the pool. He marked a number on my hand and recorded it on his clipboard. He took my name and student number. "Go ahead, Martin."

I jumped in the pool and started swimming. The water and exercise felt good on a hot day. I decided to keep doing laps when I finished the first one. I carefully threaded my way around the other freshmen who were treading water or floating. The guard by the pool called out "Number 157. You don't need to swim the whole fifteen minutes. You can tread water."

The number on my wrist was #157. "Can I do laps if I want? The exercise feels good."

"Make yourself happy," the guard replied.

I kept a count of my laps while I swam. I was curious how far I could get in fifteen minutes. Normally it took me around 35 minutes to finish if I did the mile swim at scout camp. Every minute the guard called out a few numbers and freshmen climbed out of the pool.

I noticed a girl I passed a few times who didn't seem to be doing well. I'd seen the look from some of the younger scouts when they took their swim test at camp and weren't confident of their ability in the water. The second time I passed her I stopped.

"How are you doing?"

"Awful!" she bitched. "I don't know why we need to do this stupid test!"

"Do you know how to float on your back?" I asked.

"No."

"Watch what I do and follow my lead." I rolled over on my back. "Try this." I arched my back. "Take a deep breath and let your arms float out like this." I held the position for about five seconds. I let my feet drift down and floated back into upright position. "Can you try that?"

"I ... I don't know..." she pleaded.

"Relax, just lean back," I coaxed. She tried. Her feet started to sink.

"I can't do this."

"Arch your back. Take a deep breath." She started flailing. I commanded. "Stop that. Arch your back!" She tried again. "Take a deep breath." The girl filled her lungs with air. Automatically her legs rose up and she bobbed on the surface. "See?" I said soothingly. "Just relax. You can do this."

The girl relaxed as she realized that the water would keep her safely afloat and breathing. "Relax and enjoy the water. This test is easy. See?" I told her.

"Thank you for your help. I couldn't do this without you." I started to swim away from her. "What's your name?"

"I'm Kyle Martin."

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Melissa Addington."

"It's my pleasure, Melissa. Just relax and float. You'll finish your time before you know it." I swam on. Melissa wore a modest one piece suit, but I could see she was well built. I sighed. If only I wasn't attached already. I noticed as I continued laps that Melissa made it the whole way through her test. I was pleased. I had done my good turn for the day.

I was in the middle of my sixteenth lap when the guard called #157. I swam over to the ladder and climbed out. The guard said, "Martin, that was good what you did with that girl. She wasn't going to pass."

"I knew she was having trouble," I explained. "I just thought I could help her relax."

"My boss would like to talk with you." The guard pointed to a man standing by the gate. I walked over to him.

"Hi, I'm Kyle Martin. The guard said you wanted to see me."

"Yes, Kyle. I do. I saw what you did with the girl who was having trouble. Obviously you have had some water safety training." He gestured towards the "LIFEGUARD" printed on my swim suit. "Are you Red Cross certified?"

"No, I'm BSA Lifeguard certified."

"BSA? That's good. I was a scout when I was a kid." He whispered conspiratorially, "Don't tell the Red Cross. BSA Lifeguard is harder to get." He smiled. In a normal voice he asked, "I'm John Coleman. I'm the assistant director here. Are you interested in a part time job? We can always use more life guards."

"Maybe. I know I won't have time this fall," I answered. "I'm on the football team. Maybe I could help out in spring semester, if I have free time then."

"Check back with me after Christmas," Mr. Coleman explained. "I'm sure I can get you some shifts if you are interested."

"I'll do that," I said. "Thanks for the offer." I dried myself off and headed back to my room.

I found a note on my desk when I got back. It said: "I was cleaning up. I stacked your books for you. See you at practice. Christian." The textbooks I had left scattered on my desk and bed were now sitting on my bookshelf – arranged alphabetically by author! Papers I had scattered on the desk were stacked together, paper clipped and placed at the back right corner of the desk, perfectly aligned with the edge of the desk. I chuckled to myself. This was going to be an interesting year.

I spent the remainder of my free time studying the slot receiver plays that Coach Adams wanted me to know for the day. I headed over to the Lasch Building a little early. I hung out with a few of my teammates in the player's lounge until it was time for practice.

Coach Burton had me practice with the first string for three plays that afternoon. Zack greeted me warmly when I joined his huddle. "Welcome to the big time, Kyle." He called the play. Of course, it was one of the plays that Coach Adams had me studying.

I lined up in the slot opposite Angus Pitts, a junior and our nickel back. I had almost a six inch advantage in height over Angus as well as an advantage in speed. I got separation from Angus as I crossed across the center of the field. Zack fired the ball to me in stride. I turned down the field. I only got two more yards when Yasin Clark, our junior free safety nailed me. He's listed as 5'-11" and 172 pounds on the team roster. They were being generous. In spite of his size disadvantage, he had a reputation as a fierce hitter. Yasin slowed me enough that Angus Pitts and Pete Klein could tackle me. They dropped me hard on the ground.

I felt good. I hopped up ready to go again. I had made 12 yards on our first string defense. "Nice job, Kyle," Zack said when I rejoined the huddle. He called the next play. I lined up in the slot between our left tackle and Derrick Whitaker, our split end. I went in motion back across the field, ending up beside Bo Cherry on the strong side of the field. Bo then went in motion, ending up in the slot between me and our tight end, Evan Foster.

I was one on one with Aaron Morano now while Bo was covered by Angus. On the snap I sprinted down along the sideline. Aaron ran with me stride for stride. He pinned me against the sideline. About 20 yards down the field I had to break the route off. Aaron had forced me up against the sideline and I had no more room to run. Zack threw the ball to Bo, who had gotten open on Angus.

The next time I lined up against Aaron, I was going to need to get off the line of scrimmage a little faster and get my pass route adjusted so it was further from the sideline. I couldn't allow Aaron to take an angle where he could run me out of bounds.

On the third play Coach Burton sent in four wide receivers and a tight end. I lined up close to Evan, our tight end. Anders Voight lined up between me and Bo Cherry on the outside. Angus covered Anders, Aaron had Bo and Leslie Jones was covering me. Leslie was the shortest and lightest guy on the team, but also the fastest. I was running a speed route, straight to the goal post.

On the snap I took half a step towards the left, convincing Leslie that I was going over the middle. He went left when I started straight down the field. Zack would throw me the ball over my right shoulder. Leslie recovered quickly and stayed with me stride for stride to my left. 25 yards down the field I looked over my right shoulder for the ball. Zack's throw was a little high. I spun right and jumped. I caught the ball just over Leslie's outstretched arms. Leslie wrapped me up as we landed. Yasin Clark smacked us to the ground immediately.

I was learning this about college ball. I wasn't going to stroll into the end zone with touchdowns from missed tackles the way I did in high school. Everyone at this level could take you down – every time you had the ball. I didn't mind the hard tackle. I had gained 28 yards on the play. That was a good play at any level of football – high school, college or pros. Zack gave me a thumbs up as I trotted off the field. My practice time with the first string was done for the day.

I split the rest of my time in practice between the second and third strong teams. I was learning some other differences between our teams. On first string you better know the plays. No one gave you any help. You just had to know it. On the second string you got a little instruction in the plays as you ran them. Third string went slower. The coaches took time on every play to review assignments. I learned more there than with the other two teams.

Mitch Jackson agreed to give me some punts to field after formal practice was over. Copper Barnes did some kick offs for me too. I wanted as much practice fielding balls as I could get. In a week I was expected to do this in front of 107,000 people in Beaver Stadium. That wasn't the place to screw up!

Zack Hayes invited me to join him at his table at dinner. Zack, Aaron and Bo all complimented me on my work with the first team. They told me to expect to see more of it if I managed to play this well at tomorrow's scrimmage. I enjoyed hanging with the older guys on the team. It reminded me of my days in ninth grade when I hung with Zack and the rest of the varsity players. I also tried to repeat the mantra Zack taught me. 'I'm just here to learn and help any way I can.'

Coach Burton had a team meeting back in the auditorium after dinner. He went over the plans for the full scrimmage. He handed out organization charts. Zack's Blue Squad would take on Jeremiah's White Squad. I was assigned as the kick and punt returner for both teams. Tanner Riggs would back me up and take a few kick returns. Christian would assist with a few of the punts. I was also the number three receiver for Jeremiah's squad.

Christian was up early on Saturday morning, as usual. I wanted to sleep later, but couldn't thanks to Christian and also the noise from upper classmen moving into our dorm. I finally gave up trying to sleep, showered and went for breakfast. I hung out at the Lasch Building for the rest of the morning. I did a light workout and studied the playbook until lunch.

The afternoon scrimmage was fun. I ended up fielding six kick offs for the two squads. Tanner took the other three. I returned seven punts. Christian handled the other three.

Returning kickoffs wasn't bad. You had a little time to field the ball before the tacklers got to you. Punt returns were much worse. The tacklers reached you at full speed about the same time as the ball arrived. You needed to watch them and field the ball simultaneously.

After each kickoff and punt Coach Ferguson reviewed the return with Christian, Tanner and me. He complimented me on my kickoff returns. I almost broke one for a touchdown. Andrew Perkins managed to take me down with an ankle tackle after the rest of the team missed me. Coach Ferguson told me I called a fair catch on one punt that could have been returned.

I also missed calling for a fair catch on another that I tried to return. I knew I screwed up on that call. Trevor Conwell tackled me at full speed on the play a split second after I caught the ball. Trevor put me down hard. I managed to keep the ball on the play.

Coach Ferguson was satisfied with my work for the day. I stayed at the top of the depth chart for kick returner and punt returner. I would be playing in the game against Kent State next Saturday.

My dorm mates and I barely had time to shower and get dressed for our House dinner. All students living on the fourth floor Hartranft had moved in. We met Pete Klein at the elevators on our floor. Pete let us know that we now had 58 students living on our floor – 51 in the normal dorm rooms and 7 guys temporarily in the study room. It had been 8 guys earlier in the day but one guy moved into a regular room already.

The House dinner was intended to help us get to know each other. Pete talked about rules, the behavior he expected from us and how to deal with roommate problems. The upper classmen weren't nearly as impressed to be living with football players as the freshmen were. They confirmed what I suspected. Fourth floor Hartranft was one of the floors that normally housed first or second year football players. I knew Zack Hayes and Aaron Morano had roomed here two years ago. It made sense.

Freshmen had to go to President Graham Spanier's New Students Convocation at the Bryce Jordan Center in the evening. President Spanier talked about how important a college education was for our future. He talked about all the support the university had for us to help us succeed academically. He also challenged us to get to know one of our faculty members. President Spanier reminded us that we were responsible for our own academic success or failure. He asked us to be responsible in our personal choices too. High risk drinking and drug use shouldn't be the norm for college students. This was our time to grow and mature into capable adults. I hadn't wanted to go to the convocation, but was glad I did. President Spanier's talk made sense.

I accepted Christian's invitation to join him and Bev at the 11 o'clock Protestant services on Sunday. I hurried back to grab lunch before my mandatory meeting for all freshmen College of Education students. We assembled in 101 Chambers to meet the Dean of Education, Daniel M. Friar, and his staff. The Dean talked about the programs in the College, how we would choose our area of specialization and about teacher certification.

I headed over to the Lasch Building to do my day's workout after that. I grabbed my game jersey on the way back to my room. Coach Burton wanted all freshmen to come to the Sunday evening pep rally in uniform. I headed over to Rec Hall after dinner, not knowing what to expect.

The building was filling fast as my teammates and I arrived. By the time the rally started the building was filled to the rafters. The Lion Ambassadors, a group of students who promoted Penn State pride year round, organized the "Be A Part From The Start" rally. They started off with a slide show to tell us about Penn State and the research and development the university has done, famous alumni, and our university's athletic success. They had a lot of pictures from last year's national championship season.

The Nittany Lion mascot came out to greet the football team members. Antwaan Booker, Aaron Morano, Dominic "Cuch" Cuchiella, and Pete Klein were introduced first. Zack Hayes, Evan Foster, Bo Cherry and Shawn O'Conner were introduced to represent the offense. The twenty-two freshmen members of the team were introduced en masse. We ran out to the cheers of our fellow classmen. We returned to our seats after the Blue Band led the group in a fight song.

The Ambassadors taught everyone the alma mater that night. We freshmen football players sang along, among the few participants who actually knew the words. They taught more fight songs and the Lion and the cheerleaders entertained the crowd. The crowd headed out to the parking lot when the rally was done. The Ambassadors set up free food and a DJ for a dance.

Christian and I hung out with Trevor Conwell, Tony King, Tanner Riggs and Tanner's roommate Wesley Kennedy. Bev and her roommate Cindy found us. Their next door neighbors, Kelly O'Keefe and Jennifer D'Antonio, tagged along with Bev and Cindy. Bev and Christian introduced everyone to each other. We talked while we waited for the music to start.

Chapter 3 »