Chapter 7

Christian woke me too early for my tastes on Sunday morning. I tried to sleep again when he left for breakfast with Bev. I tossed and turned for awhile and finally gave up on sleep. I got up, feeling pretty good. I didn't have the hangover I often had on a Sunday morning. After breakfast I checked my e-mail. I wasn't in as much of a hurry to check now that I didn't get daily e-mail from Penny.

Andy filled me in on the details of my high school team's Friday night game. The Wolverines beat the Braves, the second strongest team in our league, by 31-24. My friends fell behind early. They needed some second half heroics to pull out the win. Andy scored the winning touchdown with only a couple minutes left in the game. Andy said our team expected to easily win the final two games against weak opponents. They were well positioned for a strong playoff run.

Andy said he and Jake were looking forward to their visit to Penn State in two weeks. I was going to enjoy seeing some of my family after being away for three months.

I worked on the problems Kevin Lee wanted me to do before our tutoring session on Monday. When I finished them I headed over to the Lasch Building to study film for our game at Northwestern next Saturday.

My friends teased me at dinner about the previous evening. Trevor said, "Martin was in the back bedroom so long with the girl because he needed a roadmap to find his way."

Tony King added, "I don't need no hour and half to screw a girl." Too bad for you and the girl you take to bed I thought. I kept the thought to myself. Most of the freshmen at the table joined in teasing me. G. J. DeLuca didn't, he was plainly embarrassed by our discussion of sex. Christian also kept quiet. His disapproval registered on his face. Jay Nicholson made a couple mild comments. He also winked at me a couple times to let me know he understood – slow is good when it comes to sex.

Christian saved his comments for when we got back to our room. He said, "I don't know which is worse – getting so drunk you pass out or sleeping with a stranger."

"Sleeping with Kimberly isn't as messy," I answered.

Christian shook his head. I asked, "No lectures tonight?"

"What's the point? You know fornication is a sin. You know we're too young to drink. You do it anyway. If I'd known in April what I know now..." Christian hesitated for a second. " ... I wouldn't have agreed to room with you."

"That's fine with me!" I answered hotly. I grabbed my books and headed to the study area in the Lasch Building. I didn't need to spend time with Christian at the moment.

I wasn't really that mad at Christian. I still considered him a friend. The two of us were mismatched. We never should have roomed together.

My week went better. Kevin Lee's tutoring helped. I understood what Dr. Gowavaram was teaching better than before. Kevin drilled me on the day's lesson at our Monday afternoon tutoring session.

Kelly O'Keefe and Tanner Riggs spent all of the time before History talking about their date on Saturday night. Apparently they had a good time together. Tanner was a lucky guy. Kelly was a good looking, sweet girl.

Coach Schroeder had me practice a few new plays with the first string. They were ones that Ryan Reynolds had reviewed with me in the past couple weeks. I thought I did them well. I caught two passes when Aaron Morano covered me. I was pleased with Monday's practice.

Our team was confident that we could handle Northwestern. Their record was 5-5. They were unranked. They already lost to Ohio State, Wisconsin and Illinois, all teams we had beaten. Of course they lost to #2 ranked Michigan too. We should beat them if everyone properly played their parts in the game plan.

I was surprised when Christian's noise woke me up Tuesday morning. I didn't mind as much on Tuesdays since I had an 8 o'clock class. I glanced at my alarm clock. It was a few minutes after 6 am. I rolled over and sighed. I asked, "Why in the hell are you up already?"

Christian ignored my profanity most times now. "I have a lot of homework tonight. I want do my work out at Lasch before class today."

I grunted, "Enjoy." I rolled over and tried to fall asleep again. My alarm woke me at 7 am. I grabbed a shower and headed for breakfast.

I had barely started my eggs, sausage and hash browns when Damian Thompson slapped his tray down beside me and had a seat. "Good morning," I said pleasantly.

"Hah!"

"What's wrong? I don't usually see you up this early."

"Friggin' G. J.! I hate morning people," Damian groused.

I sympathized, "I know what you mean."

"G. J. is back in our room doing homework," Damian said. "I don't have a class until 10:10. I could have a least two more hours to sleep."

"Would you believe Christian was up at 6 am this morning? He's over at Lasch doing his workout before his 8 o'clock class."

"You're kidding," Damian shook his head. "You've got it just as bad as me for a roommate."

"Don't get me wrong. Christian is a good friend. We're just mismatched. He's up early every morning. He goes to bed too early. I'd rather sleep later and go to bed at midnight instead of 10 pm."

"Yeah, I'm with you," Damian chuckled. "It'd be better if G. J. and Christian roomed together."

I stared at Damian for a couple moments. I cocked my head and asked, "Maybe they should."

"What?"

"Maybe we should talk to them about rooming together. You know, we swap roommates," I said. "You and I can stay up late at night and sleep late the next morning."

"Are you serious?" Damian asked. I could see the wheels turning in his head.

"Yeah, I am. What do you think?"

"I don't know what to say," Damian asked. "You're sure?"

"Yes ... you know ... I think we've gotten to be good friends over the last three months. I could see us rooming together."

"Would you be comfortable with that?"

"Why not?" I asked.

Damian explained, "You're from a pretty conservative part of the state. I saw your high school team. Would you be OK with rooming with someone like me?" He held up his black hands in front of me. "You only had one black on your team."

"Actually the Wolverines had two black guys on the team. We had to recruit them both for the team. They hadn't planned to play football. We played the guys we had available. I haven't had a lot of experience with black guys before I got here. Have I done anything to make you think I'm a racist?"

"No, you've become a good friend, Kyle."

"Would it bother you if I cursed when we're together? I've been known to say God damn and Jesus occasionally."

"Hell no, that won't bother me," Damian answered. "G. J. complains that I'm a slob. Will that bother you?"

I laughed. "Christian says the same thing about me. Would it bother you if you caught me whacking off after I go to bed?"

"I wouldn't hear you. I'd be too busy doing the same thing." Damian grinned at me when he said it.

"I think we should do this. Why don't we talk to Christian and G. J. before practice starts."

"OK," Damian said. He extended his hand to me. I shook it.

I was excited all day at the possibility that I could solve my roommate problem. I still wanted to be friends with Christian but we were too different to share a room together. I felt like a visitor in my own dorm room. I had to monitor my cursing. I always had to make my bed. I had to pick up everything immediately when I was done with it. I was more inhibited here than I had been at home living with my parents. I just didn't feel comfortable – like this was my home.

I didn't see Christian before practice. Damian had talked to G. J. at lunch time. He was aboard with the idea. The three of us tackled Christian when he came into the locker room. Christian readily agreed that it was a good idea. We decided we would flip a coin to see who stayed in their current room and who moved. Heads G. J. and I kept our rooms and tails we moved. Damian flipped the coin. It was heads.

Christian talked to Pete Klein, our RA. We had some paper work to fill out with Housing and Residential Life, but Pete didn't mind if we went ahead and swapped tonight. The four of us discussed it. Christian had a big term paper due tomorrow. He needed to work on it all evening. We agreed that we would swap rooms on Wednesday night after dinner.

I talked to Chelsea Wright at EDPSY 14 on Wednesday afternoon. I let her know that I was going to miss class on Friday for an away game. She was happy to take notes and e-mail them to me over the weekend so I would be prepared for any questions Dr. Henderson might have for me on Monday. Chelsea was becoming a good friend.

Christian and Damian filled out their paperwork at the Housing office in Pollock Commons during the day on Wednesday. I helped Christian move his things down the hall in the evening. G. J. helped Damian move his things in with me. Damian was settled in with me by 8:30 in the evening.

Damian and I spent the remainder of the evening studying. We didn't head to bed until after 11:30. I ceremoniously dropped my dirty clothes on the floor beside my bed. Damian did the same.

I pulled my boxers down to my ankles when Damian turned out the light. I enjoyed a nice unhurried cum. A minute after my climax I heard Damian groan. Damian was enjoying the opportunity to play with himself too.

Damian commented, "I wonder how G. J. and Christian are doing?"

"Probably asleep for a couple hours," I answered. "Isn't G. J. Catholic?"

"Yeah, Catholic with a capital C. Why?"

"It could lead to some interesting theological conversations between the two of them. Christian is a Mennonite."

"OK, what is the big deal about that?"

"The Mennonites are big on having a personal relationship with God. The Catholics believe in the intercession of priests, saints, the Virgin Mary, etc. The Mennonites still remember some of their founders who were martyred by Catholic government officials who wanted to stamp out their sect."

Damian asked, "I didn't realize there was so much disagreement between Catholics and Mennonites. Do you think Christian and G. J. will be able to get over their differences?"

"I'm sure they will." Damian got quiet. I rolled over and went to sleep.

I was used to the routine by our fourth travel game. I caught the bus from the Lasch Building after my Math 110 class on Friday morning. I grabbed a copy of the Daily Collegian on the way to class. I carried it along on the flight.

The paper had an article comparing some of our personal statistics against the rest of the NCAA BCS teams. I wasn't surprised to see Aaron Morano tied for the lead in interceptions. His eight interceptions were outstanding. Zack Hayes ranked #10 in the nation in passing efficiency. Bo Cherry and Shawn O'Conner didn't show up at the top of the receiving and rushing lists. That wasn't surprising. We spread the ball around too much for one guy to be in the lead. I was surprised when I got down to kick returns.

I had no idea I was top ranked in the nation at returning kicks. My average of 37.1 yards per return was the best. The second place guy was averaging 35.7 yards per return. My 15.5 yards per punt return ranked me eighth in the country. I knew I wasn't surprising teams anymore. This must be why.

The last stat that shocked me was the scoring tally for our team. I knew Cooper Barnes was tops on the list. He had scored 69 points for us. Shawn O'Conner and Bo Cherry were tied at 48 points with 8 touchdowns each. My 6 touchdowns put me at third on our team's scoring list. I guess I was proving my worth to the team. I felt a little better about myself than I had a couple weeks ago.

We flew into O'Hare Airport. The athletic department set us up in the Hilton Garden Inn a few blocks from the Evanston campus of Northwestern University.

The hotel catered our dinner and provided meeting rooms for the team to use for our final preparations. I had meetings with the offense, the wide receivers and special teams. It took my whole evening.

The athletic department didn't know about Damian and me rooming together. They booked a room for Christian and me. I talked with Amy, one of the event assistants from the Athletic Department, about switching. She assured me she would take care of the switch on our next away game. Christian and I needed to make the best of things this weekend.

Christian and I headed back to our room when the meetings were done. I asked Christian when we got back to our room, "How is it working out with you and G. J.?"

"Good. I'm glad you and Damian thought this up. I don't have to worry about being so darn quiet in the morning. I can turn the light on when I get up and see what in the heck I'm doing. It's great. Do you and Damian get along?"

"Damian and I are getting along well. Are you and me still OK?"

"Us? Yes, I still consider us to be friends."

"Good, I wouldn't want to lose your friendship, Christian," I said.

Christian disappeared before I woke up on Saturday morning. I got up in time for our 8 am breakfast downstairs. Christian and I packed our bags and carried them down to the buses.

The team headed over to Ryan Field, Northwestern's stadium. When we went out for our walk through practice at midmorning, I looked around at Ryan Field. It had a capacity of 45,000. I commented to Christian, "It's kind of a small stadium, don't you think?"

"You have a short memory," Christian answered. "A year ago we played each other in Hershey Park Stadium in front of 15,000 or so. This holds three times as many people."

"I guess you're right. But my point is that we've played 7 of our 9 games in front of 107,000 plus. We've come a long way since last December."

Christian confirmed, "We have."

We were loose and confident during our morning practice. The coaches reviewed the game plan with us. We had an early lunch and then we dressed, warmed up and waited for the noon start of our game. My friends relaxed and joked around. We fully expected to beat Northwestern. It would be a piece of cake.

Our offense's confidence was undeserved that afternoon. We just couldn't get into sync. Zack threw a very uncharacteristic interception with an overthrown pass in the first half. It led to 7 points for the Northwestern Wildcats. We had two fumbles, both recovered by us fortunately and half a dozen penalties.

My contribution to the mess was minimal. I was on the field for one play with the offense. Northwestern covered me with two guys when I ran a deep route. Zack fired the ball to Bo when he came open. Bo dropped it.

Our defense played well. The Wildcats were held to one long field goal when they were on offense. I had a lot of work at returning punts. The Wildcats had paid attention to me when the studied video our previous games. Their punter had a strong leg. He kicked the ball away from me on every kick. The cover guys did a good job. I had two fair catches, watched a third punt get downed when I couldn't reach it. The other two punts went out of bounds.

We were down 10-7 when we went into the locker room at halftime. Coach Burton chewed our asses out – with good reason. Antwaan Booker and Aaron Morano preached to us that we had to step things up. Cut out the screw-ups, play the way we could and to play with intensity. We were fired up after the three speeches.

The assistant coaches gathered us by position to discuss adjustments. Coach Ferguson reviewed a change for us on punt returns. He had an idea he thought might spring me free in the second half on punt returns.

Northwestern took the second half kickoff. Cooper Barnes booted it into the end zone. They took the ball on their 20 yard line. Our defense didn't let them get their offense going. The stopped the run on first down with only a two yard gain. Karol Ziska hurried the quarterback on second down into an incompletion when he blitzed. Aaron Morano knocked the third down and long pass away.

Northwestern's punter booted the ball down to me, angling for the left side of the field. That was exactly what Coach Ferguson expected and planned for. I drifted left and caught the ball on our 36 yard line. My blockers flocked to the left side of the field, pursued by the Wildcat players.

I started up the left sideline as my blockers formed up. The Wildcats pursued, trying to pin me against the sideline. I watched my blockers as my pursuers closed in. Josh Bruno pushed his man down the field. Damian pushed his guy back towards our end zone, just the way Coach Ferguson planned. I sprinted through the crack, cutting back towards the opposite side of the field.

I accelerated as I headed across the field. The Wildcats were too enthusiastic in their pursuit. No one was left in position to block my return. I sprinted down the far sideline and into the end zone untouched. Cooper Barnes made the PAT to finally put our team in the lead 14-10.

The Wildcats took the kickoff and started their drive down the field. Antwaan Booker, Jake Washington, Pete Klein and Karol Ziska kept them bottled up. They made three yards on the first two plays. They tried a pass on third down. Aaron Morano slickly cut in front of the receiver's out route, stole the pass and ran down the sideline for the end zone. Coop's PAT increased our lead to 21-10.

The whole game turned in the space of about ninety seconds. We kicked the ball back to the Wildcats for the third time in the quarter. Our defense kept the pressure up. They only managed a field goal in the second half. Our offense did a little better than before. We managed to get our running game going. Our larger offensive line wore down the Wildcats defenders in the fourth quarter.

I was on the field for two more plays. I caught one pass for seventeen yards in the second half. We added an insurance touchdown late in the game to bring the final score to Penn State 28, Northwestern 13. Our team didn't shine that day, but we still got the win.

The coaches managed to herd everyone onto the buses about an hour after the game ended. We took off from O'Hare headed for State College at 5:30 pm. About 500 fans greeted us outside the Lasch Building when we got off the buses at 10:30 that evening. Damian and I headed straight to our rooms and to bed. It had been a long day.

Andy sent me his usual weekend update e-mail on our high school football team. They played Cornwall on Friday night. Cornwall's strong defense held the Wolverines scoring down...

... to only 38 points. The final score was 38-9 Wolverines' favor. Andy added two more touchdowns to his seasons' total. Jake Kring was superb as usual. Next Friday night they would close out their season with a game against Sadsbury. Andy indicated that Sadsbury had its usual losing record. Andy and Jake were both looking forward to their visit to Penn State the next weekend. I was too – it was going to be nice to see Andy and my Dad again.

My adjustments to my personal life were working out better. Damian and I got along just fine. We stayed up until 11:30 to midnight – our natural bedtime. We slept until it was time for classes.

I could be a little sloppy. Damian didn't care. He was a little sloppy too. Our room wasn't a pig sty, but it was comfortable. I could jerk off at bedtime or in the morning without any complaints from Damian. He often did the same thing when I jerked off. Our comfort around each other and our friendship grew by the day. The roommate swap was a big success for the two of us. Christian and G. J. seemed to get along too.

I got to know Damian's friend from classes, Billy Robinson. Billy was from Altoona. My mother is a Robinson. We weren't related as far as Billy and I could figure. His family had moved to central Pennsylvania in the 1800's from Philadelphia. I didn't know of any relatives in that area. My Robinson family had lived in the Lancaster/Chester County area for two centuries.

Damian and Billy's appearances couldn't be more different. Damian was 5'-10", 235 pounds. He was squat and strong. You could tell just by looking that Damian could hurt you if he wanted to. Billy was a tall and thin white guy – 6'-1", 150 pounds. His features could best be described as soft and pleasant. Billy wore his blond hair in a buzz cut. He had a diamond stud ear ring.

I ate breakfast or lunch with Damian and Billy a few times. He seemed like a nice guy. Damian went over to Billy's room in Schultz Hall a night or two each week to study. They worked together most of the night. Damian and Billy seemed to be close buddies. Damian was always in a great mood after spending the evening studying with Billy.

I had a quiz in Math 110 on Monday. I felt I had done OK on it. I found out on Thursday when Bai handed them back that I was correct. I scored an 82. Kevin Lee's tutoring was having the desired effect. I finally felt like I really could pass the course.

My southeast Pennsylvania sensibilities were shocked by Monday's mini-blizzard. A 30-40 mile an hour wind blew the couple inches of snow all over. Coach Burton decided practice would be more productive inside Holuba Hall. It was cramped inside with only one field for the three teams to play on. Each team worked across the field instead of up and down the field.

The coaches and our team captains Antwaan Booker, Aaron Morano and Bo Cherry chewed us out for our lackadaisical performance on Saturday. They drilled all three teams hard on fundamentals. My teammates and I worked hard to prepare for our next game.

We were playing Purdue here in State College. The game was going to be Senior Day, the last time our seniors would play in front of a home crowd. Purdue was 6-4 and unranked. They had a dominating defense along with a strong but inconsistent offense. Purdue allowed too many penalties and had too many fumbles. We expected to win as long as we played smart disciplined football.

The week flew by between classes, studying, film sessions, football practices and team meetings. I was busy all the time but I didn't feel as stressed about everything as I had the previous month. Coach Paterno's advice about time management and organization really helped me get my act together.

Coach Burton called Zack Hayes, Dominic 'Cuch' Cuchiella, Jay Nicholson, Jelani Hill and me in to see him after practice on Friday. He went over the plans for us to guide the potential recruits over the weekend. Charles Taylor and Adam Owens were visiting in addition to Jake Kring and my brother Andy. The recruits and their parents were due to meet Coach Burton at 10:30 tomorrow morning.

Zack, Cuch and I were the primary guides. Jay and Jelani would look after the recruits during the game preparations and the game itself. Jelani was available since he strained ligaments in his knee last weekend and wasn't allowed to suit up for the game. The trainers expected him to be ready to play for the last game next weekend. Jay, of course, was always free to help with recruits since he was red-shirting this year. Jay had done this duty every home game weekend this fall.

After dinner I went over to the Lasch Building to study video. I did my daily workout later in the evening. My left knee, the one with the surgically repaired ACL, was a little sore before I started. It was extremely sore by the time I was done. I checked the trainer's room when I finished my workout. The trainers had gone home already. I decided to see them in the morning.

I woke up to the sound of the wind howling outside my dorm. I peeked through the curtains to see bad weather had moved in overnight. Heavy gray clouds hung low, covering the view of Mount Nittany from my window. The wind was blowing into Happy Valley from the east. The rain was coming down steadily. It wasn't going to be a receiver's kind of day. It wasn't going to be a good day for me either. Catching kick offs and punts in this wind was going to be interesting.

My knee wasn't quite as sore as the previous evening, but it still ached. I went straight over to the Lasch Building after breakfast. I went to see the trainers. Mr. Burgess, the head trainer, was busy. Jason Pennington saw me. Jason asked, "What's up, Kyle?"

"My knees started bothering me last night. I thought I should have someone look at it to make sure it is OK."

Jason said, "Hop up on the table. I'll take a look." I climbed up on the examination table. I propped my left leg up on the table. "What seems to be the problem?" He looked at the scars on my knee from my ACL surgery.

"This knee started to hurt last night," I explained. "I'm a little worried that I might have done something to it when I was working out." I described what the pain felt like. Jason smiled at me.

"It started last evening?" Jason asked. I nodded. Jason probed my knee with his hands. "Things feel proper, Kyle." He said after the examination.

I asked, "What's going on with it?"

"I believe you just became a weather forecaster."

"Huh?"

"Your knee was predicting the storm that came in early this morning. It is common with bone injuries to see this. The ends of the bones have a high density of nerve endings. They are more sensitive to changes in barometric pressure than before your injury."

I asked, "I lost my ACL. I didn't have a bone injury. Why is this happening?"

"The surgeon who repaired your ACL had to drill holes in your femur and tibia to attach the replacement. That's the bone injury. I should know." Jason pointed down to his right knee. I'd never noticed the three scars on his knee. "I ruptured my ACL five years ago in a skiing accident. I took a couple Tylenol last night. They helped me. Would you like some?"

"Sure." I took the pills.

"Your knee should be fine soon, Kyle. Mine stops aching when the storm arrives." Jason explained.

"Thanks, Jason," I said. I headed off to the player's lounge to relax until it was time to meet Dad, Andy and the other recruits. The Tylenol helped the ache in my knee. It felt OK by the time I went over to the reception area to meet my Dad and brother.

One family was waiting in the reception area when I got there fifteen minutes before the appointed time. They were an African-American family – mother, father and son. The son was probably around 6'-0" tall and muscular. He certainly spent a considerable amount of time in the weight room. He probably out-weighed me 20-25 pounds. I guessed he was a linebacker, fullback or tight end from his size and appearance. Coach Burton hadn't told me what positions the recruits played.

Dad and Andy arrived about five minutes later. Andy gave me an exaggerated hand clasp, arm grasp and shake. He grinned and said, "God! It's good to see you, Kyle."

"You too." I took a good look at my brother. He looked more mature than he had when I left home a few months ago. He had put on some more muscle since the summer. His face was a little fuller. You could finally see that he shaved.

Dad extended his arms to me and asked, "Do you have a hello for your father?"

"Sure," I answered. I walked the few steps to Dad. I offered my hand for a handshake.

Dad frowned a little. "Don't I get a hug after all this time?"

Jake Kring and his parents walked in just as Dad asked. I protested halfheartedly, "That's embarrassing." I accepted his hug. Man, it felt good to be with my family again. I briefly let myself be transported back in time – back to when I was a small child encircled in the protective arms of his father. I stiffened a little and Dad let me go.

"It's good to see you again, Kyle," Dad said. He looked me over. "You look like you're in good health. I can see they have had you working out."

"The trainers have me on a new workout plan," I answered. "You've seen the weight room."

I greeted Mr. and Mrs. Kring and my friend Jake. We introduced ourselves to the Taylors, the family that had arrived first. The son, Charles Jr., was a running back. Everyone was surprised when we found out we were all from Lancaster County. Charles played for McCaskey, the high school in Lancaster City. McCaskey was in a different league than us since the school was about 3-4 times larger than ours.

The last family arrived as we finished introductions. Adam Owens, from Cherry Hill, New Jersey showed up with his dad, William. Adam was a tall guy – my height and probably outweighed me by 20-25 pounds. He plays linebacker. The recruits and their families headed inside to see Coach Burton. I waited in the reception area for the other guides to arrive. We weren't expected to be needed for 15-20 minutes.

Zack, Jay, Cuch, Jelani and I hung out while we waited for Coach Burton to finish. The recruits, their families, us guides and the coaches headed for the Training Table for lunch with the team. Coach Burton teased Dad that if he had showed up alone he would have been invited to dine with the team for free. Since Andy was on an unofficial visit, Dad had to pay for his own and Andy's lunch. Dad didn't mind. He only paid $10 for his and Andy's lunches because I lived in the residence halls.

Zack, Cuch and I headed for the Lasch Building to rejoin the team while Jay and Jelani took the parents and recruits on an abbreviated tour of campus. They showed them the facilities in Pollock Commons and then showed them a typical dorm room – Jay's. It was cleaned and spruced up especially for the parents.

Chapter 8 »