Chapter 43

Sunday, July 31st

I unlocked the front door to Apartment #12 using the key I had picked up from the housing office in Pollock Commons a few minutes earlier.

"Hey! Kyle!" Trevor proclaimed. He hurried across our living room and gave me a slap on the back. "It's after four o'clock. I wondered when in the hell you were going to get here."

"Kelly came over this weekend to see me off," I explained as I carried my suitcase inside. "We wanted to spend as much time together as we could."

"Say no more," Trevor replied. "Steph spent the last week at my place giving me a proper sendoff."

"Hey, roomie," Damian said as he came from one of the back downstairs bedrooms. "Do you need a hand unloading?" He walked over and shook my hand.

"Sure," I agreed.

"Jay! Kyle's here," Trevor yelled. "Come help him unload."

My three roommates headed outside to the parking lot. We had my car emptied in twenty minutes. The guys had left me the downstairs bedroom behind the kitchen. Trevor had the other downstairs bedroom. Damian had the upstairs bedroom above Trevor. Jay's was in the back corner above mine.

I set my new DVD player on the coffee table as my things were being carried in. Jay spotted it.

"Hot damn!" Jay exclaimed when he saw it. "Kyle's got a Blu-Ray DVD player."

"Kelly gave it to me for my birthday," I explained.

"Remind me to give that girl a big kiss when she gets on campus," Jay replied. "This is going to be sweet this year. Kyle's DVD player and Trevor's LCD big screen combined with my sound system. We'll blow the windows out of this place.

"Sweet!" Trevor agreed. "Let's set this baby up."

"Go ahead guys," I said. "I'm going to get things unpacked in my room."

I finished unpacking around five o'clock. I went back out to the living room. My roommates were testing out the entertainment system. They had popped in one of the Blu-Ray DVDs that Kelly and I picked up at the mall on Friday. It looked and sounded great on the system we had assembled. I settled in and watched with my buddies until it was time for the first team dinner down at the Training Table.

We bumped into Christian Hunsecker, G. J. DeLuca, Shawn Byrd and Denzell Hunt as we walked over to Pollock Commons and the Training Table for dinner. We talked about our summers away from campus as we walked down the road.

It was reunion time when we got upstairs into the Training Table. Somewhere between two-thirds and three-quarters of the team was in the dining hall already. Some were through the line and seated to eat. A large portion of the team were waiting patiently in line for their food. The eight of us joined the end of the line.

Bob Smith, Chris Richardson, Brian Henson and Etienne LeBlanc joined the line behind us. I greeted Brian with a slap on the back. "Damned good to see you here, Brian," I said. "I was afraid last fall you were going over to the dark side."

Brian was one of our two prime wide receiver recruits. He had been very quick when we timed him last fall during his recruiting visit. He had verbally committed to Michigan a few weeks after his visit with us.

"No ... I wouldn't do that," Brian replied.

"What made you change your mind?" I asked.

"You did," Brian replied laughing. I gave him a questioning look. "Actually it was something Zack Hayes reminded me of. He said, 'Look what they did for Kyle Martin. Both of you are big, strong, fast receivers. If the coaches can do that with him, they can do it with you.' I guess we'll find out if they can get me to play as well as you."

"I'm sure they will," I agreed.

Zack was right about Brian. He was a younger version of me in many ways. He was tall, only an inch shorter than me. He was a big receiver. He probably weighed a couple pounds more than I did when I started two years ago. I had seen his speed. The boy was damned fast.

Our team had produced successful NFL wide receivers – Bobby Engram, Joe Jurivicius, Glenn Tucker. Why couldn't I be next? Maybe Brian could follow me into the NFL. It would be a great thing if our school became known as a place to develop top QBs and receivers in addition to being a top school for linebackers.

My friends and I went through the line and found a table. This dinner certainly felt different from our first team dinner two years earlier. We knew most everyone in the room. We knew what was happening. We got to reconnect with our friends after a ten week separation. It was fun.

Tyler Madden, one of our team captains, stopped by our table during dinner and asked Trevor, Damian, Shawn, Jay and me to stop by his apartment after the team meeting that night. Tyler had team business to discuss with us.

After dinner Tyler Madden and Andrew Perkins asked the freshmen to come to the front of the room. They quizzed the kids on Penn State trivia. They couldn't answer most of the questions. Tyler and Andrew demanded they perform the alma mater.

The kids did surprisingly well. Marco Cuchiella, Jon Stafford, Bob Smith and Etienne or ET as we had nicknamed him last spring, led the group. Obviously someone had tipped the freshman off about this ritual.

When they finished Tyler made a sour face and declared, "That was dreadful! You guys have to be so much better than that if you're going to be members of the Nittany Lions team. If you want dinner tomorrow night, I expect to hear something that sounds vaguely like our song."

Coach Burton reminded all of us that we had a team meeting in the auditorium at the Lasch Building at 7:00 pm. Don't be late! The large group carried their trays to the cleanup line, filed through the line and headed over to the Lasch Building. The freshmen all carried their playbooks along. That was fine. They needed to have that book glued to them until they learned it. We upper classmen knew Coach Burton wasn't going to go into the playbook tonight. That would come tomorrow evening.

We filed into the seats in the auditorium and got comfortable for a long night. After my friends and I had found seats I saw Max Rosen walk by with Aidan Nagy and Alex Majerowicz. Apparently Max had managed to convince Coach Burton that he could keep his academics up and keep his nose clean this season.

Coach Burton took the stage and motioned for quiet.

"Welcome to all 112 members of this year's Nittany Lions Football Team. My coaching staff and I are pleased and excited that you are here. I am looking forward to us making our mark on our conference and nationally as we have done in the past."

Video clips from last season played as we watched. Karol making big hit after big hit on running backs, Jake sacking quarterbacks, Cuch making a crunching hit on a running back, Vic picking off a pass, on and on it went for three or four minutes. The team cheered as we watched our exploits last season.

I noticed one thing about the clips. Coach Burton was going to work on our psyche. All of the highlights were of ex-members of our team. I could see the punch line approaching. The clips stopped with a shot of the final BCS poll.

"Ranked number two in the nation," Coach intoned. "That was a great season ... but it's over. Zack Hayes, number one draft pick of the Green Bay Packers – gone. Jake Washington, number one pick of the San Diego Chargers – gone. Evan Foster, number two pick of the New Orleans Saints – gone. Karol Zizka, number three pick of the Minnesota Vikings – gone. Shawn O'Conner, number three pick of the New England Patriots – gone. Jelani Hill, Pittsburgh, Dominic Cuchiella, Philadelphia, Vlad Lazlo, Miami, Hassan Jackson, Cleveland, Steve Cobb, Kansas City– all trying out in the NFL now.

"Pundits say we should have a strong defense. We return eight of eleven starters. I agree. We will have competition for those slots but we have excellent people to fill the holes. On offense the pundits say we will be weak. We lost eight of our eleven starters from last season, all of whom made it into the NFL training camps.

"We need a new quarterback, a new tailback, a new fullback, two new wide receivers, a new tight end and we need to fill three of the five offensive line slots. The challenge on offense is immense. We play Boston College here for our first game. That one is no gimme. Cincinnati visits the next Saturday. That game isn't a gimme either. The third weekend we fly to Los Angeles and play the USC Trojans in their home stadium. If our offense hasn't come together by then we will get clobbered!

Coach Burton paused for dramatic effect while the enormity of our challenge sank into the members of the team. The video started up again. The first clip was of me catching a touchdown against Michigan. He showed Damian plowing over a Michigan State linebacker. Wyatt made a cool move and zipped by a Northwestern linebacker. Jay threw a deep pass to Christian.

Chip completed another bomb to Aidan Nagy. Jibril Sloan came across the middle against Iowa, caught a pass in traffic, was nailed by two linebackers and still made a first down.

"We have talented individuals on offense on our team. It will be up to each of them to elevate their game to the rarified levels of their predecessors if our team will be successful this season. Can you put all the parts together into a unified team in the next six weeks? CAN YOU?"

The team chanted "we can," in response. We responded twice more as Coach Burton repeated the question, louder each time.

"I believe you can," Coach concluded. "To help us achieve that the coaching staff has devised some new plays to add to the playbook. Freshmen already have these in their books. Returning players, make sure you pick up the plays before you leave tonight and study the new plays."

Coach Burton moved onto more mundane matters. He reviewed our schedules for the next three weeks. He talked about press relations, interviews, and team conduct. He reviewed our smoking policy, our drinking policy, our drug policy and the expected sexual conduct of each team member. He reviewed the team's academic expectations and talked about the mentoring and tutoring services available.

The team meeting ended around 8:30 pm. Tyler Madden stood up and announced, "Those of you I talked to at dinner, we have a meeting in my apartment, #21, in ten minutes."

It took a few minutes for everyone to file to the front, grab the additions to their playbooks and leave the auditorium. My roommates and I headed back to our own apartment, dropped off our playbook additions and then followed the others over to Apartment #21.

Dermot McMillan invited us inside when we knocked at the door. Glenn Korbel and Salim Rogers, Tyler's other roommates handed everyone beers as they came in. We filled the available seating in the living room and dining area. A few, including myself ended up sitting on the floor. Tyler, Andrew Perkins and Jibril Sloan stood up in front of the group.

"Thanks for coming guys," Tyler started off. "Andy, Jibiril and I appreciate you coming over. We want to talk about how our team will run this season. The three of us..." Tyler said as he gestured to the other two captains. " ... are going to need your help to pull this team together this season. Each of you was invited because you are one the team's stars, will probably be a starter or are a key player for our team."

"There are 109 team members to watch," Andrew added. "It's too much for the three of us to monitor every team member. We're counting on all of you to help us keep the team on an even keel and out of trouble."

"I know you guys heard about the problems five or six years ago," Tyler said. "It seemed like every other week the newspapers would report 'Penn State players arrested.' Drinking, fighting, and sexual assault – it ran the gamut. All of us need to rein in the guys so we stay out of the news.

"Jibril, Andrew and I will make sure we have a minimum of three parties going on any Saturday night that provide a safe, controlled place for us to enjoy our free time," Tyler said. "We don't need to be downtown interacting with a bunch of drunks and crazies. This has worked for the past four seasons and should continue to work if we are careful.

"I want each of you to advise and mentor the guys I assign to you. Make sure they study their playbooks and are prepared on the field. Make sure the guys keep up with their classes. Become their confidant.

"Glenn and Jay, you're responsible for the quarterbacks – specifically Glenn you'll work with Chip and Colin. Jay you work with Bob and Jon. Ben, you work with the offensive line. Jibril will work with the tight ends. Kyle, you have the wide receivers."

I nodded my agreement. " ... except I'll deal with our special cases," Tyler continued. "Aidan, Alex and Max are my responsibility. Wyatt and Damian, you'll work with the running backs. Trevor, you have the defensive line, Josh you'll deal with the linebackers. Shawn you help me with the defensive backs. Andrew will cover special teams with Kyle's assistance. Anybody have any questions?"

No one did. We relaxed and traded stories of our summers after the speech. They guys were absolutely envious of my Sunday at the Phillies game and dinner with Chase Utley and his wife. The seniors entertained us with their JoePa stories from their freshman season. Tyler and his roommates served us second beers later in the evening.

The meeting/bull session broke up around ten o'clock. Tyler grabbed, Jay, Trevor, Damian and me before we left. He had us wait until the rest of the crowd was gone before he got to his point.

"I want to ask the four of you a huge favor," Tyler explained. "You guys all are into rock music, right?" All four of us nodded yes. "Good. I need somebody to host parties on Saturday nights featuring rock and pop music. Ben and his roommates have hip hop/gangsta covered. Bill Daugherty and Josh Bruno will do country for me. Would you guys be willing to host weekly parties?"

"Why us?" Jay asked. "I know you're a huge alt rock fan. Why don't you do it?"

"I am, but this apartment isn't big enough for the parties," Tyler explained.

"What?" I asked. "Your living room and dining room is as big as ours. Why don't you do it?"

"Glenn and I have enough space for gathering," Tyler explained. "What I'm missing is enough bedrooms. Somebody..." Glenn, Tyler and Salim all stared at Dermot. " ... was too damn slow getting his housing request in. We're stuck here in this garden apartment with only two bedrooms."

"And you want access to four bedrooms," I added.

"Exactly," Tyler replied.

"There is one problem," Jay observed. "None of us is twenty-one. Where will we get beer?"

"At least not until my birthday in the end of September," Trevor added.

"I will make sure you guys have all the booze you need," Tyler replied.

The four of us conferred for a minute and agreed to host parties for the team this year. We headed back to our apartment. I spent an hour finishing my unpacking. I hooked my computer up and sent off my nightly e-mail to Kelly.

--oooOooo--

I took my shower stuff and personal things over to the locker room at the Lasch Building before practice started on Monday morning. I took my playbook outside to the practice fields, ready to begin work at 8:50 am. Most of the team was on the field already awaiting our coaches' arrival. It was funny seeing Anders Voight dressed in khakis and a blue polo instead of practice clothing.

Coach Burton called for the team to huddle around him promptly at 8:55 am. Two minutes later two sophomores came out of the Lasch Building and dashed for the team huddle. They weren't fast enough to escape Coach's notice. They were sent on a two mile run around the three practice fields.

We did some stretching and warm-up exercises to get ready for the morning's activities. After twenty minutes the coaches split the team into four parts. Tyler, Jibril, Andrew and Ben Walker each led their quarter of the team off. I was with Ben's group. We went to be timed on a mile run first. I ran flat out, finishing the run in 4:40. The time was a couples seconds better than last year.

We went inside and went to the weight room. We met with Mr. Collins, our conditioning coach or with Matt Sheppard, his assistant. Mr. Collins tested my strength and agility. He was pleased with my results.

We went to the locker room next and drew our towels, practice T-shirts and shorts and other equipment. The freshmen drew their numbers. John Crosby, the freshman wide receiver from Damian's high school, ended up choosing Bo Cherry's old number #15.

The next group met us in the locker room before we left. Their group was buzzing with the news. Bruce MacCauley said, "Did you hear Kyle? The new kid Henson beat the team record in the 40. He ran a 4.29!"

That stung a little. I prided myself on being the fastest guy on the team. Aaron Morano, Shawn Byrd and Les Jones were the only three players to come close to my times in the last two years. Brian Henson was providing me with a big challenge.

Ben took our group out for the final station in the round robin. I did the vertical jump test early. I matched last year's 43" inch vertical jump. I stretched and tried to get my head together. Nobody was going to beat me without a fight! I let most of my group run the forty for the coaches before I ran.

"What's it going to be, Coach? Who's fastest?" Coach Burton called just before the start. That drew more than a few funny looks from my teammates.

I got a good start when Coach Burton blew his whistle. I kicked as hard as I could as I drove myself down the field. I gave everything I had, willing my legs to kick harder. I pushed myself to the limit and kicked hard even after I crossed the end line. I slowed and turned back towards he coaches. Whatever the result, I knew I had given everything I had in the effort.

The coaches were all staring at the stopwatches. Anders gave me a huge grin and a thumbs up sign.

"Coach, what do you think you did?" Coach Burton called out as he waved me over.

"I have no idea, Coach," I replied.

"4.28 seconds," Coach Burton announced loudly. "That's team record and only the second sub 4.3 time we've ever had. That was fantastic! Good job!"

I accepted back slaps and congratulations from the teammates and coaches. I found out later that Shawn Byrd wasn't far behind Brian and me. He ran a 4.30 second 40 that day. The coaches got the whole team together and had us do some ball handling drills before dismissing us.

The team headed down to the Training Table for lunch. After lunch we had position meetings. I scanned the room when Coach Adams had everyone's attention. It was an impressive group. Brian Henson and Bruce MacCauley were extremely fast by any team's standards. Christian Hunsecker looked slower but had an amazing burst of speed when he needed to create separation. Jared Cantrell was a good route runner and not slow by any means.

Tanner Riggs was a little bantam rooster. He was good over the middle in spite of his slight size. He slipped tackles and picked up extra yards by making the tacklers miss. John Crosby was green but Damian promised we would be delighted to have him on our team.

The three question marks among the ten receivers were our seniors. By all expectations they should be our starters but they weren't. Alex Majerowicz was a talented receiver that didn't put a lot of time or effort into studying the plays or video. Max Rosen had been in the Coach's dog house so many times that he was certain to stay on the third string for the rest of his career at Penn State. Aidan Nagy was the odd one. He worked hard to prepare and was a good possession receiver. If he could rehab his reputation with Coach Burton, he might have a shot at a starting spot.

I was glad Tyler Madden was going to monitor those three. I could handle the receivers my age or younger. I wouldn't have been able to get anywhere with these three.

Before Coach Adams started the receivers meeting Jared Cantrell asked, "Why did Coach Burton call you 'Coach' this morning? What's that about?"

Christian laughed and said, "I can explain that. My brother worked with 'Coach' this summer as a lifeguard. The whole pool staff called him that because he helped them work on preparing for football every day during the summer."

"That's pretty much it," I added. "It started back in high school when I blew out my knee. All I could do to help the team was help my coaches. The nickname started back then. I'd just as soon not use it here at college."

"Hell no, Coach," Jared countered. "You deserve the name. You're responsible for a lot of the progress I've made in the last year and a half. If it's good enough for Coach Burton, it's good enough for me."

"Why does he get to be called Coach and I get to be called 'Squirrel'?" Bruce protested.

"It fits!" was the near unanimous response from all other receivers. I noticed Aidan, Alex and Max didn't share the other receiver's enthusiasm for my nickname. I didn't blame them.

I would have been upset if one of the younger guys came in and beat me out for a starter's position. Look how I reacted in the morning when Brian threatened my title as 'fastest man on the team.' Of course if they had reacted to my challenge the same way I did to Brian's, they would be the three starters at wide receiver and I would be a backup.

The coaches spent the afternoon practice doing drills – ball handling, tackling, blocking and fumble recovery. Practice ended around 4:30. I was pleased to see Jon Stafford grab Brian Henson and John Crosby and convince them to stay out late and catch some balls with him. That was exactly the example we needed for the younger guys on the team.

--oooOooo--

Tuesday brought more warm up stretching and drills, morning and afternoon. Wednesday we started running plays in the afternoon practice without pads or tackling. Jay, Chip and Glenn shared time running the first team. Glenn and Chip shared time at second string. Jon and Bob Huber, the quarterback from Lebanon, ran the third string with Colin O'Shea's help.

I worked exclusively with the first string. Aidan, Christian, Tanner and Alex all split time between the first and second string. Bruce and Jared split time between second and third string. Max, Brian and John worked exclusively with the third string.

Shoulder pads and helmets came out on Thursday. We practiced without tackling. It was starting to feel like real football. I was able to start to see where the quarterback competition was taking our team.

Glenn played solidly. He still didn't have the arm strength to throw the deep ball. He ran our offense efficiently with minimal mistakes. Our defense also kept us bottled up when he was at the controls.

Chip was excellent. He could heave the ball 50 or 60 yards without breaking a sweat. He zipped it in when needed. Chip hit timing routes and deception routes equally well with Christian and me. Our time playing together over the summer was paying off for him. It was almost like Zack was still behind center for us except for the interceptions. He threw too many in the first two days of practice.

Jay was the mystery. He hit the short and medium routes well. He didn't make many mistakes. He didn't throw a single interception in the first two days of practice. He could throw the deep ball too but without the accuracy I had come to expect from him in the past. The QB competition might be closer than I expected.

We ran our first special teams practice was Thursday afternoon. I caught a couple kick returns and a couple punt returns before Coach Ferguson sidelined me. Tanner Riggs and Brian Henson handled the rest of the kick returns for our practice. Christian Hunsecker and Bruce MacCauley handled the rest of the punt returns.

Full pads, red jerseys for the quarterbacks and tackling came on Friday. I was glad to play real football after days of playing touch. One play on Friday afternoon reminded me why I was so glad Tyler Madden was a Lion. I caught a ball about ten yards downfield over the middle. I managed one step before Tyler came flying in and nailed me, driving me into the ground and driving the breath out of me. He stood over me and offered me a hand up as I tried to gather my breath again. Damn! Tyler could hit hard.

We had a low key scrimmage Saturday morning. I caught a few passes, including a deep one Chip threw me for a touchdown in the first quarter. I was put on the bench by the second quarter. Jay ran the offense in the second quarter. He went 6 for 9 passing. The stats showed he gained 102 yards passing but that was deceiving.

Two of Jay's three missed passes were deep. 57 of his yards came on a seven yard completion to Christian. Christian made Denzell miss the tackle and streaked away in a flash. Some guys on the team were surprised. I wasn't. I had seen him do the same thing in high school too many times to be surprised.

Glenn ran the offense efficiently in the third quarter, but without managing to score on our second and third string defenses. Jon Stafford and Bob Huber split time in the fourth quarter. The freshmen made a lot of mistakes. Jon also made one brilliant play. He had to dodge a couple tacklers in the backfield and then found Brian Henson thirty yards downfield coming back to him. He nailed Brian in stride. Brian then broke a tackle and ran in for a touchdown to give the Blue team the win.

--oooOooo--

Coach Burton gave the team the rest of Saturday off. Tyler gave us the seed money left over from last year's parties so we could buy supplies. We put a hat or basket out at every party where attendees could contribute to the expenses. Zack said he never had a problem covering expenses from the hat. I didn't expect we would either.

Trevor and I went out to Walmart to get snack food, ice and coolers for our party that night. Jay went to the beer distributor with Tyler and Jibril to pick up booze for the party. We weren't required to attend dinner at the Training Table on Saturday evening. A bunch of us went downtown and had barbeque at Beulah's instead.

Damian, Jay, Trevor and I headed back to our apartment and set things up for the evening's party. Guys started to come around eight o'clock. Compared to past years, this was a tame party. It was all guys. The girls wouldn't arrive on campus for another two weeks. We watched TV and a movie, drank our beer and chowed down on the munchies. It was a decent party but not spectacular compared to what we would have later in the year.

'Squirrel' MacCauley had a bit too much to drink. Chip and Jared Gray, our sophomore backup kicker and Squirrel's roommate, helped get him back to Hartranft. Damian, Trevor, Jay and I had a lot of cleanup to do after everyone left but we decided it could wait until the next morning.

The meal plans the athletic department provided to us football players were convenient. We could get our meals from the dining halls in Pollock Commons or we could spend the allotment at the Mix or other on-campus convenience stores. I walked over to The Mix around 11:30, after I showered. I picked up a Philadephia Inquirer and a breakfast sandwich.

A lot of the team ended up hanging out in the player's lounge Sunday afternoon. We played cards, pool and foosball as well as watching TV together. It was a pleasant way to unwind from football for a day.

--oooOooo--

Monday's practices started to clarify the quarterback competition. Glenn Korbel worked strictly with the second team. The coaches didn't make any announcements but all of us, including Glenn, understood what that meant. He was not going to be our starter.

Glenn took the bad news like the consummate team player he was. He worked as hard as anyone studying, working out and preparing for football. Unfortunately he wasn't blessed with the same physical gifts and athleticism as Jay and Chip. He made the most of what he had but he wasn't ever going to be the caliber of a starting quarterback for a BCS contending team.

Chip and Jay were given equal time running the first team offense. Chip ran the team well, for the most part. Once or twice every practice we'd hear Coach Schroeder or Coach Burton yell, "Brinton, what the hell was that?" after an interception or a missed hand off.

Jay didn't make nearly was many mistakes as Chip. Unfortunately he still couldn't complete very many deep passes. The ball would float on him or it would fly off somewhere five or ten yards from his intended target. He couldn't consistently throw deeper than about 15-20 yards. This problem made the QB competition much closer than it should have been.

Monday evening Coach Burton and Coach Schroeder unveiled a new wrinkle for our offense. I suddenly understood why I was getting so few reps with our special teams. We were installing a wildcat formation and I was the designated wildcat. The coaches didn't plan one or two plays with the formation. They drew up a dozen plays from it to keep our opponents guessing.

I would line up behind the left guard and slightly closer to the center. The QB would line up behind the right guard, also shifted slightly to the center. The two of us were only five feet apart. The center could easily snap the ball to either of us.