Chapter 32: Ohio State Football Camps

Wednesday June 10

Tami and I had arrived in Columbus the night before, because the football staff wanted to show us around before sign in at eleven that morning. We were directed to the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. The facilities had been originally built in the late 80s. Recently they did an almost twenty million dollar upgrade and expansion. If there was a better football facility in the country, I wanted to see it.

Tami and I went to reception to meet our guide who turned out to be a guy that looked like he was a player. When he saw me he came over and shook my hand.

"David, so glad you could make it, and you are?" he asked as he shook Tami's hand.

"Tami."

"Hi, I'm Fred Rogers. I'll be your guide and go-to person, if you need anything over the next three days. We are waiting for three more players and then we will get started. Can I get you anything while you wait?"

Tami and I sat down while we waited and relaxed.

"What time is your tour?" I asked.

Tami had arranged to receive a tour of the campus while I played, as she called it.

"Same time as you register, eleven o'clock."

My phone range and it was Kendal.

"I've got some bad news. Range Sports is buying out your contract," she told me without preamble.

"I guess mouthing off to the owner wasn't my best move."

"You're right, it wasn't; but no one is blaming you for what you said. We both know making Devin look bad in front of Adrienne was not the best move. The two of you probably should have had a private conversation," she said and then I heard someone in the background. "I have to go. We pulled your contract, and are reviewing it to see how the buyout language reads. Your parents are coming in this afternoon. I'll keep you in the loop."

"What happened?" Tami asked.

I was explaining everything to her when Fred came and got us.

I wondered if I should have brought more people with me. Each of the other three guys had their parents, girlfriend, and siblings with them. One even brought his seven-on-seven coach.

Felix 'Flee' Johnson hailed from Miami, Florida. He was entering his senior year and was listed at six-foot, but he had to be five-ten, at the most. He played quarterback and according to Scouts.com they listed him as the #8 athlete in the senior class. I would have put down serious money his girlfriend, Candy, was a stripper.

Roland Thibodaux was from Houma, Louisiana. I recognized his name, because he was the #5 quarterback in the senior class. The SEC was recruiting him hard, so I was surprised to see him at Ohio State. They must have pulled out all the stops to get him to show up. I was sure he could write his own ticket if he went to LSU.

Percy Lancaster was a local boy from right here in Columbus. His dad was a big time attorney, and a major booster for Ohio State Athletics. His whole family had their Ohio State gear on. I think his little sister could have given the tour. She was a chatter box and she was more excited than her brother for him going to camp.

I made a mental note that when I went to Alabama I needed to show up wearing, at the very least, a hat. Plus, I needed to dump my Range Sports clothing. I wouldn't give them any more free advertising. I would have Tami go get me things to wear for the next couple of days.

Fred took us through the Les Wexner football complex. Mr. Wexner had donated a hundred million dollars to The Ohio State University. It didn't all go to the football program, but they weren't cutting any corners.

When we were done we were shown where registration was. It was a madhouse. I was relieved when Fred magically appeared with our packets and room keys. Tami actually laughed out loud when she saw where I would be staying the next two nights. It was small dorm room they had setup with two sets of bunk beds. The four of us would be rooming together. Oh joy!

Tami was booked into Embassy Suites and had a king sized bed. Luckily for her she'd had her tour to go to, or she might have ended up trading with me.

"Did you try out for Elite 11?" Flee asked Roland as we walked to practice.

"Not yet. Monday is the regional, here in Columbus. How about you?" Roland asked.

"Yep. Now I have to wait and see if I get selected," Flee said.

"What's the Elite 11?" Percy asked.

Thank you. I didn't want to look stupid.

"It used to be called Nike Camp, but ESPN got involved. Quarterbacks compete at regional campetitions. The regional camps include instructional drills, accuracy competitions, and a final two-minute drill. Top performers can earn a spot at Elite 11, July 5-10, at Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon," Roland told us.

"How about you, David, are you here for the competition, I mean campetition?" Flee asked

"To be honest, I didn't know anything about it."

"You have to apply, so it might be too late. Columbus is the last regional event. If you win the event you get to compete against the best-of-the-best. They do allow a few select underclassmen to compete," Roland told me.

"I'll have to see. It sounds like fun."

We found where we were supposed to go. We began by doing drills and running. This gave the coaches a chance to watch and evaluate us with something measurable. I counted eighteen other quarterbacks. Since this was a position camp we would all be working closely together for the next two days.

During our group training it became clear there was a reason the four of us were put together. Flee was one of the quickest guys I'd ever seen. He had some moves which left me shaking my head. Roland had an incredible arm, and Percy wasn't just here because of his dad's connections.

I could feel my competitive side coming out. I remembered my pledge to follow Ridge's example. I had met him at the USC football camp and thought he was a jerk at first. I later discovered he was just super focused. I decided I was going to show the Ohio State Staff who was the best quarterback here today. I wasn't intimidated by the older guys. I had gone toe-to-toe with Ridge last year and he was the #1 rated quarterback in his class. None of these guys had that something extra Ridge had.

I began to give it my all in a cone drill. It was a basic box configuration so they could see you run in all directions; front, sideways right, back and sideways left. It was a timed drill. It looked like they had staff keeping track of everything we did. I ignored what the other campers were doing and just focused on going full out for every drill. I could tell the intensity of the other campers went up when I began to excel. The coaches noticed it, also.

"Good job, just like Dawson!"

Camp was going well. Coach Lunt, Ohio State's quarterback coach, made a point to introduce himself between drills. I got the feeling they liked what they saw. Then I saw Tami. She motioned for me to join her. I told the coach running the drills I needed a moment. He didn't look happy, but didn't stop me.

"Call Kendal's office," she said as she handed me her phone.

I did, and got the receptionist. She put me through.

"David, I have you on speaker phone. I have your parents, Tom, Don Rigby, and Roy Thompson here."

Don and Roy were the managing partners for Rigby Thompson and Associates. I had met them a couple of times. They normally allowed Tom to run the Entertainment Division, so this must be big.

"Okay, what's the word?" I asked.

"David, it's Don, I think you pissed off Devin. He is trying to play some games. Range Sports and Chrysler have partnered to offer a Sports Edition of the Charger. They plan to regionalize the marketing of the new cars, and get sports celebrities to endorse the car with their team colors and number on it. Range has asked us to find the sports stars for the endorsements.

"This would create a conflict of interest with you and Range and force us to decide whom to represent. Especially regarding your contract," Don said.

I understood his point. A law firm could not serve two masters.

"David, this is Roy. We are 95% sure as to what we want to do, but I would like to get to 100%. Could you do us all a favor, and tell us everything that has occurred to this point?"

I spent the next fifteen minutes and recapped everything. They asked a lot of clarification questions. Tom then told me they needed a few moments to talk and they put me on hold. I don't think it was more than ten minutes later and I was back on the call.

"I want to get you up to speed. We've talked with Deb at Ford Modeling and Tyler at AT Modeling. Neither one is happy with Range Sports, nor interested in working with them in the near future. Rigby Thompson and Associates has relationships with both companies and we wanted to confirm we went at this as a united front," Tom told us.

"That being said, we can take the gloves off concerning the negotiations for the termination of your contract. Range Sports coming to us to find athletes was also fishy. This task was something more geared towards Ford or AT Modeling skill set than ours. We think they were trying to undermine your support," Don said.

"I thought it was spelled out how either party could terminate the agreement," I said.

"It does if there is cause, or you are at the end of a year. By all accounts you fulfilled your obligations in a professional manner. This is simply a case of Devin getting his feelings hurt. Frankly, I'm surprised his Board of Directors is allowing this. He has guaranteed you three more premium shoots this year. We can also ask for damages due to you turning down other opportunities," Roy explained.

"I don't know if I'm comfortable with punishing Range Sports," I shared.

"Do you trust us to handle it?" Dad asked.

I laughed.

"Before I answer that, how mad is my mother?" I asked.

"You do have to come home at some point," she threatened.

"Speaking of which, I may stay another day here in Columbus."

"Call me later, and we will discuss it," Mom said.

"So, do I stop wearing Range Sport's gear?" I asked.

"Yes," Kendal answered.

"I hate to say it, but it is kind of a relief. With football, and everything else, doing these shoots was starting to be a chore. I'll never forget everything Range Sports did for me, specifically what Sandy did. I feel bad we are parting ways. I guess I have mixed emotions about the whole thing," I said.

"Want us to call Nike?" Kendal teased.

"If you can figure out how to get me a contract, and not have the NCAA on my back, please do," I responded.

My feelings really were mixed. Range Sports had been a big part of my life. They had stepped up numerous times and helped me and my family out. I would never forget the many things Sandy Range had orchestrated when I had my accident in Colorado. She and I would be always be close.

When I talked to Tami she had a different take on what had just occurred.

"I want you to remember what Rigby Thompson and Associates just did. Instead of treating you as their client they had to weigh the pros and cons of supporting you or throwing in with Range Sports. I know you like Tom and Kendal, but at some point you have to be 100% sure they are in your corner."

"What do you think I should do?" I asked.

"Nothing for now, but don't forget this."

When I went back to doing drills I didn't have the same energy. Coach Lunt noticed, and pulled me out of the rotation.

"Did you get some bad news, or something?"

"My contract with Range Sports has been terminated," I said.

He looked pensive.

"That might not be so bad in the long run. Most schools have contracts with specific companies."

"Do you have any pull with Nike?" I asked.

Ohio State was a Nike school.

"Why do you ask?"

"I heard about the Elite 11 regional camp on Monday. I wondered if you could help get me in."

"I think it might be too late. I'm surprised you weren't asked to compete," he said then paused. "Well maybe not if you were tied into Range Sports. Let me see what we can do. If you do well during camp we might be able to get you in. Now get your head in the game, and join the rest of the guys."

Bo Harrington, my quarterback coach, had warned me about the politics of the shoe companies. I hoped that by ending things with Range it would convince them to let me into their club, so to speak.

Unlike previous camps, the one at Ohio State kept us busy until nine at night. If you were staying overnight, you were to stay on campus. The three guys I was rooming with got together with their families, and planned to explore what the campus had to offer.

I wanted to lift and swim, if I could. Tami agreed to go with me to keep me company. I finally got a chance to tell her about the Elite 11 camp, and also the latest on Range Sports. Tami had talked to Sandy Range and I'd spoken to Kendal.

"I have some news on Range. I called Sandy to find out what was going on. I think part of the problem is Cora. Her parents were none too pleased when she decided to spend time in Park City with Devin. Sandy is concerned everything is happening too fast once again.

"By the way, Sandy also said not to worry about things. She said she couldn't stop Devin, but she could influence the outcome. I'm not sure what she meant," Tami said.

"My contract calls for three more shoots this year. The commitment is substantial, especially if Range walks away from it. They will have paid a lot of money with nothing to show for it. When money is involved people do crazy things."

Tami then told me about her tour of the campus. I guess Les Wexner's donations earned him the right to have one of the hospital buildings, and the performing arts center, named after him. She told me the proper way to refer to the different buildings was to shorten Wexner and call them the Wex. She had an appointment with a guidance counselor tomorrow, so she could see what they had to offer as far as undergraduate and then possibly medical school. She told me they had an honors program for gifted students she wanted to look into.

She walked me back from the aquatic center after we swam laps. I was the first one back to my room. I checked my emails, and called Mom to tell her I might stay through Monday if I could get into the Elite 11 competition. Since we had to be on the field by 9 a.m., I decided to go ahead and go to sleep.

The other three guys came in and tried to be quiet, but I wasn't used to having roommates. I woke up each time one of them came back to the room.

Thursday June 11

I was up at six, and couldn't get back to sleep. I decided to get my run out of the way. I had mapped out a route to run this morning, which would show me the campus. I tried to be quiet, but I woke Flee.

"What are you doing up so early?" he asked.

"Running."

"Mind if I join you?"

"I would enjoy the company," I answered.

We went out in front of the dorm and stretched.

"What's it like being the man for the junior class? Do you have many offers?" Flee asked.

"I hadn't really thought too much about it. I've been playing baseball and modeling. I thought I would focus on recruiting this summer. I'm in no hurry to make a decision."

"Any offers?" he asked.

"Kentucky," I said.

"That's all?" he asked as he gave me an incredulous look.

"I've kept the recruiters at bay up until now. Why, do you think I should have more offers by now?"

He snorted.

"I wish I had any offer right now. Everyone is scared of my height. I don't know why, though. Russell Wilson of the Seahawks is only five-ten. All the schools I talk to want the guys who are six-two or taller."

We began to jog to ease into the run. People seemed to be getting up, and there were even a few joggers out. My planned running course went out the window when two cute girls came around the corner a quarter of a block ahead of us. We might not get as much of workout, but I wasn't against taking in the view.

"What is your ultimate goal? Is it to play quarterback in college?" I asked.

"I want to make it to the NFL."

"What's your backup plan?" I asked.

"Fuck you!" he said.

"Settle down, we all need a backup plan. I was just going to suggest you focus on schools that would help you achieve both goals. I'm sure all the big name schools like Ohio State would serve both purposes. But if the top tier don't work out you need to focus on plan B. For example, if you were looking for a degree in Engineering you might consider the University of Illinois or Georgia Tech."

He made a face. If he were a girl I would know what it meant. I had just said something very stupid.

"That's what my mom keeps telling me. I want to go to as many camps as I can this summer to show I have what it takes. If I don't have any offers by then, I'll start sending out videos to other schools."

The girls started to give us nervous looks, so we peeled off and crossed the street. We were able to pick up the pace, and get a good workout in.

We came back and showered. Percy and Roland were just getting up. The four of us went to breakfast. Percy was giving me funny looks all through breakfast. I finally called him on it.

"My sister googled you," Percy blurted.

"Dang it, I thought my juvie records were sealed," I complained.

The other two looked to Percy for confirmation.

"You were never charged," Percy shared, with a straight face.

Wow, how did he know that? I was going to have to see what Lily had been posting on social media.

"What did you do?" Roland asked.

I looked around to make sure no one was listening and motioned them in closer. I could see they were nervous.

"I knocked out my football coach's son," I shared.

"Why did you do that?" Roland asked.

"I'm not allowed to talk about it," I said mysteriously.

I had hoped to sidetrack Percy, but he was not to be denied.

"David is a model and a movie star," he announced.

"If my girlfriend finds out you are a bad boy model/movie star, I will kick your ass," Flee promised.

"I thought Candy liked little guys," Roland teased.

"Fuck you, too," Flee shot back.

"I think she has a thing for Percy," I shared.

"Leave me out of this," Percy said since he obviously was not sure if I was teasing or not.

"You know, you're right. I saw her checking him out. I think she's after his daddy's money," Roland said.

"Again, fuck you both," Flee said with a smirk.

"Is that how you get all your women?" I asked Percy.

He flipped me off and we all laughed. The joys of male bonding.

The morning session was spent working on footwork, and making all the different passes. It was obvious by mid-morning that Roland, Flee and I were in another class compared to the rest of the campers. Percy needed playing time and time to develop his skills. He had a ton of potential, but he was just a little raw.

After lunch, we played seven-on-seven. Flee and Roland were patient and took what the defenses gave them. They reminded me a lot of how Ridge played except they weren't as polished as he was. I watched as they methodically worked their way down the field. The problem with ten plus play drives was it gave the defense ten plus chances to make something bad happen, or you would have ten plus plays to make a fatal mistake. Both of their first drives ended in interceptions.

I decided to change things up, and was lucky in that I had a receiver on my team who was small, but fast. On my first play I told my receivers I wanted them all to go five to ten yards out and then do button hooks. I wanted Speedy to run a fly pattern. Up to this point the other quarterbacks had all been throwing the ball in the 5 to 15 yard range. Defensive guys are not stupid. They adjust to something like that.

"Set, HUT!" I called out.

I smiled inwardly when I saw the defensive guys all jumping the routes. My speedy guy, Rick, blew past his defender. I launched a long ball, and let him run under it. It was a nice easy catch and trot into the end zone. That might not have been my best strategy, because there were eighteen of us, and we were only using four fields. That meant I had to wait my turn before I got my next turn.

We ended up getting to go four times each. The last time was interesting. I had thrown long balls on my three previous turns, and scored each time. I noticed they made me go last. I saw the Ohio State Coaching staff, including Head Coach Wes Casey and Quarterback Coach John Lunt. The other thing I saw was the defense was made up of camp counselors, aka. College Players!

I huddled up my team.

"I think we are going to have to work for this one. Did you all see who the defenders are?" I asked.

They all looked a little nervous.

"Settle down. They have more to lose than we do. Think how much fun we will have the rest of camp, rubbing it in that a bunch of high school kids took down the big tough college boys?" I said.

They all smiled.

"They know we know who we are playing against. I bet they think we will try something new. I say we see if Rick is fast enough to out run some college boys. Same play, on one."

The college guys were walking around like they were the big dogs. They tried to intimidate my guys, and I just smiled.

"Set, HUT!"

I saw right away they were going to jam my receivers and try and force me to throw the ball away. Rick was rocked at the line of scrimmage by a two handed shiver to the shoulders. His defender had a cocky look on his face knowing he had taken Rick out of the play. Rick recovered, got a determined look on his face, and sidestepped his defender as he put on the jets. I saw they had double covered him, so I pumped the ball to get his deep defender to bite. They wanted to show me who was best and the easiest way to do that was to intercept me.

Rick had half a step on his college defender. It really wasn't a fair match-up. His defender was as fast as Rick, and was at least five inches taller. If I threw a normal pass, even with the half step, the defender would be able to knock the ball down. I threw it a step long, hoping I would at the worst overthrow him. Rick put on a surge and gathered it in. He had enough speed to finish the play.

Coach Casey was livid with his players.

"I know you all want to eat. My favorite meal is a peanut butter sandwich. You know what goes with a peanut butter sandwich? JAM! Run it again!" he ordered.

We got back into the huddle.

"Okay, I think we have them where we want them," I said.

"About to kill us?" Rick asked.

"Maybe, but let's do it, again. This time we might want to use Rick as a decoy."

This was sandlot football at its best. We devised a play where each guy crossed. It was the lead guy's job to take the brunt of the punishment as he tried to pick off both defenders and the underneath route could slide by and get some separation. If they were going to play us tight then someone would come free, or so I hoped. I watched as two guys lined up on Rick.

"Set, HUT!"

Poor Rick got buried. The two guys in front of him shoved him to the ground. I saw the flag, so I wasn't too worried. You're not allowed to use excessive force in seven-on-seven football. We're in shorts and t-shirts for crying out loud. The defense saw the flag too and let up. One of the good guys slipped between two defenders and I hit him on a slant. They were caught flat footed and suddenly it was a foot race.

Coach Casey made us go two more times. The defense settled down, and made us work for it. They finally got us when one of the receivers wasn't ready for a pass and it bounced off of him. I might have put too much on it, but I elected to blame the receiver.

At dinner, I got a note saying Coach Casey wanted to meet me for breakfast, and I was invited to bring my family if they were here. I sent Tami a text, and she agreed to go with me.

Friday June 12

Tami and I arrived at the inner sanctum of The Ohio State football program. Coach Lunt retrieved us from reception, and escorted us through to the coach's area. We were taken to a small film room where they had a buffet setup for breakfast. I was introduced to some of the offensive coaches. We were enjoying breakfast, when Coach Casey came in with two assistants.

"Finish your breakfast," he said and then went through the buffet.

I was surprised when he had a bowl of oatmeal and a plate of fruit. It was the same thing Tami had, so I knew it was healthy. I wondered if he was eating it because of his reported health problems. I would imagine he would watch his diet very carefully.

Over breakfast he got to know Tami and me on a personal level. I was impressed that he talked to her more than he did me. Tami was very good at reading people. I find I sometimes hang back and let her meet new people. I could tell she liked Wes, at least that was what Tami was allowed to call him.

After breakfast the serious discussion began. He brought up the film of my seven-on-seven games. He ran through each play, and gave me his impressions.

"Overall, I can only disagree with two passes. The first one against the staff was super aggressive. Looking at your other options, it was either that, or you should have thrown the ball away. The other pass was your last, and you simply threw it too hard. Everything else was right on.

"We compared your performance against all the other campers, and I have to say you were by far the most aggressive of the bunch. You went for the score every single time, and your long ball ... wow! For a kid who is only sixteen, I'm impressed. Does your high school coach teach this philosophy of football?"

"Actually I learned to do that from Coach Bud Mason. I was at the Elite Camp in Houston, Texas. One of my fellow quarterbacks was Ridge Townsend who was rated the #1 pocket passer and is headed to USC. Ridge is a surgeon on the field. He reminds me a lot of Roland and Flee in that he would take what the defense was giving him. The difference between Ridge, and Roland and Flee, was that he was so focused he never made a mistake. If he got into rhythm then your only chance was to match him in scores.

"I was both Coach Mason's nightmare and his poster child. I was his wild child and thrived in the drills where I had to avoid pass rushes and make plays. I was also the one who wasn't afraid to take a chance and go downfield. Coach Mason's philosophy shies away from the textbook drive. He believes big plays will score you a lot of points, and run your opponent off the field. You can take the heart out of the other team with big plays. They keep track of 20-plus yard plays for a reason.

"The dink and dunk is nice, and is a form of ball control used by inferior teams, to keep the ball out of the hands of better opponents. The problem is it takes a lot of plays to get the same result. If you're putting together long drives then there are more chances for mistakes. We all saw that, yesterday.

"Now, my high school coach is a defensive guy, and he believes in wearing down the opponent's defense. So I have played both schemes, and been successful. But given a chance, I will score on you," I said.

"You do know I can game plan to stop your long passes," he challenged me.

"If we have similar talent, I would give you a run for your money," I said in all seriousness.

He looked at me to see if I was really that confident, or if I was bullshitting him.

"You might beat him, but you would be nervous, and he would make you earn it," Tami said entering the conversation.

Coach Casey finally smiled. He then switched to video of me playing, last year. He then pointed out a few things he saw during drills throughout camp, and things I did last year.

"What changed?" he asked.

"I hired a coach: Bo Harrington. One of the things he had me do was to travel to Chicago over spring break, and receive coaching from Sports Training Institute of Chicago. They helped me with both football and baseball."

He asked one of his assistants to go back to his office and get a folder. He was back in a flash, and I was surprised when it had my name on it. He opened it up, and checked some things.

"I just wanted to verify a couple of things," he began. "You're a straight 'A' student, but you haven't taken your SATs yet. I don't have any reason to believe you can't get into Ohio State, academically. Your acting and modeling experience would make you a good spokesman for the University. From talking to your coach he said you are a leader and team player. I don't think I have to worry about you being out at three in the morning and robbing a liquor store."

I just bit my tongue, because I sure hoped not. He looked me in the eyes.

"Do you have an interest in playing football at The Ohio State University?"

"Yes sir."

He smiled.

"I'm telling you right now. You will be a part of The Ohio State Buckeyes football team. I don't even care if you play. I want your swagger and confidence. This is where Championships happen and I think you will be a key ingredient in the years to come.