Chapter 19: Look Me In The Eyes

Wednesday July 20

I’d spent the last few days being a kid. I talked Dad and Greg into going to the lake and breaking out the jet water board. I’d had a small twinge when I remembered this was where Jeff had drowned. Then I remembered this was where Coby had been conceived. I chalked it up to the circle of life and pushed all the negative feelings away.

I’d also hit football practice hard. Both Wolf and Tim had taken the week off because football camp with the University of Michigan began today.

I had one piece of work to do that I’d put off because Dad said I had to get their parents’ permission first. I was on my way to the Pearson farm for breakfast before football began. Zoe was waiting for me on the front porch when I pulled up in the Demon. She came down the steps and gave me a good-morning kiss.

Yuri pulled up and had my half brother Phil with him.

“I should have brought Jan,” Yuri observed.

“Go get her. Mom has enough food to feed everyone,” Zoe said.

“Where’s Roc?” Phil asked.

“Dad and he are mucking stalls. I’m sure they’d like some help,” Zoe urged.

“I’m good. I’ll just hang out with you guys,” Phil said.

We went inside and found Mrs. Pearson taking homemade buttermilk biscuits out of the oven.

“Breakfast is ready. Go get the men from the barn,” Mrs. Pearson said. “Where’s Yuri?”

“He went to get Jan,” Zoe said.

She had us set another place at the table. Soon everyone was seated around the table, including Yuri and Jan. Mr. Pearson said a short prayer of thanks for the food, and we dug in. Mrs. Pearson had made a cracked black pepper gravy to go with the biscuits, eggs, ham and hash brown potatoes. I’d get fat if I ate like this every day.

“That was a nice event your family put on for your awards. We had a nice time,” Mrs. Pearson said.

“I was taken by surprise. I guess we’re having a pre-launch party for the new restaurant this Friday and we’ll open the doors on Saturday. I was told that Eve Holiday has offered to play both nights. You’re all invited to Friday night. It’s free, but if you have drinks you have to pay for those,” I said as I handed out invitations. “Just call, text or email Caryn and let her know how many. The plan is for two seatings, one at six and the other at eight.”

“They plan to close at ten the first night so the staff can talk about what worked and what didn’t,” Jan said, obviously knowing more about it than I did.

“Why’d you name it ‘Our House’?” Mr. Pearson asked.

“Dad said it was because all of the free advertising we would get at our football games when they chanted ‘Our House.’ Mom said it was so people could say they were ‘going to Our House’ and not be obvious they were going out,” I explained.

“Which seating are you going to?” Phil asked.

“Both. Granny said I had to greet everyone.”

“That’s right, you partnered with her,” Mrs. Pearson said.

“With her and Mary Dole, Tracy’s mom. Mary’s dad is a chef and owns several restaurants. He gave her recipes that she brought with her. She’s in charge of the kitchen, and Granny handles the front of the house for us,” I explained.

“I hear you’ve taken cooking lessons from Mrs. Dole,” Jan said.

“She’s taught me a lot about technique and following a recipe so it comes out the same each time.”

“The only time I follow a recipe is for baking,” Mrs. Pearson admitted.

“I was the same. My dad taught me to cook for the family and I thought I was pretty good, but Mary showed me I had a lot to learn.”

“I might be interested in taking cooking classes from her.”

“Hey, that’s a great idea,” I said, and then blushed when Zoe smacked my arm. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to imply anything. I think you’re a great cook. I think I’ve proven that by coming back so many times. What I meant was it would get people to come to the restaurant when they weren’t busy.”

“I was afraid I would never see you again,” Zoe admitted.

“I think on that note I’d better change the topic as to why I invited you here—besides eating this scrumptious breakfast,” I said, hamming it up.

“This doesn’t sound good. He wants something,” Phil said.

“It’s not what you can do for me ... it’s what you can do for your country.”

Even I thought that was a bad line, but how often do you get to say something like that?

“For USA Baseball, we have batboys and girls. Up to this point, they were either local kids or siblings of the players—brothers or sisters of the players. Unfortunately, none of those players made the final cut, so they need fill-ins. I was asked if I could find some people to take their spots. I wondered if you three would be interested in going with me to Houston and then Mexico?” I asked Phil, Roc and Yuri.

“You’re asking all three of us?” Yuri asked.

“Yes. They would take care of room and board. You would need to bring some money for any extras you might want,” I said.

“What about the farm and yard work?” Roc asked.

I was impressed he thought about it before just saying yes.

“The Bauer brothers have offered to fill in for both jobs,” Mr. Pearson said.

“I take it from that answer that you’ve talked to our parents,” Phil said.

“Yes,” I admitted.

The only fly in the ointment was we’d miss the first week of two-a-day football practices. I’d talked to Coach Hope and he wasn’t happy when I told him that I planned to take Roc, Yuri, and Phil with me. He threatened to bench them for the first game.

I’d tried to reason with him, but he was as stubborn as always. He agreed he would review it when we came back, but as of now, they wouldn’t play if they all went to Mexico to support me. At least he’d agreed earlier I could go, or I think he would have included me in that threat.

“Before you decide, I need to tell you that you’ll miss the first week of football practice, and Coach Hope has told me he might sit you for the first game.”

“That’s crazy. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Phil said.

“When do you need to know?” Yuri asked.

“Soon. If you decide not to do it, I either need to find someone else or let them know so they can get replacements.”

“Let us talk about it and we’ll let you know today,” Yuri said.

“I don’t need to think about it. I’m in,” Phil said.

Roc sat in thought for a moment, then looked up at me.

“If we brought a few footballs along, do you think we could make some time to work on routes and timing? At least that way, I could tell Coach Hope that was one of the big reasons I decided to head down there with you.”

Roc was using his brain. I liked that in our soon-to-be sophomore receiving phenom.

“That was my plan all along. I need to get ready for the season too,” I said.

“I’m in, then.”

Yuri looked at Jan and she nodded.

He turned to me, looking troubled.

“I really want to go, but I won’t have a real football reason to do it. I’m going to talk it over with my family, but right now I don’t think it would be a good risk to take.”

I had to respect his thinking. He was growing up.

“I think you’re forgetting something. I also plan to play defense. I’ll work with you, too, so you’re ready. In Coach Rector’s scheme, you’ll have coverage responsibilities. If I can teach you to cover Roc one-on-one, you can cover anyone,” I explained.

“I guess we’re all going.”

“Great! I’ll get it set up,” I said.

As I drove to camp, I realized I had almost decided to accept Michigan’s offer to play ball there. Holding their camp here said a lot about their desire for me to come there. It would be nice to get recruiting over with and not have to travel all over the country, checking out schools. I pulled into the parking lot to find Jeff Delahey with his crew from Sports TV. Kill me now. This surely wasn’t starting today.

“I didn’t think I would see you so soon.”

“That was why I wanted to talk to you before we start. Let’s go for a quick ride in your car,” Jeff suggested.

I could tell he didn’t want our conversation to be captured on film, so I agreed.

“Nice car,” Jeff said as we left the parking lot.

“So why the privacy?” I asked.

“I wanted to talk to you in private before we get started.”

“I take it you can’t trust your crew?” I asked, half joking.

I watched out of the corner of my eye as he opened his shirt and unplugged his mic.

“You and I have built up some trust over the last three years, and I don’t want to do anything to damage that. The reason we were asked to film you at camp was because Sports TV arranged to ambush you,” Jeff said.

“Just tell me.”

“Elite 11 just finished. Part of the storyline they pushed was that the winner wasn’t legitimate because you weren’t there. They talked the top three finishers into coming to this camp so they could show what they could do against you. When I heard, I put forward that we start the documentary we planned for the fall now. I didn’t want them doing a hit piece on you,” Jeff explained.

“You didn’t want them to shoot the goose who laid the golden egg,” I said.

He smiled.

“That was part of it, I admit, but I’ve seen enough of this sort of sleazy tactic that it makes me sick. It made me mad that they would try something like this with you.”

“So, what’s the plan?” I asked.

“Two-pronged. The first is we play up you playing baseball for your country...”

“ ... which is true. I’ve probably only thrown a football a handful of days this summer,” I said.

“The second is you do your ‘aw shucks’ routine and talk up the players that are here. That way you don’t come off as a jerk...”

“ ... which you know I can become if I’m ambushed. I hate to say this, but I haven’t followed the Elite 11 this year. I don’t even know who these guys are.”

“I’ll get you the background I have on them before I talk to you about them.”

“I have one question: did the University of Michigan have anything to do with this?”

The answer to that would go a long way towards deciding if I wanted to go there or not.

“No, but they were okay with us filming,” Jeff said.

I could understand that, and I was glad they weren’t involved in setting me up. I just had to remember the circles of trust Uncle John had shown me and that Sports TV was only concerned with their interests and not mine. I was lucky that Jeff was involved. He’d flat out said that if I ever did anything wrong, he would report it, but that didn’t mean he’d try to bring me down just for a story. That was what allowed me to be okay with him following me around this fall.

I took Jeff back and he got out of the car. He asked me to go around the block and they would film me arriving at camp. I told him I would be a few minutes. I went home, left my car, and drove the Jeep back. I didn’t need the world to see me driving the Demon. To his credit, Jeff never commented on the change of vehicles.

The camera crew captured me as I walked to the locker room to change. I made a point to take my shirt off, just to give Jeff a hard time. I made them shut off the camera when I had to put on my jock. While I got dressed, Jeff asked me about baseball and what I’d been doing this summer. Then he asked me about football.

“This is actually my first chance this summer to really play some football. I’m sure I’ll be a little rusty, but I hope it comes back quickly. I want to show the University of Michigan coaching staff that they made a good choice when they made me an offer to play for them. I would hate to let them or Lincoln High down with a poor showing,” I said.

“You haven’t participated in any football activities?” Jeff asked.

“Very few. I’ve thrown the ball a few times in the summer practices that Lincoln has had, but nothing like last year when I went to several football camps and was Co-MVP of Elite 11.”

“Why didn’t you go back and defend your title?”

“I got the USA Baseball opportunity. Very few people get to represent their country against international competition. I also wanted to see how I stacked up against the best baseball has to offer, just like I did last year with football.”

“No one could argue with that,” Jeff said.

That told me people had done just that. I was sure they’d questioned my commitment to football. I felt my competitive juices begin to flow.

Jeff wrapped up the interview so I could go sign in for the camp.

They had the registration in the Field House, and it was a zoo. I was happy to see a lot of the area’s better football players were present along with almost all of Lincoln High’s team. Our coaching staff was manning the desks. There was a sign that said ‘A-F’ and I assumed that was the first letter of your last name, and so got into that line.

Mike Herndon was in the next line over. I thought he was awful brave to show up for a camp here. There were some people that might kick his butt on sight, me included. This day was just getting more fun by the minute.

When I got to the front of the line, Moose was there.

“Name?”

“Uhm ... David Dawson,” I said, with just a little amusement.

He sorted through the packets and then looked up at me.

“I don’t have a David Dawson registered. Did you forget to turn in your application?” he asked.

“I didn’t know I had to,” I admitted. “I’ve been a little busy this summer.”

“This camp is sold out. I’m sorry, but you’ll just have to come back next year.”

I knew he was pulling my chain, but this might be the out I could use to not have to do reality TV all week. Of course, a camera was trained on me, so I wasn’t able to tell Moose what I really thought of his little drama.

“Dumbass,” Mike said from the other line.

Well, now, that put a completely different light on the situation. I ignored Mike and looked at the shirt Moose had on. It was a University of Michigan polo shirt with ‘Moose’ on the left breast.

“Mr. Moose, is there someone I could talk to about possibly getting in?” I asked.

He gave me an irritated look and told me to stand off to the side so he could get everyone else signed in. Mike was right; I looked like a dumbass, standing there clueless. I was sure that would make great TV.

I stood there for five minutes. I went back up to Moose.

“Did the TV people put you up to this?” I asked.

Moose had the grace to look embarrassed.

“You do realize they’re doing this to create a little drama by embarrassing the hell out of me, don’t you? You might want to go find Coach Haber because that’s not what I came here for, and it’s not what I’ll stay here for,” I said softly, so the camera wouldn’t pick it up.

“I just wanted to let you know I’m taking off,” I said loud enough for them to hear, and walked away.

I figured if I was already here, I might as well go work out. A couple of the wrestlers were in the weight room, so I worked out with them. I knew something was up when the camera crew showed up. I turned to them.

“Gentlemen, I’m sorry, but I can’t allow you in here right now,” I said with as much of a smile as I could muster.

“We’re just doing our job,” the cameraman said.

He tried but failed to hide the smirk on his face. The wrestlers who were working out all got up and stepped towards the cameraman.

“They didn’t sign up to be filmed,” I observed.

He must have thought better of it and left.

“While I appreciate the assist, next time let me handle it,” I told them.

“Sure thing. If you ever need us, we have your back.”

Five minutes later Coach Haber came in, followed by the cameras.

“Coach Haber!” I said loudly. “Did you know I’m not allowed to participate in your football camp?”

“Hang on, what’s going on?” Coach Haber said with genuine concern.

I turned to the videographers, who were still filming.

“I told you before not to film me. I would suggest that you leave now,” I said with a smile.

Coach Haber understood that our conversation didn’t need to be made public and kicked them out.

“I didn’t come to this camp to get jerked around and have the sports media provoke me into making an ass of myself. I didn’t volunteer to be on a reality show where they manufacture drama. If that’s what the rest of the week is going to be about, then count me out!” I said with a little more heat than I planned.

“I agree,” he said, slowing me up. “Let me get everyone in a room and we can figure this out.”

We soon had Moose, Jeff, Coach Haber and me in one of the coaches’ meeting rooms.

“When I got my stack of packets, I noticed David didn’t have one. One of the people on the TV crew told me to make him cool his heels for a few minutes. I thought it would be funny, so I went along with it until David clued me into what they were really after. I’m sorry for my part in all of this,” Moose said.

“This was what I was afraid of. David, trust me to get this fixed. I’ll get one of the local TV cameramen and send this group back to New York,” Jeff said.

“I already said I had doubts about this. Do you think you can get them to edit the video so I don’t look bad?” I asked.

“No,” Jeff admitted.

I thought Coach Haber was going to have a fit. A big smile crept onto my face.

“Why are you smiling?” Coach Haber asked.

“David now knows that he can trust Jeff to tell him the truth. You better warn those ringers you brought in that it’s game on,” Moose explained.

In the morning we did the normal first part of camp stuff ... they measured us. I was six-four, 218 pounds and ran the forty-yard dash in 4.56. I also knew I was stronger and more flexible than I was at this time last year. What I wasn’t in was football shape. I was better than most of the players here, but I hadn’t been running enough to have the stamina I would need in the fourth quarter of a game.

Jeff sent his crew home and hired a local crew to film. He also gave me information on the three Elite 11 quarterbacks who had come to compete against me. I found myself in the folder as well.

David Dawson was six-four, 220 pounds and ran a 4.6 forty. I was ranked as the number one quarterback and the number one overall recruit in the nation.

Dawson has ‘it.’ He is a man among boys and rises to the level of his competition. He has the size, arm, and skills to play on Sunday. Dawson can make all the throws with ease. When he needs to be, he is dangerous with his legs. He has a killer instinct that will burn you if he’s forced to create. The most you can hope for is to contain him. He’s an all-around athlete who also plays baseball, and one of the best leaders we’ve seen. He deserves his number one ranking, even though he hasn’t attended any football camps this summer for further evaluation.

Larry Dell was six-six, 209 pounds and ran a 4.78 forty. He ranked as the number two quarterback and the number two overall recruit in the nation. He hadn’t committed anywhere yet.

Dell has the prototypical size, big arm, and all the intangibles you are looking for in a quarterback. He’s demonstrated that he can make all the throws with ease. He can put some heat on a ball when needed and then show great touch when called for. Right now, Dell is too thin, but once he’s in a training program in college, he has the frame to carry more weight. He is a natural leader, he reads his progressions well, and he is humble. He has all the traits you look for in an elite signal-caller.

Jaylen Kent was six-three, 221 pounds and ran a 4.51 forty. He ranked as the number three quarterback and the fifth overall recruit in the nation. He was committed to the University of Maryland.

Kent is an electrifying player on the field. He’s big, athletic, and fits into the Cameron Newton playing style. He has a big arm and the ball comes out hot. He needs to work on having some touch on the ball. He is the perfect college quarterback who can beat you with both his arm and his feet. Kent is very much a work in progress but has a huge ceiling. He just needs to work on his fundamentals as a passer to make it to the NFL.

Matt Long was six-two, 196 pounds and ran a 4.8 forty. He ranked as the number four quarterback and the tenth overall recruit in the nation. He was committed to USC.

Long is a gifted signal-caller and will be an elite quarterback at the next level. He shows poise in the pocket and never seems to get rattled. He is also one of the toughest kids around and doesn’t shy away from contact. He throws with touch and accuracy. He is the best pure pocket passer in the class. He is very good at his read progressions, making him extremely hard to defend against.

It sounded like I had my hands full this afternoon.

They called out that quarterbacks, receivers and cornerbacks were to go to the main football field. There were sixteen quarterbacks. I was surprised when I wasn’t put with the three Elite 11 quarterbacks and Mike was. They put me into a group that included my backup, Trent Buchannan; Washington’s starter, Gabe Verity; and St. Joe’s starter, Hack Eaton.

They divided the field up into four sections of twenty yards each. Michigan had us line up on a hash mark and begin throwing easy down-and-outs to the near sideline. I think they wanted everyone to gain a little confidence. They then moved us to the middle of the field to make the throws longer. Finally, we moved to the far hash and had to throw the ball three-quarters of the field to the sideline.

I could tell I had a little rust and was floating the ball. To be honest, I was still more accurate than the other three. The down-and-out to the far side of the field can be a difficult throw because you need to get a little heat on the ball to get it there. Throwing intermediate passes downfield is easier. The reason you have to put some heat on it is because the defensive backs were playing the receiver tight and you’re at risk of throwing a ‘pick-six,’ an interception that’s run back for a touchdown.

Running our drill was Coach Title, the offensive coordinator for Michigan. He was just watching, not saying much. I soon forgot about him.

Hack struggled the most and it was obvious he had a problem with his throwing motion. Between turns, I took him aside.

“Do you mind if I give you a couple of pointers?” I asked.

“Are you kidding? Of course, I want help.”

“Throwing a football is an individualized skill and no two quarterbacks do it exactly the same. With that said, there are a few things we all have to do to throw the ball accurately. The first is grip the ball correctly; you’re doing it wrong,” I said.

I held a ball up as if I were going to throw and slid my index finger between the ball and the palm of my hand.

“You need to have some separation from the ball,” I said, and then took the ball out of my hand and held it back up. “You want a comfortable grip with the ball between your thumb and index finger. When you throw the ball, keep the tip up. As you release it, the last part of your hand you want touching the ball is your index finger, to give it rotation. If you leave it in your palm, you get the wobble.”

He took a turn off so he could watch me throw. I’d warmed up now and was putting some zip on the ball. Mine were no longer floating out there because I was now throwing with a purpose. Hack said throwing it that way felt weird, but he couldn’t argue with the results. His next three balls were all better than what he’d been throwing earlier.

Over the next hour, I spent time with each of the other quarterbacks, helping them improve. I was happy to see that Trent had gotten over his attitude and accepted my help. As I worked with them, I found I was also throwing better because I was focused on setting a good example.

I realized during practice that I missed football. I loved baseball, but it just wasn’t as fast-paced. In football, as the quarterback, you always had a job on each play. In baseball, you might not even get a ball hit to you all game. What I liked the best in baseball was batting and base running. They were both physical and, if you were going to do them well, you had to use your brain. Quarterbacks had to engage both body and mind on every play.

The quarterbacks rotated through each of the four stations, but the receivers and defensive backs stayed where they were. It gave us a chance to play with all of them. I grinned when we reached the last station and found Wolf, Roc, and Damion Roth, the Randy Moss-clone who I’d helped get into Wesleyan. If we had Damion on Lincoln’s team, we would be unstoppable.

I’d heard cheers at this station earlier and saw why: it was set up for end-zone plays. I could see the players at this station were sweating up a storm. The grins told me they were having fun, and I wanted in on the game.

The ball was placed on the 10 yard line and you got three throws before the next quarterback got a turn. I gathered my receivers together, along with the other three quarterbacks so they could listen, and told them what I wanted them to do.

“Wolf, go to the center of the field and do a buttonhook at the two. Roc, I want you to go straight up the field and then cut across the back of the end zone. Damion, charge hard and cross the goal line, then cut to the sideline.”

To make it hard on us, the defense had five defensive backs. Three lined up in man-to-man while the other two stood three yards in the end zone and split the field between them. On the snap, the extra defensive back on Damion’s side rushed forward to double-team him. He must have burned them to get that kind of attention.

Roc cut right to where that defensive back would have been if he’d stayed home. It was an easy pitch and catch as two defenders chased him. When he caught the ball, he held it up high to show he scored.

“What do you do when you catch a ball in the end zone?” I barked.

Roc gave me a confused look.

“Get on the ground. I don’t want to count on a back judge making the call when you get the ball knocked out of your hands showing off. Good job, but do it like you were taught,” I said.

“What do you mean?” Damion asked.

“The first lesson you’re taught as a defensive back is if you don’t prevent the reception, punch the ball loose. That’s doubly true in the end zone. If they can punch the ball loose, then one of the referees has to determine if you had possession. Coach Mason taught me at the Elite camp in Houston to have your receivers protect the ball and get on the ground. This prevents the defensive backs from getting a chance to steal a score from you,” I coached.

On the next play, I threw to Wolf who caught the ball, then just turned and fell forward for the score. Damion was next. It wasn’t really fair that they only had two defending him. He just outleapt them. I was happy to see he covered up and got on the ground before they could try to strip the ball.

Trent and Hack copied what I did and were both smiling when they finished. Gabe had his own plays from Washington. I recognized them from Coach Diamond’s playbook when he was here at Lincoln.

Once all the quarterbacks were done warming up on the four passing drills, they had us do the different footwork and speed drills. I was surprised when it turned out that Hack and Gabe had never done the drills before, so I had Trent show them what was expected at each station.

Lurking behind us was Coach Title. I got the feeling he was evaluating me. I’d observed coaches for the other three groups actively working with their charges. It seemed like he wanted to see how I would coach the three players in my group. I had the feeling that if he disagreed with me, he would say something. When practice ended, he just went with the other coaches. I don’t think he said two words all practice.

For the most part, the camp participants were local. Unlike other camps I’d gone to, they didn’t have dorm rooms for the campers to stay in. The three Elite 11 quarterbacks were talking, so I joined them.

“I thought we were going to get to go head-to-head with you,” Matt Long, the USC commit, said.

“I thought so too. We have a few more days to see who the best is,” I said with a smile. “What’re you guys doing tonight?”

“We were just discussing that. Personally, I’d like to work out and then eat,” Larry Dell, the Elite 11 winner, said.

“I’ve got just the thing for you,” I said with a big grin.

“Why do I think this is going to be a bad idea?” Jaylen Kent, the Maryland commit, asked.

I introduced them to Cassidy and sixty minutes of hell. Since it was just the four of us and we were all supposed to be top athletes, Cassidy decided not to hold back. I think making me wear my weighted vest was unfair. By the end, she’d gotten two of our three guests to throw up. It seemed Jaylen was in better shape than the other two. I wasn’t sure if I was having a heart attack or not. What sucked was Cassidy did the exact same workout we did, and she was still full of energy when we were done.

Larry was bent over, dry heaving.

“Dear God. You do this to get into shape?” he asked as he held his side.