Chapter 4

Tuesday, February 18, 2031 – Charter Jet heading for Indianapolis

Kyle Martin, Larry Czarwinski, Ryan Reynolds, Ed Fritz and Jeremy North flew west in a charter jet, enjoying flutes of champagne.

“It’s nice of you to spend some of your billions occasionally, Coach,” Jeremy teased. “This is definitely a nice ride out to the Combine, a whole lot better than flying commercial.”

“I like to be careful with my money,” Kyle began to explain.

“He means cheap,” Ed interjected. Ryan, Larry and Jeremy laughed at Ed’s tweak at their boss’ ego.

“I never liked flying commercial,” Kyle continued, ignoring Ed’s jibe. “I just don’t fit in those airplanes very well.”

“Thanks for flying us out in style, boss,” Larry Czarwinski said.

“No problem, no problem at all,” Kyle agreed. “Let’s review our roster and needs one more time. It is critical that we get the mess we’ve been handed cleaned up quickly. Let’s start with QBs. Ed?”

“Morris [QB3] is never going to be an NFL QB,” Ed responded. “He is strictly a training camp arm. Medina [QB2] is acceptable as a QB3 at most. He is way overpaid at $5 million a year. I say he needs to go. Finally, we have Peterson. Jack has some talent but he is immobile in the pocket. He has a slow release and throws interceptions on 3.94% of his passes.”

“Way too many,” Kyle said, shaking his head. “To summarize the QB position?”

“We are starting from scratch,” Ed said. “Our biggest need beside competent bodies is offensive linemen so my guys can stay standing and try to execute the offense we teach them.”

“Ryan, your thoughts?”

“I am with Ed,” Ryan responded. “We will never sustain success without a massive upgrade to our offensive line. As far as the offensive line goes, our starting center is OK. The left guard is acceptable, barely. The right guard is questionable, even as a deep backup. The tackles? I don’t even see a reason to invite them to training camp.”

“I don’t disagree,” Kyle responded. “J. T. definitely has his work cut out for him. Troy and Julian Lurie promised they will make a strong effort to lure a free agent tackle to our team next month. If we can pick up a good tackle in the draft that may allow us to stabilize the line. How about receivers, Ryan?”

“What we have is serviceable for the short term,” Ryan replied. “We need speed. Focus more on wide receivers than tight ends this year. Take what you can get in the draft this season and we will work with them.”

“How about the defense, Larry?” Kyle asked.

“I can use another stud or two on the defensive line,” Larry Czarwinski replied.

“Linebackers need to be completely redone,” Jeremy added. “We might have one that is an adequate backup. Other than the one, we need to clean house and rebuild.”

“Rashaun Johnson is an excellent cornerback,” Larry said. “He is a definite keeper.”

“Who is upset with his contract,” Kyle added. “We will need to keep an eye on him.”

“The rest of the secondary needs to be replaced,” Larry added.

“We know what we need to find,” Kyle said. “All we have to do now is sort through the two hundred fifty-some odd players at the combine and find our seven.”

Later in the flight, Jeremy North brought out a sore point, at least a sore point by his daughters’ estimation.

“Allison and Katie would like to know when they might see some horses showing up,” Jeremy commented to Kyle. “They were enticed into moving away from South Bend expecting to find horses when they get to Chester County.”

“You don’t move into your new house until next Tuesday,” Kyle said. “I’ve been a little busy to take a day off and head up to New Holland Sales Stables to buy your daughters their horses.”

“Maybe you better hand the check book over to Penny and send her for the horses,” Jeremy suggested. “I’m sure Kathy, Allison and Katie would enjoy a trip up there too, especially if it involves looking at horses. Anyway, your wife is probably a better judge of horseflesh than you will ever be.”

“Good point,” Kyle agreed. “I’ll talk to Penny when we get home and see if she and Kathy want to make a road trip.”

“That would keep the peace at my house,” Jeremy said.

“Done!” Kyle agreed.

Their charter landed at the airport in Indianapolis. They grabbed a shuttle over to the car rental area and picked up a car for their week. Ed, the junior man in the group, was nominated to drive the rest of them into the city to their hotel. After settling into their rooms, the group headed over to Lucas Oil Stadium to sign in and get their credentials for the week.

They ran into Zack Hayes and a contingent of Steelers coaches. They had a good reunion and promised to meet for dinner that evening. The afternoon proved to be one reunion after another. The Combine provided one of the few chances for nearly all coaches, all scouts, and many of the front office people to gather in one place.

The recruits were signing in, picking up clothing, doing the hospital pre-exams, getting x-rays, if needed, getting room assignments and attending the orientation lecture. Group 1 players included specialists, offensive linemen and running backs. This first group would begin medical and physical testing tomorrow. Tomorrow Group 2 would arrive, including all quarterbacks, tight ends and wide receivers. Group 3, the defensive linemen came Wednesday. Group 4, linebackers, came on Thursday and finally the defensive backs arrived on Friday. Each group would be at the combine for four days – Day 1: check-in and getting settled, Day 2: medical exams, cattle call, psychological and intelligence testing, Day 3 – more medical exams and bench press, Day 4 – 40-yard dash and position specific tests.

Teams could interview up to 60 players during the combine. They put in their interview requests into the league, who set up the schedule. The Eagles had an all-hands meeting with Julian Lurie, Troy Vincent, Kyle Martin, the coaching staff and the scouts present at the combine. Troy, Kyle and Julian carefully divided up interview responsibilities for each of their scheduled sixty interviews. Troy, Kyle and Julian would attend all interviews for players expected to be taken in the first- or second-round of the draft. Kyle would attend all interviews with quarterbacks, wide receivers and tight ends.

The organization meeting finished around a quarter to five that evening. Kyle gave Zack a call to arrange for dinner. They agreed on a restaurant. Both team staffs were in a hurry. The first interviews with players started at 7:00 PM that evening. The restaurant was a short walk from the hotel where they all were staying.

The hostess kindly gave the group of thirteen a small side room for their meal. Kyle and Zack made such introductions as were necessary – Jeremy to some of the Penn Staters on the Pittsburgh staff and Ryan to the non-Penn Staters on the Pittsburgh staff.

Zack brought along his defensive coordinator Brian Finley. Brian had been the defensive back coach when Kyle joined the Pittsburgh staff six years earlier. He was promoted to defensive coordinator two seasons ago. Mickey Shuler still coached tight ends. Mickey and Kyle had shared an office when they started. Dan Connors was coaching linebackers for the Steelers. Bo Cherry still coached wide receivers. Kyle had recruited his old college mentor to take over wide receivers when he stepped up to offensive coordinator with Pittsburgh. Yasin Clark joined the Pittsburgh staff this year to coach special teams.

Zack’s choice to replace Kyle as offensive coordinator had not been popular in Pittsburgh. He brought Phil DiStefano in after Phil and the rest of the New Orleans staff was fired after their 1-15 season. Pittsburgh fans loved what Kyle had done with their offense and taking a failed OC to replace the man who got them within inches of a Super Bowl trophy did not go down well. Zack was adamant. Phil was his man. Kyle did not disagree. Phil was an excellent coach and would do well.

Kyle brought Coach C, Ryan Reynolds, Ed Fritz, Jeremy North, J. T. Hill and Brendan Hayden to the dinner. J. T. and Brendan were invited since they were Penn Staters, like so many of the Pittsburgh staff. Conversations were free and easy between to the two staffs. As Zack reminded everyone, secrets weren’t necessary this year since their teams didn’t play each other. Information would become tighter next season when the Eagles faced the Steelers.

“How’s my boy doing for you?” Bo Cherry asked Kyle during one lull in conversation.

“Zion is earning his keep,” Kyle said. “I was happy to take him and give him a start in our profession.” Kyle had hired Bo’s twenty-two-year-old son as an unpaid offensive quality control coach. Of course, unpaid QC coaches don’t get to travel to the combine. He was back in Philly doing his assigned scut work.

“How is the quest for a quarterback coming, Kyle?” Zack inquired.

“We are looking,” Kyle replied. “We have interviews scheduled with every QB coming to the combine. Will we find one here? God only knows.”

“I am holding out for a nice big offensive lineman,” Ed added.

J. T. Hill laughed and added, “Our QB coach is pretty smart. I am wishing for the #1 draft pick to be a lineman to mold into an anchor for our line.”

“I hear you,” Zack agreed. “My bad back hears you too. I don’t know why the Packers let me get so beat up when I played. That was Coach Bauder’s Achilles heel. He never was able to stabilize the offensive line and that got him fired and me all battered up.”

“Amen, brother!” Ed agreed laughing. “Been there, got beaten down by that, and then cut by the team. I swear we are going to fix the Eagles offensive line if we accomplish nothing else.”

J. T. sat back and smiled. “You and Ryan are going to make my job easy.”

“Hey, Zack. I have a hypothetical question for you,” Kyle said.

“What?” Zack asked.

“Hypothetically, what would it take to get Darius Howard in a trade?” Kyle asked.

“For starters, hell has to freeze over,” Zack said. “I learned the value of a good backup. You should remember. You were here too. Darius is a damned good backup and could get us two or three wins if he fills in for QB1. You could offer me all your draft picks and I don’t know if that would be enough. Now, Brandon Evans could be had for the right price.”

“You suggesting I do a Pederson?” Kyle asked. “It worked rather well when Andy Reid brought journeyman Pederson in to coach up McNabb in 1999. It worked OK when Pederson pulled the same trick when he had my current job and brought in Daniels to train up his QB.”

“Brandon knows your offense stone cold,” Zack said. “He could teach the young pups how things should be done. Got any thoughts about what you could offer for him?”

“I am not in the trade business,” Kyle said. “Julian and Troy handle that. This is just a little bullshitting among friends over dinner.”

“OK, Kyle,” Zack agreed, laughing. He knew better.

The group told JoePa tales. They reminisced about events from college. Kyle told the story about his introduction to J. T. He had the people in stitches who hadn’t witnessed the big offensive lineman hauling him, a tall, skinny freshmen, up by his collar and screaming at him to get serious about football. Everyone enjoyed the fellowship, but duty called them away sooner than they would have liked. The two groups headed for the door and their respective interviews.

Zack pulled Coach Czarwinski aside as they were leaving. “C, how is my buddy doing as a brand-new head coach?”

“He’s new to this?” Coach C replied, laughing. “I’ve never been around anybody more ready to take charge than Kyle. He sets the direction and tone for the organization and then delegates work to each according to title and responsibility. He monitors our work, encourages us and supports us. I’ve seen five-year head coaches with MBAs who didn’t understand leadership as well as him.”

“You do know he has an MBA from Wharton, don’t you?” Zack asked.

“He does?” Coach C replied. “I knew he had a PhD in history.”

“He was a busy boy during off-seasons when he was a player,” Zack said.

“That explains a lot,” Coach C said. “Of course, you can be a great leader but if you don’t pick the right players, your team loses and you get fired.”

“That is the career we’ve chosen,” Zack said. “Take care, C, and go find those players for Kyle.”

“Will do, my friend,” Coach C said as he shook Zack’s hand. Coach C could saunter back to the team’s hotel. His schedule wouldn’t get busy until the defensive players started arriving in two days. The rest of the Eagles offensive brain trust rushed back to their assigned meeting room. Their first interview was with an offensive lineman from the University of Alabama.

J. T. Hill took the lead in this interview. DeVaughn Johnston, a fifth-year senior, played left tackle for the #2 ranked Crimson Tide. The 6’-3”, 325 pound man looked the part of a projected high first round draft pick. J. T. welcomed DeVaughn and offered him a seat. Kyle Martin and Ryan Reynolds would be asking a few questions. Ed Fritz and Julian Lurie were there strictly as observers. Ed was concerned about the quality of protection his future quarterback might get. Julian was there because DeVaughn was a possible first round pick. He was there to see that the team and his dad got proper value from their first pick.

J. T. introduced the others to DeVaughn and got to work. Where did you grow up? Tallahassee, Florida. He was the youngest of four children. DeVaughn’s oldest brother Jamarr had been on Kansas City’s practice squad for parts of two years five or six years ago. Jamarr never made it onto the field in a regular season contest.

“Are you single?” J. T. asked.

“Single at the moment,” DeVaughn replied. “I am engaged to marry May Greene, a senior nursing student back at Alabama. She graduates at the end of this semester.”

“Any children?” J. T. asked.

“One, a son, named Aaron,” DeVaughn said. “He’s eight months old.”

“What lessons have you learned from having a baby while you are still in college?” Kyle asked.

“Make damned sure you have a rubber every time,” DeVaughn replied with a smirk.

“That’s not exactly what I meant,” Kyle replied.

“I know what you are driving at,” DeVaughn said. “Look out for the groupies who want to get knocked up and collect a ton of money from an NFL player. Aaron is May’s son. May and I started dating when she was a freshman and I was a nineteen-year-old kid playing on the fourth-string. May isn’t after my money.”

“You learned nothing else from having a child?” Kyle queried.

“I learned a great deal,” DeVaughn answered. “Does your scouting report show me improving significantly last season?”

“The scouts rated you as a mid to late round pick based on your first two years as a starter,” Julian Lurie said. “What changed? You played lights out this past season.”

“I always got by on my size and athleticism before,” DeVaughn explained. “When May found out she was pregnant, things finally hit home for me. I realized I was responsible for three lives now, not just my own. I started to put in the work and study I skipped previously.”

“Fatherhood does make you aware of things like that, doesn’t it?” Kyle commented.

“DeVaughn, let me draw up some defensive formations,” J. T. said. “Tell me how you would handle the line protection calls for protection against these various defenses.”

DeVaughn aced that test with flying colors. It was obvious he had worked hard in the past year at studying. He was smart and now definitely a student of the game. J. T. had a few more questions for DeVaughn after he tested DeVaughn’s football knowledge. By the time they thanked him for coming in, every Eagle in the room knew DeVaughn was worthy of the first-round pick it would take to get him.

“I want him, Coach,” J. T. teased. “He’s a keeper.”

“I’m with J. T.” Ed added. “I wouldn’t mind if we took him first and waited a year for a QB.”

“Let’s not anoint him yet,” Kyle cautioned. “We have two other high draft pick linemen scheduled for interviews. We also won’t be 3-14 with the #4 pick next season. What if our sure-thing QB comes along this draft? We will keep all our options open until April 24th, when we have to announce our pick.”

The Eagles brain trust did half a dozen other interviews Tuesday night. The others were more routine interviews with mid- to late round draft picks. The position coach and scouts took the lead in these interviews.

The big event for teams Wednesday morning was the “runway” show. Every offensive lineman, tight end and running back would parade across the stage wearing only compression shorts to be measured and weighed. Potential draftees hated the ritual. Coaches and player-personnel people used it to gauge who among the linemen grew to their current size on donuts and who was dedicated to the weight room. To the Eagles delight, DeVaughn Johnston rippled with muscles. But then, so did the other two or three potential first-round picks. Any of them looked capable of bench-pressing Kyle’s classic VW Golf he had since high school.

Quarterbacks and wide receivers arrived on Wednesday. The Eagles glaring need at both positions had the coaching staff anxious to get on with interviews. They scheduled every QB attending the Combine and about a third of the wide receivers for interviews.

The Eagles brain trust all attended the bench press for Group 1 players that afternoon. J. T. was delighted to see DeVaughn Johnston do 38 reps in the bench press. DeVaughn’s performance wasn’t the best of the day. One kid from Colorado State did 41 reps. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t have the top graded college video tapes of his performance to put him among the possible first-round picks.

Late in the afternoon as the Eagles brain trust was heading to their interview room for the first interview of the afternoon, Kyle heard a familiar voice call out, “Hey, Uncle Ky!”

“Noah! How are you doing?” Kyle said as he spun around and spotted his nephew.

“I’m getting settled in,” Noah said. He gave his tall uncle a big hug. The young wide receiver had matched his uncle in height a few years ago before he finished growing. “Can you believe they roomed a Penn Stater with an Ohio State wide receiver?”

Kyle could only laugh. “They did the same thing to me when I was being evaluated.”

“I see you guys didn’t put me on your interview list,” Noah teased. “Should I take that as a slight?”

“You can take that as ‘What in the world could I ask you that I didn’t learn already after twenty-two years as your uncle?’” Kyle retorted.

“Fair enough,” Noah agreed. “I’ve got to motor. I have an interview in five minutes.”

“So do we,” Kyle said. “I’ll see you around this week.”

Wednesday, February 19, 2031 – Eagle’s Interview Suite, Indianapolis, IN

Tyler Reid, the Heisman winner and quarterback at Florida State, was scheduled for a 4:30 PM interview.

“Welcome!” Kyle declared as the 6’-3”, blond haired quarterback from Florida State stuck his head in the Eagles interview room. “Come on in, Tyler.”

“It’s good to meet you, Coach Martin,” Tyler Reid replied as he shook hands with Kyle.

“This is Coach Ryan Reynolds, our offensive coordinator, Coach Ed Fritz, our quarterbacks coach, and Julian Lurie, our VP of Football Operations.” Tyler shook hands with each.

“I know Coach Fritz,” Tyler said as he reached Ed Fritz. “Coach Fritz tried to recruit me to play at Florida.”

“You would have been a great Gator,” Ed said as he shook Tyler’s hand.

“I have a Heisman, a Davey O’Brien and a Maxwell to show I made the right choice to become a Seminole,” Tyler replied.

“You certainly have done well in your collegiate career,” Kyle agreed. The five discussed a few particulars of Tyler’s personal life first. He had a serious girlfriend, who was a junior at Florida State. He grew up in Tifton, a small town in southern Georgia. Kyle vaguely remembered stopping at the town for gas one time on the way home from spring break in Panama City Beach.

“Can you draw up your favorite Seminole play?” Kyle asked, switching to more substantive questions. He handed Tyler a marker for the dry erase board on the room wall.

Tyler drew up a zone read shotgun play that the Seminoles used extensively. Tyler explained that the offensive line zone blocked to their right. Tyler read the defensive end on the left side of the line. If he shadowed Tyler, Tyler handed the ball off to his halfback, who would run to the right side and exploit the one blocker advantage the offense had to that side.

If the defensive end crashed down the line, ignoring Tyler and chasing after the halfback, Tyler would keep the ball and run for the gaping hole the defensive end left in their line. He could expect big yardage from the play.

“What happens if the defense lines up with eight men up in the box?” Kyle asked.

“Box?” Tyler asked, puzzled.

“Eight men up on the line and three defensive backs behind the line,” Kyle explained.

“Um ... well, you run the play?” Tyler offered.

“You lost your one-man advantage when the defense shifted the guy forward,” Kyle said.

“Oh...” Tyler replied as he shifted uncomfortably.

“Did your coach allow you to check out of plays at the line of scrimmage if you didn’t like the defense you saw?” Ryan asked.

“No, he wanted us to run the plays as designed,” Tyler said. “If this play doesn’t work, we will get them with the next one. That was Coach’s philosophy.”

“OK, thank you,” Kyle said. The Eagles brain trust already had Tyler’s Wonderlic test score – a 20. This was an average score for football players, but a low score for the QB position. The four continued questioning Tyler for the full fifteen-minute interview period, but the team’s decision was obvious.

“Do you think he would be able to run our offense?” Kyle asked Ed. Kyle, Ed and Zack Hayes had designed a fast break, high scoring offense while they were together with the Steelers.

“No, I doubt it,” Ed agreed. “When I was recruiting him in high school, I knew he wasn’t the brightest bulb on the tree. Coach Benson [Florida Gators head coach] and I thought Tyler might profit from a position change. He is a tremendous athlete.”

“But not someone to run our planned offense?” Kyle asked.

“No, he’s not up to that,” Ed said. “It’s too bad. The Seminoles managed to cover his deficiencies and win with him at QB. Now with his slew of awards, his ego isn’t going to allow him any position less than quarterback. He could have a nice career in the NFL at wide receiver or running back.”

“The Tim Tebow effect,” Ryan commented.

“None of this is a surprise,” Julian said. “We did our due diligence in our search for a QB.”

A 6’-5” tall young man popped his head in the Eagles Hospitality Suite promptly at 7:00 PM. Aiden Anderson, the senior QB from Cornell, looked the part of a big-time quarterback.

“Is this the Eagles’ suite?” he asked courteously. He smiled as soon as he spotted Kyle Martin. Kyle waved him into the reception area.

“You must be Coach, er, should I call you Dr. Martin?” the young man asked. “I understand you have your doctorate.”

“This is a sport setting, call me Kyle or Coach Martin,” Kyle responded as he shook the man’s hand. “You must be Aiden Anderson. It is good to meet you.”

Kyle introduced Ryan and Ed to Aiden. Ed asked the first question. “Where are from? What sort of football tradition did your high school have?”

“I am from Erie, Pennsylvania,” Aiden said. “Our high school has had some lean years lately. Probably our proudest moment was twenty-some years ago when we played for the state championship and lost to a team from southeast PA.” Ed and Kyle couldn’t help themselves, grinning from ear to ear but at least stifling the urge to laugh.

“My college roommate was Damian Thompson, who played on that team,” Kyle said.

“I have heard about Mr. Thompson in civics class,” Aiden said. “He was the first openly gay player in the NFL.”

“And a hell of a nice guy,” Kyle said. Ed couldn’t suppress himself any longer and let out a laugh. Aiden looked at him confused. “Ed was the quarterback on the other team that beat your team. I was recovering from ACL surgery and was up in the press box that day. It was the start of my coaching career.”

“Really?” Aiden said. “It is a small world.”

“Let me diagram a play for you,” Kyle said. He sketched out a pass play with the X receiver running a post, the slot or Y receiver lined up weakside running a slant, the strong side or Z receiver running 12 yards out and the tailback drifting out into the flat.

“The X is your primary receiver, followed by the Y and the outlet,” Kyle said. “The Z is a fake to draw defenders away. You line the team up, scan the coverage and see Cover 2. What do you expect to happen when you run this play?”

“Assuming Eagles personnel?” Aiden asked. “I don’t know them very well. I might give you a better idea if I base my answer on the capabilities of the Cornell players I know and understand.”

“Cornell players will be fine,” Kyle answered.

“I don’t expect much from my X receiver,” Aiden said. “He’s slow as molasses. I will honor the read and check, in case the defender breaks a leg or something and leaves him uncovered but I am intrigued by the middle of the field. The Y receiver will be behind the short cover guys and right on the seam between the two deep men. If he recognizes the coverage, he is going for a big gain. My slot guy or tight end both could fill the role perfectly.”

“What if we had the same play and you saw press man coverage?” Kyle asked.

“This route combo will be useful then too,” Aiden. “I still don’t expect much from the X receiver. The Y receiver will get caught up in the middle and probably be double covered. What I like about the design is that it moves most all of the pass defenders away from the line of scrimmage. A shifty running back with good hands could really burn a team. If he makes the one linebacker covering him miss, he is going a long way. My best running back would have loved a play designed like this.”

“Diagram your favorite play from your Cornell playbook,” Ed asked. Aiden diagrammed a simple counter running play, explaining the play as he sketched it. “That is your favorite?”

“I know it’s simple,” Aiden said. “It is our bread and butter play here. We won some games and gained a lot of yardage executing the play exactly as our coaches taught us.”

“Why do you think your coaches made something this simple your most used play?” Kyle asked.

“I know you went to Penn State, Coach,” Aiden said. “I suspect Coach Fritz and Coach Reynolds also went to big football schools, too.”

“I know Ryan from Penn State,” Kyle said. “Ed is a Florida Gator.”

“Cornell is a small, non-scholarship school,” Aiden explained. “Every guy on the football team plays because they love football. We also know our priorities. We do the twenty hours of practice and meetings each week that the NCAA allows us. All of us pay our own way to college, so the degree is extremely important to us. Time you guys probably ‘volunteered’ to your team to watch film or study your playbook at your big schools, we have to spend on our class work, not football. Coach Berkey doesn’t want to clutter up our brains with a lot of plays we barely practiced or understand. He limited the number of plays to the number we can learn and execute well.”

“I can’t argue with your coach’s philosophy,” Kyle said. “We did put in far more than the twenty hours a week preparing for football. I bet I had weeks when it was more like forty hours spent just on football.”

“I am in awe,” Aiden said. “I know Penn State doesn’t have the intellectual reputation of an Ivy League school, but forty hours a week on football and you got your degree too.”

“Are you single or married?” Ryan asked.

“Single at the present,” Aiden answered. “I have a steady girlfriend who I expect to marry one of these days, after we get established in our careers. She is a senior this year too, so she will be graduating in May, same as me.”

“Tell me about your close friends,” Ed asked.

“My closest friend is my girlfriend, Leah Daugherty,” Aiden responded. “From the football team, I am close with Jace Fisher, my center, and Cameron Peterson, our leading wide receiver. I have some friends from high school, but I don’t see them as much as I used to.”

“No posse?” Ed asked.

“I’m a middle-class, white kid from northwest PA.” Aiden answered with a smile. “I have no posse. Anyway, who would expect to grab onto my coattails and ride along as I head for superstardom in the NFL? They’d be nuts to figure on that.”

“You never know, Aiden,” Kyle said. “Everybody knows about Tom Brady. A sixth-round draft pick that ended up in the Hall of Fame. We are here this week to begin to assess your strengths and weaknesses and find out if you have some Tom Brady in you.”

“That would be a dream,” Aiden said. “I love football and will be happy if I can fit in a few more years of playing. Understand something else too. I am competitive and hate to lose at anything. I will give you my very best, whatever that may be.”