Chapter 27

We woke up at a decent hour, got cleaned up, and went downstairs for breakfast. After that, the girls led me out onto the streets of New York. I thought they’d want to go shopping or something. Instead, we just walked around for about three hours, taking in the sights. At 12:30, we caught a cab back to the hotel. When we pulled up, a limo was waiting for us.

“Come on, let’s go.” I got in, just thankful that I wasn’t trying to drive in this congested mess. I was content to watch out the window and drink some water. We’d had some snacks while walking, but I figured the girls were hungry and were taking me to get something other than hotel food.

I was sort of right. It took us an hour in the limo to get to our destination in New Jersey. There was a line of cars, limos, and buses waiting to get into the parking lot. Once we were in the lot, the driver took us up to a specific entrance.

“What’re we doing, Dear?”

Margie smiled. “Come on, it’s time for you to see the big boys game.” The driver opened the door for us.

“With a start time of 4:00, I’ll be waiting here from 7:00 onward for you, ma’am.” Margie nodded her thanks.

I followed her up to a window. “Good afternoon. You should have four tickets for CEDEM Financial on hold here.” The lady behind the counter checked.

“Ah, yes. We did. Those have been upgraded. If you can wait just a moment, please, while I make a call. Thank you.” She picked up a phone and dialed a number, speaking in low tones when someone on the other end answered. After a moment, she hung up. “Your escort will be here momentarily.”

“Of course, thank you.” Margie stepped back, a slight frown on her face. “All I wanted to do was get you in to see a pro football game. The Jets are playing the Chiefs here today, and I thought it’d be good to have a few Kansas people in the stands, even if the Chiefs do play in Missouri. I have no idea...” She stopped when a woman about Emily’s age walked up to us.

“You’re with CEDEM, then?” Margie nodded. “If you’ll follow me, please.” She led us to an elevator door off by itself. There was a security guard standing by the door that pushed the button when we got close, such that the door was opening before we stopped. The woman entered with us. There were only two buttons on the panel, and she pushed the top one. The door closed and we quickly rose about ten floors.

The door opened, with two older gentlemen waiting for us. “Please, come in. Welcome to Giants Stadium and my private box. I’m Leon Hess, owner of the Jets.” He held out his hand for us, and we all shook it, introducing ourselves.

The other man said, “I’m the enemy today for Leon. I’m Lamar Hunt; I own the Chiefs.” He also held his out for us to shake, then led us over to some chairs that overlooked the field. We were right on the 50 yard line.

The lady that had led us up looked at Margie. “How did you do it? I’m just curious.”

“What do you mean?”

“I got my BA in ‘66, from Barnard. I didn’t get my MBA from Wharton until 4 years ago, when I was 36. You got yours at 22, if I recall correctly, 3 years ago. And I certainly wasn’t Summa Cum Laude. Oh, I’m Constance Williams, Leon’s daughter.”

The two of them went off to talk about Wharton and business.

Hess smiled. “I’m sure about now you’re wondering why you’re up here, instead of in the seats you’d reserved down in the stands.”

I laughed. “I honestly had no idea we were coming here. The girls planned this as a surprise for me, so I could see a pro football game. But if I had to make a guess, I’d say that about halftime, there’s going to be a big presentation on the field regarding Toys for Tots from both of you, and with us along for extra publicity.”

Hess reached into his jacket and pulled a dollar bill out, handing it to Hunt. “Thank you, Cal. In our case, we can’t bet on the games or anything serious. So simply risking a dollar on whether you’d figure things out was perfect.”

“I’m just wondering why you don’t have me down on the field, helping your receivers warm up by throwing them passes.”

Hess pulled out another dollar, handing it to Hunt. Both men laughed. “Ladies, would you like to join us, or would you want to stay here?” Emily and Marcia elected to stay in the room. Margie wasn’t even paying attention at this point. “There’s food and drinks over there, and if you want something you don’t see, just ask William, behind the bar. He’ll get it for you. We’ll be back shortly.”

Hess led us to the elevator again, then down to the field level. We went through a guarded hallway and found ourselves coming out right at the Jets bench. “Joe, we brought someone down here to help your receivers warm up.”

The coach of the Jets, Joe Walton, looked up. “Oh, hello, Mister Hess, Mister Hunt. What’s that you said, I’m sorry, I was on the radio.”

“It’s still an hour before game time. I’d like to see a couple of your receivers warm up by catching some passes.”

Walton looked at him oddly, but said, “Sure. Pat! Lam! Wesley! On me!” The three men ran over. “Men, Mister Hess would like to see you guys warm up out there.”

Pat looked at me. “Hey, I recognize you. I’m from Hutch. You down here to show me how to throw the ball?” He laughed a little at that.

Hess said, “Lamar and I are curious to see how he does with slightly ... more mature ... players, is all.”

“Sure thing,” Pat said. “Joe! Come on out, you get to do some hiking.” He grabbed a bag with half a dozen balls in it, then we went out onto the field.

“Shit, I recognize you, too. Best high school quarterback in the country, according to Wide World of Sports. I’m Lam Jones.”

“Cal Lewis. Pleasure to meet you. Guys, I had no idea any of this was going to happen today. I don’t even have my cleats, just these.”

“I’m Pat Ryan, quarterback. This is Wes Walker, and that’s Joe Fields. Are you good with some basic routes?”

“I really don’t care. You just tell me what you want me to throw, and I’ll put it in their hands.”

Walker laughed. “I like your style, kid. Joe, give him a shotgun pass. I’ll line up and be about 30 yards down the right side. Let’s see what you got.”

I lined up behind Joe, who was in the right stance. “On three, since I don’t know your playbook! Hut one, hut two, hut three!” He fired the ball back to me like a bullet. I caught it easily, gave it an easy toss right down the line. Walker had his head turned and saw the ball coming right into his hands. He took it easily out of the air.

Running back up with a smile on his face, he said, “Whoa, buddy, that was perfect!”

Lam said, “How about a crossing route, 10 yards out? Pat, can you maybe pretend like you’re a tackle? I want to see how he handles pressure.”

“Sure. Same signals, and Joe, don’t block me, okay?” Joe nodded. Lam lined up on the left side.

I called the same signals. Lam took off down the field, then 10 yards out, cut right. Pat had started for me in the backfield like he was a defender. I simply waited patiently, then when he was about to hit me, spun around to my right, making him miss and fired a bullet right into Lam’s hands. He caught the ball, then yelped.

“Damn, son, you put some pepper on that one! But it was right where it needed to go!”

We did a couple more short tosses for fun, then met back on the field. Ryan said, “How good an arm you got, kid? Can you put up the Hail Mary?”

“Haven’t ever needed to. Wes, how fast are you, straight down the field?”

“Call it 4.6, why?”

“You know how to count seconds in your head, one thousand one, one thousand two?” He nodded. “You take off, straight down the field, and start counting when Joe hikes the ball. At five seconds, hold your hands straight out in front of you, without turning your head. That should put you about 50 yards downfield by then. Joe, let’s make sure he’s got plenty of room, line up on the 15, shotgun back to me. Lam, both you and Pat, come at me like you’re defenders.”

“Shit, kid, we’ll kill you.”

I smiled. “No, you won’t. And you’re going to see why the Salthawks are going to be Kansas football champions.”

I called out the signals. Wes took off straight down the field, like I’d told him. He was fast. Lam and Pat both came at me, so I backpedaled and moved around, with both of them close behind me. At 4 seconds, my arm whipped forward. They both stopped and looked. Wes put his hands out like he was supposed to at five seconds, and a half of a second later, the ball landed right in them. He was so surprised, he almost dropped it, but kept going full speed the rest of the way for the touchdown.

Ryan shook his head in disbelief. “That’s fucking impossible. How old are you?”

“Sixteen.”

I hadn’t been paying attention to the crowd. There was a large screen at one end of the field, and apparently the cameras were on. They replayed what I’d just done, and the crowd erupted in cheers a second time.

The stadium announcer said, “Ladies and Gentlemen, let’s give a big Meadowlands welcome to Cal Lewis, Quarterback for the Hutchinson Salthawks, best high school quarterback in the country, and you just saw why!”

I had my hands up, waving, as the guys led me off the field. Walton looked at me. “Suit up. You’re in for Ryan today!” That got everyone laughing. I heard the inflection in his voice. He was only half joking. “Seriously, son, when do you graduate high school?”

“At the end of December of this year.”

“Mister Hess, get this boy into a Jets uniform in three years, once he’s done with the waiting period, and we’ll be bringing the Lombardi home every year,” he said.

Hess and Hunt were laughing. “We’ll see, Joe. Thanks. Come along, Cal.” They walked me back to the elevator. “That was ... quite a performance. Are we going to be able to afford your salary when you become eligible to play?”

I shook my head. “I doubt anyone can do that. Why would I take the pay cut? I presume you gentlemen know Charlie and David Koch.” They both nodded. “They asked me that same question. Let me ask you this. You’re both billionaires, right?” Again, they nodded. “So am I. The reason I’m in town this weekend, I just signed a deal that is going to earn CEDEM, effectively meaning me, basically, seven hundred fifty million up front, and probably five hundred to seven hundred fifty million every year for the next ... thirty to forty years. I mean, it might be fun to quarterback a team for a couple of years, just to say I did it, but I won’t need the money.”

“Shit. You want to buy a team? I think we could talk the rest of the owners into another franchise or two.”

“That’s okay, Mister Hunt. Right now, I’m not sure what I want to do.” Margie and Marcia came up and took me by the arms, one on either side of me. “Well, as far as money is concerned, that is.”

Hunt laughed. “Two women, huh?”

Margie shook her head. “No. Five. The other three are home in Kansas.”

Both Hess and Hunt shook their heads in amazement. By this time, the game was about ready to start, so we sat down to watch it after they played the National Anthem. The first quarter ended with the Jets leading, 7 to 0. Margie showed that she’d picked some things up from watching my games, pointing out how plays could have gone differently if a player had picked up coverage, or the quarterback had thrown the ball as accurately as I did.

That got Hess to wondering. “Cal, what’s your pass completion ratio?”

“Um, just a second.” I frowned in thought for a second. “In games, it’s 100%. I had to think about it for a second, because I’ve had a couple of guys drop passes in practice.”

“Hang on. You’ve NEVER had a dropped pass or an incompletion during the year?”

I shook my head. “No, can’t think of one. No interceptions, of course. And the only times I’ve been tackled is when we were letting our defense get some rest, before we started letting our backs play both ways.”

“Good lord! Where are you going to go to college?”

“I don’t know yet, Mister Hess. I’ve had ... how many offers so far?”

Marcia said, “As of Thursday evening, before we left, 274 colleges have contacted you about playing for them, with 42 amending their previous offers to simply come play without even a tryout, and 6 of them offering you the starting quarterback position on their varsity team.”

Lamar rubbed his chin. “Based upon what you told us earlier, though, I’m guessing that you’re considering exactly zero of those offers. Wherever you end up is going to be based upon one thing and one thing only; their ability to help teach you things you don’t already know.”

I pulled out my wallet and gave him a dollar. He looked at me in surprise. “Personal bet with myself, on whether one of you would figure it out.” That got both of them laughing again.

At the two minute warning, before the end of the second quarter, all of us took the elevator back downstairs. The Jets had scored another touchdown during the second quarter, but that was the only score. As the teams ran off the field, the stadium announcer came on.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we’re having a special halftime presentation today. If I could direct your attention to the middle of the field. It’s my pleasure to introduce to you Mister Leon Hess, owner of the New York Jets, and Mister Lamar Hunt, owner of the Kansas City Chiefs!” There was a decent amount of applause at that.

Hess had a wireless microphone with him. “As you’re all aware, we asked that everyone in attendance today bring a new and unwrapped toy with them to the game today. I am pleased to announce that more than 25,000 of you did so. We have them collected in large bins, and your generosity will be on display at the exits when the game is over. The toys will be donated to the United States Marine Corps Toys for Tots program.”

When he said the last word, the stadium music began playing the Marine Hymn, and a Marine Honor Guard, in their dress blues, marched out from a side tunnel to midfield. I recognized at least one of the Marines, General Davis. The music stopped when the Marines were in position.

Hess said, “General Davis, I believe you’ve met one of our special guests today already. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the young man who was giving a bit of a demonstration of his football skills prior to our opening kickoff, Mister Cal Lewis. Not only is he the best high school football player in the country, he is also the CEO of CEDEM Financial, and started the ball rolling on this.” He handed the microphone to Lamar Hunt.

“I’m Lamar Hunt. General Davis, on behalf of the Kansas City Chiefs organization, it is my pleasure to give to you this check for one million dollars, for the Marines’ Toys for Tots program.” He gave Hess back the microphone.

“And, on behalf of both the New York Jets football organization, as well as the Hess Corporation, it is my pleasure to give you this check for two million dollars, for the Marines’ Toys for Tots program.” The crowd applauded louder than they had for Hunt.

General Davis shook his head, giving me a bit of a smile, then took the microphone. “On behalf of the United States Marines Corps, I gladly accept these donations. First, let me thank the fans that attended today and donated toys directly. Every one of those toys will go to a child that otherwise would not have received one on Christmas day. On that you have my word, and the strength of the Marine Corps to back that up!” That got a loud applause from the crowd.

He held his hand out to me, and I walked over to him. “This young man should be held up as an example to all, for what he started, completely on his own. He did it, not because he was seeking publicity or fame, but because a family member of someone close to him was injured during the terrorist attack in Beirut and the Marine Corps took care of him, as we always take care of our own. He did it to help pay us back for what we in the Marines would do normally, without thought, because we are family. I am proud to announce that, with these donations today, the Marine Corps Toys for Tots program has now received more than $125 million in donations so far this year, to help make sure that kids that need them will get a toy this Christmas.”

“On behalf of the United States Marine Corps ... Mister Hunt, Mister Hess, Mister Lewis ... ATTENTION!” The Honor Guard immediately moved their swords up, and General Davis came to attention and gave the three of us a salute. After holding it for several seconds, during which the crowd was actually silent, he then said, “ORDER, HARMS!”

The crowd erupted in cheers much louder than anything they’d done before.

We shook hands all around, then left the field so the teams could play the second half. Before we could get to the elevator, a very large man with brown hair and a beard, and holding a microphone, stood waiting with another man with a camera. “Good afternoon, gentlemen. Can we have just a moment of your time?”

“Of course, Merlin. How are you doing?”

“Very well, Mister Hunt. We’ll be going live with this, if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all,” Lamar said. I just shrugged, going with the flow.

The man was listening to his headphones. “Thank you, Dick. I’m here with the owners of the Jets and Chiefs, Leon Hess and Lamar Hunt, and Cal Lewis, quarterback of the Hutchinson High School Salthawks and something that is surprising to a lot of people, a multimillionaire business tycoon in his own right. Mister Lewis, you’ve been credited with starting the nationwide drive that has helped the Marines Toys for Tots program this year so much more so than any previous year. What’s the backstory on that?”

“It’s pretty simple, Merlin. To fill in what General Davis alluded to, the brother of one of my girlfriends ... and yes, I’m still in high school; and yes, they all know each other; and it’s not a big deal for someone my age to have more than one girlfriend ... anyway, her brother was injured in the terrorist bombing of our Embassy Annex in Beirut. The Marines took care of him. While some would call it just part of their job, I felt that it deserved some payback and recognition. So, my firm, CEDEM Financial, donated half a million dollars to the Toys for Tots program. Things sort of snowballed from there, due to media coverage. The next thing I know, I’m at one of our games and Charlie and David Koch are donating a million dollars. Another partner of mine, Bill Gates and Microsoft, donated three quarters of a million dollars that night as well. I’m very happy that the people of this country are showing their support for our military this way. I’d almost say that some of them have a guilty conscience for their previous behavior, but that’s a political view which I’m supposed to be a bit young to take.”

“Uh, yes. Mister Hunt, your thoughts?”

“Even though Hutchinson is in Kansas and my Chiefs actually play in Missouri, we’re all in the same area, and our communities have the same values. When one of us is in trouble, we all come to their aid. The Chiefs are glad to help with this.”

“Mister Hess?”

“I was the fuel supply officer for Patton’s Third Armored in World War II. I’ve always supported our boys and girls in uniform. Not only was I glad to help with this donation today, I AM old enough to have that political view and agree with Cal. With what we’re seeing going on around the world today with this mysterious Messenger from Above, I only hope that we’ll see an end to war completely.”

“I can see that. Changing the subject a little, Cal, you’re touted as the best high school football player in the country. I watched your pregame performance, and I’ve seen nothing that would change that opinion. What are your plans next?”

“Just finish the season, win the state championship, and then figure out where I’ll start college next year. So far, a lot of colleges want me to go there, but they’re just interested in my football skills, not everything else that I’ve done.”

Merlin had a look of confusion on his face. “What else have you done?”

“Written a program for Microsoft that will help small and large businesses around the world, written networking software to help link computers around the world, redesigned a power generation source that will revolutionize the wind energy market around the world, and created a chemical that, when applied to a surface, won’t let ice stick or form on it, so that airplanes won’t have to use deicers in the winter and who knows what else. I am, after all, only sixteen, so I’ve got a few years ahead of me, to develop more things.”

“Thank you, Cal Lewis. For NBC Sports, I’m Merlin Olsen. Back to you, Dick.” He just stood there with an almost stupid expression on his face, while the team owners escorted me upstairs.

When the elevator door shut, both men started laughing. Lamar said, “Did you see the expression on Merlin’s face when Cal went where no one dares to go? On LIVE television?”

“I’ve been wanting to say something like that for YEARS! All these assholes in the media, so self-pious. You know they didn’t want to cover this today, but it’s too much of a top story for them to hide it. Thank you, Cal, that was worth every penny of it, so I could speak my mind freely,” Hess said.

The elevator door opened. “Well, that certainly qualifies as one interview that I bet Merlin Olsen wishes he’d never gotten,” Constance said. “I’ve been talking to the ladies while you were all down on the field. I’m ... amazed, at everything you’ve done.”

“I think so are we. Revolutionizing the wind energy business, eh? Obviously, Leon and I pay attention to some of these things. I’d guess ... Siemens, since you’re here in New York, and since you said, all over the world.” I nodded. “Can we ask?”

“Of course, you can ask.” I simply smiled and waited.

Leon started laughing. “Oh, you’re a tricky one, aren’t you? Lamar, you haven’t asked what, just whether you can or not. Are you sure you’re not a rabbi?”

“Only in the original sense, in that I’m a bit of a teacher. At the same time, I’m still a student, of so many things.”

Hunt shook his head, a grin on his face. “Okay, what have you done that might revolutionize wind power?”

“Simple, really. What’s the largest turbine that can be made right now?”

“I’ve been paying attention to that, since we’ve got lots of space and wind down in Texas. You can build a 2 megawatt turbine right now for four million. They’re not economical.”

“You want to get into the power generation business? Siemens makes them and puts them up for you, you sell the power from them. How about a 5 megawatt turbine for about two million?”

That made both of them blink, then look at each other. There was a slight nod from Hess to Hunt that I noticed. “How soon will these be in production?”

“I have a prototype running right now that generates 625 kilowatts of power, on an 80 foot tower. When I get back to Kansas, I’m going to build a full size turbine over the next two weeks. Siemens will send me a 220 foot tower and 100 foot blades, so I don’t have to make those myself. If that works ... and I know it will ... we’ll start building the factory to make them in Hutchinson. I already own four square miles that I’ve set aside for factories there. I believe you have a lot of oil wells in Texas. You put up a turbine on 100 of those sites. You’ll spend two hundred million. You’ll have that back in a year. The next twenty plus years are pure profit, at two hundred million per year. Does something like that interest either of you?”

The Jets ended up winning, 28 to 7. None of us saw the rest of the game. We were deep in discussion on what and where we could put wind turbines. It turns out that for four million, and two turbines per facility, Hess could make his refineries independent of the power companies. They both were ready to sign up when I mentioned they could stick a couple of towers on each of their stadiums and generate enough power to run the place. Hunt was already figuring out how many he could build.

“My brothers tried to corner the silver market. They were idiots. How many houses could 100 of these turbines power?”

“I’ll round things. Let’s say the average home uses 30 kilowatt hours per day, These generate a constant five thousand kilowatts of power, so 120,000 kilowatt hours per day. That makes it a nice, round, 4,000 houses per turbine. There’s what, 400,000 houses in Dallas and Fort Worth? Amazing coincidence, isn’t it? Obviously, you’d need twice that for the industrial needs as well, but still...”

Hunt and Hess both sat still for several minutes, thinking. After about three minutes, Hess said, “I’m in. I have global operations. How much were you thinking of, for our buy-in?”

Hunt said, “Me, too. I can free up two hundred million in about a month. Is that enough, and soon enough?”

Hess nodded. “I can have that much in about the same amount of time.”

“I admire your enthusiasm, gentlemen. However, I’m not the CFO of the group, I’m just the guy who comes up with all the ideas. Margie, what do you think?”

She’d been listening closely. “I’d like to know what the two of you are thinking of, before I let you know whether the amounts are enough.”

Hunt said, “Well, I’m thinking of joining my friend, Leon Hess, in a new power company, one that puts up wind turbines that we buy from Siemens, and market that power to electrical companies. I do know that right now, I’m paying more than 5 cents per kilowatt hour for my own power, and I’d bet it costs a hell of a lot more here on the east coast.”

“Definitely. Double that, easily. I have a dozen refineries around the world. Making them effectively free from outside power for twenty-five million is a cheap price to pay. Being able to ... if I may be so indiscreet with my language ... fuck the power companies, is a bonus.” Hess shook his head. “The publicity generated ... Hess Corporation, harnessing the wind to power your home instead of burning coal or using nuclear power ... that’s worth tens of millions alone.”

“What are the proposed maintenance costs on these turbines?”

“Good question, Mister Hunt. Right now, we’re looking at about a thousand dollars every five years, simply for the raw materials to reapply the no ice chemical. Call it six hours of work per turbine, with three blades, so maybe ten thousand dollars. It’s not like there’s other parts that are going to wear out, since they all use magnetic bearings,” Margie said.

Hess’ jaw opened wide. “You’ve perfected commercial sized magnetic bearings?” I smiled, nodding. “Young man, please avoid touching my daughter. I do not wish her to turn into a golden statue.”

We all laughed at that, then continued discussions for an hour beyond the end of the game. We finally had to call an end to it, simply so we could get back to our hotel that night. Both men promised to be in touch with Margie over the next week.

Emily was stunned. “Did you just sell...” I held my hand up, shaking my head.

“In the hotel, please. Not here. Boy, that was a fun game, wasn’t it?”

She understood, then. Once we were back at the hotel, I pulled open a folder, dialed a number. “Good evening, Corinna. This is Cal Lewis, I hope I’m not disturbing you.”

“Not at all. I watched your performance on television today. Most impressive.”

“Thank you. I just thought I’d let you know that, pending the approval of Siemens for the test unit that I’ll build in the next two weeks, I got a bit of interest in the purchase of a few of the turbines from Siemens, already.”

“Ah, Misters Hunt and Hess did some discussion, eh? I’ve analyzed the figures that we’ve come up with so far, done more discussion with the home office, and I can’t see where we could sell these for less than one point two five million each, installed.”

“Then you’d have no objection if I told them the cost would be two million each?”

“Why, none at all. What were they thinking of, 5 or 10 of them?”

“About 200 as the initial order, then 200 more per year for five years as a minimum.”

“They want a THOUSAND of them?”

“When I pointed out that 100 of them would power every home in Dallas and Fort Worth, then another 100 would cover all the industrial needs of that area, Mister Hunt and Mister Hess seemed quite interested. Mister Hess wants two dozen of them, just to make his refineries independent of the electrical grid, then a couple more for each of their football stadiums. The two of them are getting together with their corporate lawyers right now, to form an energy consortium. When I mentioned that I should have an 8 megawatt turbine in about 3 years ... which, by the way, I should have, and it’ll use the same blades that the 5 megawatt turbines use ... I think they almost fainted.”

Her voice was shaky. “I ... can understand why. I’ll pass that along. We’ll ... expedite the shipping of the tower and blades to your home in Kansas. I have a feeling that when I talk to the home office tomorrow, with a verbal order for equipment we don’t even have made, at a factory we haven’t even built yet, that totals into the hundreds of millions ... thank you, Mister Lewis, for the phone call.”

Emily was stunned. “Cal, when you brought that gold into my office ... I don’t think I gave any consideration to how much you’d be changing the world.”