Chapter 8

Tuesday, May 3, 2016

I got up early enough to say goodbye to Connor and Noah before they left for school and I left for the airport. I drove up to Harrisburg, caught a flight to Dulles and then had 45 minutes to catch my flight to LAX. I called the Rams when I got on the ground. They were coordinating transportation from the airport up to Oxnard, the site of our OTAs.

Dylan Harris showed up at the curbside while I was waiting for the shuttle van. “What are you doing here? I asked.

“I just flew back from Maryland,” Dylan said. “My dad’s birthday was on Saturday.”

“Taking care of family obligations,” I said. “That’s always important.”

“It’s good to see you again, Andrew,” Dylan said as he shook my hand. “Did you have a good off-season?”

“It was nice,” I answered. “I got to be a full-time dad for three and a half months. You know – carpool kids to swimming, Cub Scouts and all that. I’m an assistant cubmaster for my kids’ pack now. I chaperoned a few school events too.” Dylan laughed.

“Completely domesticated,” he teased. “All you need is a wife. Any possibilities on the girlfriend front?”

“A little,” I allowed. “One promising girl turned out to be a bigot. Could you imagine in our line of work not being able to invite an African-American to the wedding?”

“That wouldn’t work,” Dylan agreed. “No other girlfriend prospects in sight?”

“There is another one, but I haven’t called her for a date yet,” I said.

“Cat go your tongue?” Dylan teased. “Are you still in middle school?”

I laughed. “It does involve school but not like you might think,” I said. “She is Connor’s teacher. She has a policy of not dating her students’ fathers. I plan to call her after school is over.”

“Hot for teacher?” Dylan remarked. “I see how it is.”

“She is hot looking,” I said. “More important, she has a nice personality, a good sense of humor and loves kids and the outdoors like me.”

“Good luck with that,” Dylan said.

The first of what proved to be many fans spotted Dylan and me then, so we had little more time for conversation. We talked with our fans and signed autographs while we waited for our ride.

“You ready to get to work for the next season?” Dylan asked.

“I am excited and totally ready to get to work,” I responded.

“Some of the guys wondered about your commitment,” Dylan said, “ ... seeing as you missed all of the workout sessions so far.”

“Workout session with the team are OPTIONAL,” I responded, probably too heatedly. “Sorry, that is a touchy subject. I am totally committed to our program. My family situation requires me to be in Pennsylvania as much as I can if I want to be a decent father.”

“I understand,” Dylan agreed. “Are you in good shape to start the OTAs?”

“I am in excellent condition,” I said. “I trained daily and my personal trainer coordinated his work with the team’s trainers. Has anyone ever said Kyle slacks of during off-season training?”

“Not that I ever heard about,” Dylan agreed. “Your brother seems to be in peak shape whether we see him in pre-season or in a regular season game.”

“I use the same trainer as Kyle, though we do work out in different gyms,” I said.

“OK then,” Dylan said. “The team and the fans have high expectations from you and me.”

“I do too,” I agreed.

“What do you think will happen with the draft tomorrow night?” Dylan asked.

“I have no idea,” I responded. “I let that in the capable hands of Coach Tolbert and the front office.”

“I wouldn’t mind seeing another offensive lineman or two and another cornerback,” Dylan said.

“Depth is always good,” I agreed.

We ended up with half a dozen of our teammates in the van before we headed north for Oxnard. Traffic was miserable getting across LA in the late afternoon. The van didn’t deliver us to our hotel until 6:30 PM that evening. One of the team administrative staff rounded up some sandwiches for us. We had missed dinner by an hour.

The team had booked the entire hotel beside the River Ridge Playing Fields in Oxnard. This was the same place the Dallas Cowboys trained in the summer. By July our temporary training facility over in Thousand Oaks would be ready for us to occupy. The team moved all our cars from St. Louis to a storage lot near the training camp. I had wheels again.

Most of Wednesday morning was spent on the check-in physical and fitness testing by the training staff. They declared I was fit, in good health and ready for the OTAs coming up.

OTAs are like a less intense training camp, except you didn’t wear pads or helmets and no contact was allowed. We spent about ninety minutes doing fundamentals drills and reviewing formations. The last few periods of the workout we spent running routes and catching balls. It felt great to connect with Dylan and his back-ups, Mark Shaeffer and Taylor Woods. Mark was our reliable, old hand and back-up for Dylan. He had been in the league for ten years. Taylor was starting his second year, like me.

We spent time in offensive and wide receiver meetings with our coaches. We reviewed plays and formations. Nothing we did that day was new. I expected we would get hit with updates to the playbook soon enough, once the coaches were satisfied that we remembered what we did last year.

It seemed weird to me for Terry Jones to be missing. Terry was the dean of our receiving corps last year, an eight year player. The team cut him in March. Now Dan Burns was the most senior guy, at five years in the league. Dan was a good guy, but he didn’t seem like the leader type. The Rams were Dan’s third team in five years. He was starting his second year here, same as me. He could be best described as a journeyman. He played decently but would never set the league on fire.

The coaches didn’t worry about handing out depth charts. I suppose with Terry gone, I was now the number two receiver on the team and an official starter. I suspect that coaches didn’t want to confirm that to me to motivate me to work harder to clench the starting spot. That was fine with me.

The team shared common dining facilities in the hotel. This provided more togetherness than I experienced last year when we all went home each night when work was done. I studied the playbook and video on my iPad until bedtime.

Thursday brought more of the same. Drills, running routes and class room time. It felt great to hook up with my friends on the team again. We decided to hold a poker night/draft party on Friday night while the second and third rounds of the draft were held. I turned the channel to the NFL Network in the evening and listened to the first round of the draft. Our team was slotted at #22, so we didn’t get mentioned until later in the evening. We ended up picking Elijah Armstrong, a defensive end from Florida State. He should be a good, solid pick for our team.

Mike Keller, our left inside linebacker, hosted the poker party. Mike achieved a degree of notoriety four years ago when he was in college playing for Nebraska when Penn State came to town. Mike nailed my brother, Kyle, pretty good on a tackle in the first half. Later in the first half, Kyle had his coach call a reverse where the route ran right through the area Mike was defending. Video of my brother blowing up a linebacker who outweighed him by thirty pounds was a staple of ESPN for the next two or three years.

Mike was a good linebacker despite how the video looked. He had hit me a few times when I ran crossing routes and Dylan hadn’t led me quite enough. Mike hit hard. I suspect Kyle’s big hit on Mike was due mostly to Mike’s surprise that any wide receiver would purposely try hit him. I told Mike about how Kyle had done the same thing to Jeremy North back home. Jeremy was the middle linebacker for the Bears and hadn’t missed a pro-bowl since he started in the NFL. He appreciated hearing the story that he wasn’t Kyle’s only victim.

The crew spent more time on poker than watching the draft, pausing when our team’s turn came up. We picked Tyler O’Donnell, a tall, lanky speedster from Oregon with our second round pick.

“You got a new protégé,” Barry Lee Smith teased after the announcement was made.

“I doubt that,” I said. “I barely know where to hang up my coat myself.”

“Mark my words, Andrew,” Dan Burns said. “I’m short and slow. What am I going to teach the kid about beating coverage when you are tall and fast? Coach Moore is going to make this kid your project – count on it.”

“I doubt it,” I allowed. The rest of the guys at the table disagreed with me. The game continued while the draft churned on into the evening. Our team’s third round pick warmed Dylan’s heart when it was announced – Offensive Guard David Burden from Nebraska. Mike assured everyone that his fellow Husker would be a great addition to our team. Mike had played with Dave when he made starter on the Huskers as a sophomore and Mike was a red-shirted senior and team captain.

One other name caught my attention Friday night – Mark Markovich. Mark was the Penn State linebacker I knew from Pro Train in Millersville. The Steelers took him in the second round. The Youngstown, Ohio native wouldn’t have to move real far from home for his first job.

Our gang decided to celebrate our weekend off from OTAs by going out to a club on Saturday night. Tom Blecher, our #2 tight end, had started out with the Dallas Cowboys at their training camp six years ago. He knew of a club called the Fuego Night Club in Ventura that had a reputation for fun parties. The dance club and lounge had an open-air patio in addition to their indoor space. We agreed to give the place a try.

I checked in late Saturday afternoon to see who else the Rams had drafted. We took safety Malik Alexander from Arizona State with our first fourth round pick, which we got from a trade last season. Our second fourth round pick also went to help our secondary. We took cornerback Ryan Maguire from Penn State. I knew Ryan from working out with him in the winter at Pro Train in Millersville. We took running back Jaylen Lester from NC State with our sixth round pick. Our final pick was linebacker Nathan Shaw from Texas A&M.

Taylor Wood, Clay Wicks, Nate Cook, Barry Lee Smith, Chris Cobb and I took taxis from our hotel to the club Saturday evening. None of us were willing to be the designated driver for our group. Personally, I would like to have a few drinks with my friends and perhaps enjoy the company of a lovely young lady that evening. I’m a normal, warm blooded male and I hadn’t been horizontal with a woman since the Super Bowl week.

We met outside on Main Street in front of Fuego. The place was hopping on a Saturday night. They had a long line outside waiting to get into the club. Nate Cook, who had suggested this place, waved to the bouncer. The bouncer waved us to the front of the line and checked our IDs. He waived the cover charges for us when he saw that all of us played for the Rams. An escort took us inside. We bypassed the long line to get inside and took the elevator to the VIP bar.

The club was trendier looking than I one might have picked. Our escort got us a table and called over a waitress. She tried to sell us on a bottle package. Thankfully our group couldn’t agree on a kind of bottle. Prices started at $175 for a bottle of vodka, gin or rum. Prices went up from there to $400 for a bottle of Johnny Walker Blue. We ordered drinks individually.

The DJ played a mix of pop, hip hop, rock and retro music. The music was good, and the place was crowded. The club had an indoor room with the bar and then a rooftop lounge outside. Hanging out outside felt nice, with the unseasonable 82 degree high that day. Most of the guests at the club recognized us as Rams players. We signed autographs and talked with the fans. Some of them were female fans.

I flirted with quite a few of the female visitors but one red-head caught my eye. I took her out for a couple dances, learning her name was Molly Sheffield. We danced a bit and continued flirting. It really became quite outrageous. About 12:30 in the early morning we decided it was time to seek out some privacy. I rented a room downtown for us to share as we explored each other’s bodies. All either of us was looking for was a hook-up and little fun. We had it. I invited Molly to join me for breakfast the next morning, but she decided to eat at her apartment.

I went on-line Sunday afternoon to find out who would be joining our team. Fifty players made up the active roster. We had one player retire and two more were cut in the spring. We had eight players on the practice squad. We added eight draftees, so we had spots for sixteen undrafted rookie free agents for the spring and summer.

Four names on the list of newly signed players caught my attention. We had signed Zachary Ponce from Georgia Tech, Michael Walker from Missouri and Jeremy Holland from Colorado. Ponce and Walker were wide receivers. Holland played tight end. I knew our team would add a quarterback or two. Three quarterbacks weren’t enough to run practices for a ninety man roster during OTAs and training camp.

I was surprised at the identity of our new quarterback – one Jason Nicholson, late of James Madison University. I knew Jay well from his time at Penn State with my brother, Kyle, and his time quarterbacking our rivals at James Madison. JMU and Delaware played in the same conference. I played against Jay in three games while I was in college. He was a tough and smart opponent. I preferred having him on my side.

I headed in early on Monday morning for the next round of OTAs. I was an established player on the Rams and needed to set a proper example for the members of our team. Large portable lockers were setting in the central area of our locker room. They took up most of the normally open space in the center of our locker room. Coaches assigned lockers based on the likelihood of your staying with the team. The portable lockers went mostly to the undrafted free agents, who most likely would be leaving as the roster was cut from 90 to 75 and then to 53 players in August.

I bumped into Ryan Maguire from Penn State first. “Welcome to LA,” I said to greet him. We shook hands.

“Glad to be here, Andrew,” Ryan replied. “I think the Rams will be a good spot for me.” Ryan laughed. “I haven’t seen our schedule. Do we play the Broncos this year?”

“Only if we meet them in the Super Bowl,” I answered.

“Good. I spent enough time covering your brother in practices in college,” Ryan said. “The less we see of him, the better. I suppose you’re just as hard to cover in practices.”

“I try not to make it easy on the cornerbacks,” I said.

“I guess I’ll see on the field,” Ryan agreed. “Good to see you again, Andrew.”

“Good to have you with us,” I responded. “Let me know if there is anything I can help you with, getting settled in.”

I headed down the row to my own locker. A familiar face greeted me from a locker across from mine and down a couple.

“Good to see you, Andy,” Jason Nicholson said, smiling.

“Welcome to Rams Park West, Jay,” I replied. I leaned over to shake Jay’s hand. “Did you finally get tired of being Zipper Harris, the perpetual college student?” Jay laughed.

The guy sitting at the locker beside Jay looked at him. “Did you do a fifth year in college?” It was my turn to laugh.

“Let’s put it this way,” I said. “Jay started college a semester ahead of my brother, who is two years OLDER than me. What does that make your college career, six and a half years?”

“Six years,” Jay replied. “I spent the spring down at IMG Academy getting ready for the draft.” Jay laughed. “Fat lot of good that did me.”

“Six years? How?” Jay’s neighbor asked.

“I started college with an early spring semester,” Jay explained. “I red-shirted my freshman year and got injured early in my sophomore year. The NCAA gave me a medical redshirt for that season. I guess you can say I maximized the value of my football scholarship. I have a BA in Communications, a second BA in Sports Management and an MA in Communications.”

“That is impressive,” the guy beside Jay commented.

“Have you met Zach yet, Andy?” Jay asked me.

“I haven’t,” I replied.

“Zach, this is Andy Martin,” Jay said. “Andy this is Zach Ponce. I’m sure you two will see lots of each other since you’re both receivers.”

“You two know each other already?” Zach asked.

“I met Jay when I was being recruited by Penn State,” I explained. “He roomed with my brother for ... what, a year?”

“One semester,” Jay said. “I transferred to James Madison University at Christmas time in my red-shirt sophomore year.”

“Jay’s team played my team three times in my last two seasons at Delaware,” I added. “You even made it my brother’s wedding, as I remember.”

“You keep talking about your brother, Andy,” Zach said. “You make it sound like he’s someone I should know.” Jay and I both laughed at that.

“You know Andy’s brother,” Jay smirked. “Everybody knows Andy’s brother. You have heard of Kyle Martin, haven’t you?”

“Kyle Martin? Sure, everyone knows who the best receiver in the NFL is,” Zach said. He paused for a second until it hit him. “Andy Martin ... those Martins.”

“Guilty,” I responded.

“Now you know who to watch as you get ready for this season, Zach,” Jay said. “Andy was runner-up for NFL Offensive Rookie of the year.”

“I was in the running, but they never announced who was second place,” I said, modestly.

“Pay attention to what Andy does and how he prepares, Zach,” Jay said. “That will give you your best chance at sticking here.”

“You do the same with Dylan Harris, Jay,” I added. “Dylan is great. You can learn a lot from him about playing in the NFL.”

“I plan to do that,” Jay said. “Tell Coach I said hi the next time you talk with him.”

“Will do,” I agreed.

“Coach?” Zach asked. Jay laughed.

“Kyle’s nickname in college was Coach,” Jay explained.

“And in high school,” I added. “And out in Denver too.”

“Really,” Jay said, laughing. “It fits him perfectly.”

Everyone changed into workout clothes. We met with our position coaches first thing in the morning. I popped out after breakfast and I picked up a dozen donuts.

“What did you bring us today, Andrew?” Nate Cook asked as I plopped the box in the center of the table.

“Fresh donuts from Master’s Donuts,” I answered.

“You the man, Andrew,” Dan Burns agreed.

“Coach, am I relieved of my donut duties?” I asked Coach Moore. “I’m not a rookie anymore.”

“Yes, you’re relieved,” Coach Moore agreed.

I scanned around the table until I spotted the guy I wanted. I fixed my eyes on him. “You’re Tyler, right?” He nodded yes. “Congratulations, you now have snack duty for our receivers’ meetings.”

“I like sprinkles,” “Cream filled, please,” and “Eclairs,” my teammates called out.

“Why me?” Tyler asked.

“You are the highest draft pick among the rookies,” I answered. “You probably can afford buying donuts best. If one your undrafted brethren make the fifty-three man squad, you can pass your duties over to them at that time.”

“I have no idea where to...” Tyler began. I waved him off.

“See me after the meeting, Rookie,” I said. “I can let you know where the various donut shops are.”

“Ohhh ... Eclairs ... love them,” Dan Burns said. The rest of the receivers were crowded around the box, picking out their pastry to enjoy with a morning cup of coffee. I grabbed a donut for myself and wrapped the apple fritter in a napkin. I handed that delicacy over to Coach Moore.

“Mmmm ... I love apple fritters,” Coach said. “Thank you, Andrew.”

“Coach loves apple fritters, Rookie,” I said, giving Tyler a smile. “Remember the man controls how much playing time you get.”

Coach called the meeting to order. The first order of business was introducing everyone. Our receiving corps included: Dan Burns (6th year, Baylor), Mike Wimberly, 4th year, South Carolina), Nate Cook (4th year, Louisville), Jacob Sanders (3rd year, Idaho), me (2nd year, Delaware), Darian Greene (Miami, spent last year on practice squad), Tyler O’Donnell (2rd round pick, Oregon), Zach Ponce (undrafted rookie, Georgia Tech) and Michael Walker (undrafted rookie, Missouri).

Coach Moore reviewed expectations for our receiving corps to start the meeting. He moved on to a review of how our offense worked and what was expected from each of us as we prepared for the upcoming season. Most of it was “old hat” for the guys who were here last year. I’m sure it was a lot to learn in a short time for Tyler, Zach and Michael.

Drills outside filled the remainder of the morning for the team. We cleaned up and headed over to the dining room for lunch. I ended up at a table with my usual crew of Taylor, Clay, Nate, Barry Lee, Chris and me. Jay Nicholson came by carrying a tray of food, looking slightly lost.

“You guys have room for another?” Jay asked politely.

“Sure, join us,” I agreed readily. I noticed Taylor giving me a questioning look. I ignored him. Jay sat down. I introduced him to my friends around the table. He hadn’t met any of them other than Taylor.

“How has you first day with the Rams gone?” I asked once introductions were done.

“Hectic,” Jay answered. “I am still not over the disappointment at not getting drafted on Saturday. My agent and I took half a dozen calls from teams Saturday night that wanted to sign me as an unsigned free agent. The Rams seemed like the best spot to me.” He laughed. “They promised me a fair shot at making the roster and they gave me a signing bonus. No one else was willing to do that.”

Taylor frowned at news of a signing bonus. Now I understood why Taylor was looking out of sorts. “We don’t talk about contracts with each other, Jay,” I cautioned. “That is between you, your agent and the front office.”

“Oh ... sorry,” Jay replied. “One of my hang-ups is a place to stay. Do you guys have any leads on where to do a short-term rental apartment?”

“You don’t need that yet,” I replied. “The CBA requires teams to provide housing for rookies until training camp is over.”

“That’s a relief,” Jay said.

“If you make the team...” Clay said. “ ... talk with La’Roi Glover, our Director of Player Programs. His job is to help us get the non-football issues in our lives settled with a minimum of distraction. You know, finding a place to live, finding a car and other things like that.”

“La’Roi is good,” Barry Lee agreed.

“I hope so,” Jay said. “I am doing all this football on a shoestring. My wife and I have to maintain an apartment in Harrisonburg too. I hope they don’t expect a 12 month lease. I don’t know that I can afford to be locked into a long lease on an apartment.” Jay laughed. “I’m not exactly guaranteed a spot on the final roster.”

“No, you’re not,” Taylor commented coldly.

“What’s Allison doing now?” I asked, trying to change the subject to something less touchy. “I haven’t seen her since after our last game against each other a year and a half ago.”

“She got her degree in nursing a year ago,” Jay said. “She is working at the local hospital in Harrisonburg. It gives us a little money to survive on. Hopefully I can manage to break even on expenses while I try to make the team.”

Jay questioned us about our experiences with the team as we ate lunch. My other friends seemed to accept Jay, mostly. Taylor was distinctly cool to Jay. I didn’t blame him. Taylor was an undrafted rookie free agent last year who barely made the team. Taylor was no lock to stay if Jay played well.

We talked and relaxed over our meal until 12:27 PM. Jay glanced at the clock on the wall. “I assume meeting times are the same here as with most other football teams. Fifteen minutes early is on time and five minutes early is late?”

“You got it,” I agreed.

“I guess we better split,” Jay said. “Don’t we have a meeting with the IT people at 12:45?”

“Rookies have a meeting at 12:45,” Clay said. “The rest of us have free time until 1:00 PM.”

OK, I will see you guys later,” Jay said. He took his tray up front and turned it in at the service area of the cafeteria. We hung out and shot the bull for half an hour before heading to our first afternoon meeting – offensive and defensive teams. We arrived 1:03 PM, fashionably early for our 1:15 PM meeting, as the coaches wanted.

The rookies joined us en masse when their IT meeting was over. All of them came in sporting new iPads with our electronic playbook. They played with their new “toys” until Coach Davis started the meeting. They seemed as excited about the iPad playbooks as my fellow rookies and I had been last year. Few colleges had taken the plunge into electronic playbooks yet.

The afternoon meetings seemed to drag on. Coach Davis went over things I already knew. I suppose it is necessary to cover the basics of our offense for all the rookies joining our team. The meetings wrapped around four o’clock.

“Hey, Andy,” Jay asked as we got up to leave the auditorium. “Could I talk you into running some routes for me? I’ve been sitting too long inside and need to unwind.”

“I’d love to, Jay,” I answered, “but I already promised Dylan to run some routes for him after the meeting. A lot of the receivers and QBs toss the ball around after the afternoon meetings. Grab a couple of the rookie receivers and take them out. It will be good for all of you.”

“I was hoping to work with someone who knew the offense better than me,” Jay replied.

“Workout near Dylan, Mike and me,” I offered. “Your receivers can mimic our routes.”

“I guess that’ll work,” Jay agreed. “Beggars can’t be choosers.”

Mike Wemberly, Dylan Harris and I were out on the practice field fifteen minutes later, getting ready to run some drills when Jay, Tyler O’Donnell and Zach Ponce came out and joined our group. Mike explained the route I was running as Dylan and I did it. Tyler or Zach would repeat it while Mike and I switched spots and Mike ran the next route.

Mike, Dylan and I got our afternoon work in and managed to help Jay, Tyler and Zach. I was impressed with Tyler’s route running. He ran nice precise routes after he did them a couple times. Coach Moore would be happy. Coach was a stickler for precise route running.

After about twenty minutes of workout, Dylan offered to swap receivers with Jay. Jay sent me on a go route immediately. He did his seven-step drop and then launched a cannon ball my way. I barely needed to adjust my stride to run under the ball and cradle it to my body. It would have been a guaranteed touchdown in a real game.

“Wahoo!” I heard Jay yelp as I turned to jog back to our group. “I still got it!”

“Nice deep ball, Jason,” Dylan added. “Most quarterbacks need a few throws to hit Andrew deep like that. Not many guys have his speed.” Jay laughed as I joined the group.

“It was a piece of cake for me,” Jay explained, still laughing. “I just pretended I was freshman back at Penn State. Hell, Andy even wears 85 like his brother did when we were freshman. Put it up as deep as I can get it and let him run under it.”

“Sounds easy in theory,” Dylan said. “Do fifty more reps like it and you might get a job here.”

“Yeah,” Jay agreed. “I understand.”

Dylan was right. Consistent performance was needed if anyone wanted to make our team. I also knew from my brother’s description of Jay’s talent that he stood a chance of snagging a quarterback slot here. My friend Taylor could not complete that pass more than once every four or five tries.

Tuesday and Wednesday’s OTAs run much as Monday’s. The rookies needed a fair amount of instruction and correction to run our plays. The veterans needed some remainders about how our plays ran too. Tyler O’Donnell remembered the donuts for the receivers meetings. I was glad to be rid of that chore. The receivers seemed to be catching on to our offense. Tyler O’Donnell had good hands and good, though not world-class, speed.

I headed straight to the airport long-term parking lot after practice on Wednesday. I had a 12:30 AM red-eye flight to Chicago and a fifty minute layover before catching my plane back to Harrisburg. Our flight landed a couple minutes late, at 10:44 AM. Traveling light, I was able to skip baggage claim and head straight for the parking lot.

I had a ton of work to do to get ready for my boys’ birthday party on Sunday afternoon. I stopped in Lancaster before I got home to pick up party supplies, decorations and a variety of presents for my boys. I got them some new clothes. They also got the present they had been begging for over the past six months.

My final stop was at the Apple Store to investigate iPads for the twins. Dad and Mom allowed the boys to play with their iPad occasionally over the past six months. They loved it. I had one, Kyle and Penny each had one. Aunt Liz had an iPad. The boys desperately wanted to have their own.

I found an interesting e-mail when I got home from my shopping trip. Allison Hess, our high school graduating class secretary sent e-mails to all the class members she could locate. The Paradise High School Class of 2011 was holding a reunion picnic/softball game on Saturday, June 18th at the Paradise Township Park. I checked my schedule. The Rams mini-camp would end Thursday afternoon. I could make it home in time to meet up with my high school friends on Saturday afternoon.