Chapter 42

David
The rest of the week, David had split his time at defensive end and middle linebacker.

Since they’d started wearing pads, David had been able to get physical. Coach Farrow had the defensive linemen practice against the offensive linemen in one-on-one drills. The two players who consistently beat their counterparts were David and Percy. Percy did it with brute force and incredible quickness for a man who was six-seven and weighed close to 300 pounds. David, on the other hand, was as slippery as an eel. Once he shed his block and got past his opponent, there weren’t any offensive linemen fast enough to keep up with him.

Coach Farrow loved David’s speed. He was one of those rare linebackers who could make tackles from sideline to sideline. Being a quarterback, he knew offenses. That gave him a unique perspective when trying to stop them. He instinctively knew where the ball was going and always seemed to be in the thick of it. In some ways, David reminded the coach of Lawrence Taylor, the Hall of Fame linebacker for the New York Giants.

On the offensive side of the ball, next year’s senior and junior backups, Travis and Jaden, were struggling. It wasn’t that they weren’t good quarterbacks; they’d been talented enough to receive scholarships to USC. Instead, their struggles exposed the Achilles heel of Coach Clayton’s coaching style. When a coach focused ninety percent of his staff’s coaching time on the starters, their backups didn’t develop.

Ridge had kept his word and had begun a whisper campaign. The results were twofold. First, articles started to crop up about the lack of player development at USC. They laid the charge squarely on Coach Clayton. While David appreciated that result, he worried that it would impact recruiting. Every high-level high school football player has dreams of playing in the NFL one day, and they knew that USC got more than its fair share drafted. But it might give a prospective recruit pause to know that if he wasn’t a starter, he might not get the coaching he needed for a chance to advance to the next level.

The other consequence was that questions were being asked as to why the best high school quarterback in the country just a year and a half ago was now playing defense. Coach Farrow, USC’s defensive coordinator, sang David’s praises. He said that he felt that with a year backing up, David could be a four-year starter on the defensive side of the ball—implying that he would be redshirted. Coach Clayton’s strategy was to remind the press that Matt was healing and would be back, and all worries would go away.

In the meantime, David was making a concerted effort to become friends with his teammates. He had some catching up to do, but his outgoing personality was making inroads. It made David realize that he missed the social aspects of football. While he enjoyed baseball, there was a different bond created when playing football. There was no more special bonding experience than two teammates bashing into each other one minute, only to pick each other up the next and laugh about it.

Friday morning found David flying with the baseball team to Salt Lake City for a three-game series with Utah. David wasn’t looking forward to the weather. The day’s forecast called for a high of 60 and a low of 37. He’d bought himself a heavy USC jacket for the occasion.

The previous day, David had met with Margaret, his tutor. Midterms were coming up, and she wanted to make sure he was ready. They’d been seeing each other once a week, but she’d asked to meet him for an extra session. Margaret shared some of the favorite topics each of his professors liked to cover on their tests. He now had a list of subject areas to study while he was away on his trip.

After they lifted off, David pulled out his stats book and put his earbuds in. Andres was sitting next to him and shook his head at David studying. He tapped David’s arm to get his attention, which caused him to pull out his earbuds.

“Everyone will be going crazy next week doing that. Relax and enjoy the weekend.”

“I don’t plan on being one of the players who’re scrambling to make a high enough grade to stay eligible. I like to be prepared,” David shot back.

“Want to know a secret?” Andres asked. David could see that he wasn’t going to shut up until David let him talk, so he nodded. “By Thursday, everyone will be in serious need of stress relief.”

“And?”

“If you’re into anyone who’s at the players gate ... just saying.”

“You’re kidding, right?” David asked.

“Nope. Happens after midterms and finals. Especially finals. Even if you have zero skills picking up chicks, you get lucky. Start thinking about who you want to spend some time with.”

“I’m confused.”

“That’s why I’m here, to help my freshman brethren understand the mysteries of life. What confuses you, young one?” Andres offered graciously.

“There are girls you want to seal the deal with, and you haven’t?” David asked Andres with an over-the-top shocked look. “I just smile at them.”

Andres and his trigger words. He might have to take a class on sensitivity to others’ feelings. David planned to call the athletic department on Monday to see if he could get his teammate enrolled in the next one.

“Tell me more about stress-relief sex,” David said to throw his friend a bone.

“After everyone has their last test, they start drinking. It gets pretty wild. We’ll have a big party Thursday night at the Baseball House. I think Mason’s record was being with four different women in one day. We’ll need someone to carry on the tradition and hopefully break the record.”

“I can’t get wrecked Thursday. I’m going to a swanky fundraiser and have to get all dressed up and be on my best behavior,” David said.

“What about Friday?”

“My brothers are flying in. I’m planning to spend time with them before we go to my place in Canada for spring break.”

“I didn’t know you had brothers.”

“Two,” David explained. “My older brother, Greg, is your age. Back in the day, he was a rock star. I think he dated every good-looking girl at our high school. My younger brother, Phil, is a junior. His sophomore year, he dated the model Jill Lacier.”