Chapter 21

David
After Cassidy had done whatever she’d done to his neck last night, she’d bolted to her room and hidden.

This morning, she refused to come out and say good morning before David’s regular morning workouts. What she didn’t know was that he was skipping them this morning because his first alum, defensive end Marshall Davidson, was meeting him to do his vodcast.

“I need to trick Cassidy into thinking we’ve left,” David told Ruth as they ate their breakfast.

“Why is that, sir?”

“There was some inappropriate touching last night, and she freaked out.”

“Sir?” Ruth said, looking concerned.

“It wasn’t me! She licked my neck,” David said before Ruth got the wrong idea.

“All right, I understand. I agree to assist you in your subterfuge.”

After they’d cleaned up, David went to the front door and opened it.

“I’ll see you later!” he called out and then shut the door.

He and Ruth went to hide in the pantry. Duke whined when they shut the door on him. Frick!

Cassidy must have come out of her room because he heard toenails clicking on the hardwood floor. A moment later, they returned.

“What’s wrong, Boy? Did David close the door on your ball?” Cassidy asked Duke.

She opened the pantry door.

“Gah!”

David smiled at his surprised friend.

“I ... uh ... I ... uh...” she started as she backed away.

“Listen to me,” he interrupted, putting his hands on Cassidy’s shoulders. “Because this is all like, stupid-simple, and you’ve overthought it all to hell.”

She gave him a wary look to see if David was teasing her.

“If you weren’t the biggest mess of awkward sauce right now, you would know everything’s fine,” he said seriously.

“But I don’t know what came over me,” Cassidy mumbled.

“If I thought it was a big deal, we would probably have to talk about it. I care about you more than just typical friendship, and I know that at some point, we’ll figure it out. But if something like this happens again—I mean, heck, I might be the one sucking on your neck—let’s agree not to blow it out of proportion. We need to check in to see what the other thinks,” David rambled.

“What if...” she started and then blushed.

He gave her a smoldering look.

“Pam and Tracy have no problem dragging me upstairs. You know all you have to do is ask.”

Cassidy slugged him in the chest.

“Hey! I thought you were supposed to protect me,” David complained to Ruth.

“Sorry, sir, but you deserved that one,” Ruth said.

Cassidy seemed to relax, and he really did have to go.

“I left you eggs and bacon in the oven. I have to go do my vodcast,” David said.

“Take Duke. He’s used to having people around, and I don’t think he likes staying at home alone,” Cassidy said.

David decided not to argue and grabbed Duke’s leash.

David was getting set up in one of the Robert Zemeckis Center’s sound stages for his vodcast, Trojan Inquirer.

“I’m looking for David Dawson.”

David looked toward the door and spotted Marshall. David’s first impression was that he had to thank God he wouldn’t have to face him this season. David remembered his stats said the man was six-four and weighed 300 pounds. David chuckled when he saw he was in a suit and tie.

“Marshall?”

They shook hands. David was surprised when Marshall looked nervous.

“I’m a big fan. My wife asked that I get an autograph.”

“No problem. Which movie is your wife’s favorite? I can sign a poster and send it to her,” David suggested.

“Royal Palm. She was pissed when you died in the end.”

“Yeah, no sequel to that one,” David said and then changed the topic. “This is just a student vodcast. You don’t have to be all dressed up. If you’d prefer, I could get you a USC polo shirt.”

“My agent insists that for any sit-down interviews, I dress up. We’re trying to rehabilitate my image. When I first came into the league, I went a bit wild. I had no idea that my personal image mattered. We’re trying to get some endorsement deals.”

“If you want, we can work what happened into the conversation, and you can talk about the importance of your image. I can make it look like I’m asking for your advice,” David said, then had another idea. “Better yet, talk to my PR guy. He can give you some strategies and talking points for the interview.”

“That would be helpful. My agent has a bunch of flunkies who claim to know what they’re doing, but they’re used to working with rookies and their fuck-ups.”

“Let me give you Frank’s number. When you talk to him, tell him this is a favor for me. You can relax on the couch while I get everything set up,” David suggested.

For each episode of Trojan Inquirer, Professor Blum had David focus on gaining experience with a specific aspect of the shoot. Today, David was working with the sound people. The professor pointed out who he needed to talk to and wished him good luck.

David should’ve caught on that something was up because the professor usually sat in on the training sessions. Plus, there was the cryptic ‘good luck’ comment.

He found the ‘sound guy’ and discovered he was a professor at USC. He taught a course that he planned to condense into a thirty-minute lecture. David’s eyes began to glaze over after only five minutes. The man talked in a monotone and was in no mood to answer any questions. If it hadn’t been for David’s catalog modeling work, he would have been taking a nap at the fifteen-minute mark.

“David Dawson. You’re needed on set,” was announced over the sound system.

“That was fascinating,” David said with a straight face as he bolted.

When he walked on stage, he found Duke on the couch with his head in Marshall’s lap, getting his ears rubbed.

“I see you’ve met Duke,” David said, shaking his head.

“Is he yours?” Marshall asked.

“Yep. In fact, he’s famous. Duke was the mayor of my hometown.”

“If it’s okay with you, I wouldn’t mind doing the interview with his help,” Marshall said.

David figured, what the heck? If Cassidy could kick Knackers in the nuts, why not have a dog on set? What was the old Hollywood saying? Never work with children or animals? What could go wrong?

“With me today is Marshall Davidson, defensive end for the New York Giants. Later today, Marshall will be talking to the USC football team, so I wanted to get a quick interview before that. Welcome back to USC,” David said to kick off the show.

“It’s good to be back on campus. I have some fond memories of going to school here.”

“Tell me about your career at USC,” David said.

“My freshman and sophomore years, I played defensive tackle. They asked me to move to defensive end my junior season.”

“Was changing positions a hard decision?”

“At the time, I wasn’t at all sure I could manage the transition. I appreciated that my coaches left the choice up to me, but they also helped me see that my pro potential was much better as a defensive end. So, I agreed to give it a try. I’m glad it worked out,” Marshall said.

“Speaking of the draft, you were taken at number four overall the year you turned pro. What advice could you give me about the importance of the Pro Day and Combine?”

“Those are just parts of a 100-piece puzzle, with Pro Day and the Combine only two of the pieces. Teams will also look at all your game tape ... I mean, how significant is a vertical jump in a non-game situation? What does a bench press tell them? The Combine is a show now. The NFL has commercialized just about everything. College football is getting more and more that way as well, especially with NIL just down the road,” Marshall explained.

“Explain to the audience what NIL means,” David said.

“Name, Image, and Likeness. At some point soon, college players are going to be paid for stuff like that. I realize you know this, but I wish I’d been clued in to the importance of my social media when I was in college. Honestly, I might have started building my brand when I was in high school.”

“What advice would you give me? Maybe a personal story?” David prodded.

“When I joined the NFL, it was the first time I’d ever had money, and I went wild. I hit every club, was seen with the hottest women, and had to have the fancy car and the hot bachelor pad. Then, in my third year, we were in the divisional championship game. As you know, some words were said,” Marshall said, looking down in embarrassment.

“I hear you. What people don’t realize is that many times it’s the fans who are the worst,” David sympathized.

“Anyway, I lost my shit. I went after Buffalo’s offensive tackle. Somehow, their quarterback, Kegan Mayhew, mouthed off, and I punched him.”

“No shit! That was you?” David asked, and Marshall nodded. “You’re a dick.”

“Now you feel me? Who knew a white boy could bleed that much?” Marshall asked.

“What happened?” David asked.

“I became public enemy number one. I was fined like fifty grand, all my sponsors bailed, and the Giants were talking about cutting me.”

“That had to be a wake-up call. But I know you turned it around because the Giants just put the franchise tag on you. I understand that they offered you a three-year, seventy-million deal,” David said.

“After the ginormous warning flag, I worked on getting my life right. I was lucky enough to marry a truly lovely woman, and we now have two little ones. Boy, kids can make you realize pretty quickly that there are other things far more important than yourself,” Marshall shared.

“I know. I have my own horde of ankle-biters.”

Marshall turned out to be a great interview. He took on the role of mentor to David and spent the interview telling him what to expect in college and the NFL.

Two pearls of wisdom really stood out. The first was: The most important thing I learned in college wasn’t the material; it was how to solve problems and how to think. And how to come up with my own idea and solution to a problem.

The second resonated with David: You must have the mindset and mental conditioning to be successful.

And Duke ... just soaked up Marshall’s loving. David would take that win.

After the vodcast, David took Marshall to the coaches’ offices. Specifically, David took him to see Coach Farrow.

Rachel was at the outer desk, studying something.