Chapter 63

Dad picked up the questionnaire from John Hayes Thursday on the way home from work. We looked it over and made a few minor changes. I decided to save Mom and Dad the time and trouble of mailing these questionnaires out. I would post them on a website. The agents could download them, fill them out and return them to my Dad when they were done. Andy helped me set up the website. Our phone rang in the middle of work on the webpage.

"Kyle, I've got another agent on the phone," Dad yelled up to us in Andy's bedroom. "Do you want to take this or should I give him the new web address?"

"We're not quite done with it yet," I answered back. "I guess I can talk with this joker."

I grabbed phone in the upstairs hallway. "Hello?"

"Hello Kyle, this is Max Solomon," the voice said. "I hope I haven't called at an inconvenient time."

"No, this is fine, Mr. Solomon," I replied.

"Please call me Max," Max said. "We have broken bread together. There is no need to be that formal."

"Sure, that's fine, Max," I agreed.

"I will keep my introduction brief," Max said. "I am sure my brethren are driving you to distraction right now. You are a supremely talented young wide receiver. I hope at the appropriate time next winter when you are considering agents, that you will permit me to make a presentation about my firm. I believe we could represent you well as you begin your professional career."

"You're right about the other agents, Max," I said. "My Dad and I are setting up a website with a questionnaire for potential agents to fill out. My Dad will review them and come up with a short list for me to interview next January when my team is finished playing football."

"That sounds like a wise plan," Max said.

"If you give me your e-mail address, I'll send you the link later tonight," I replied. "My brother and I are just starting to set up the page and don't have it on the web yet."

"I would be most appreciative, Kyle," Max replied. "I have two clients who have told what a wonderful young man and gifted receiver that you are. I would enjoy the opportunity to work with you."

"Those two clients have extolled your virtues to me," I answered. "Don't tell your competitors but Aaron and Zack's say so is good enough to get you on my short list to interview."

"That is very kind of you," Max said. "I will get off the phone and let you continue your work. Good luck, Kyle. Work hard and have an outstanding senior season. Nothing else will come close to ensuring you a good spot in the NFL draft."

"Thanks for calling, Max," I replied. "I'll talk to you next winter after my season is done."

I headed downstairs to talk with Dad when I hung up the phone. "That was an opportune call," I said. "It was Max Solomon, Zack's agent. Zack and Aaron Morano have said excellent things about him."

"I take it you hope he will make the short list of agents," Dad said.

"I'm sure he will," I agreed. "He's a good agent if both Zack and Aaron recommend him."

"I will vet him thoroughly for you," Dad said.

"He will stand up to scrutiny," I replied. "Zack and Aaron have excellent judgment. I trust what they tell me."

--oooOooo--

Penny, my friends and I spent a good portion of Memorial Day weekend preparing for our canoe trip on the upper Delaware River. I helped Brandon McCafferty pick up the canoes and trailer Saturday afternoon from Mr. Chapman, scoutmaster of one of the many Lancaster troops. We promised to have everything back by early Friday evening. Mr. Chapman's troop had a canoe trip planned for the coming weekend.

Our group met bright and early Tuesday, May 29th at Jeremy's house for our four day water adventure. Jake Kring rode with Brandon in the Explorer pulling the trailer of canoes. Hal, Tammy and Kathy rode with Jeremy. Penny rode with me. We were taking one car too many so we could shuttle cars back and forth and always have an extra car at the end of each day's canoe trip and could get the drivers back to our day's start to pick up their cars.

It took about four hours to get up to Narrowsburg, New York. The hairpin curves on Route 97 north of Port Jervis were a treat. I'm sure Brandon had fun negotiating them pulling a canoe trailer. We pulled into the campground beside the public boat landing around 11:15 that morning. We would camp at that campground that evening. Penny and I jumped in the back seats with Brandon and we headed north for Skinner's Falls, our starting point.

We had a quick lunch before we loaded up our canoes and headed for the falls. We were travelling light compared to our trips to Algonquin. All our food and camping gear stayed in the cars. We took water, rain gear, and water-proof cameras down the river.

Going through Skinner's Falls was fun. There is approximately a twenty to thirty foot drop in a quarter mile stretch of river. It's exciting. It got extremely exciting for Jeremy and Kathy. Jeremy got too far to the left and took their canoe over a couple three foot high rock ledges on the way down. In spite of that, he and Kath enjoyed the ride. We liked the falls enough that we carried our canoes back up and went through three times before we continued down river.

We did half a dozen nice rapids on the four and a half mile stretch of river on the way to Narrowsburg. None of them were as exciting as Skinner's Falls. Mr. Chapman, who had canoed this stretch of river many times, gave us excellent advice.

Hal, Jake and the girls relaxed at our campsite while I drove Brandon and Jeremy up Route 97 to get their cars. Jeremy and Kathy made dinner while the rest of us set up camp. Everyone relaxed around a campfire after dinner.

"Hey Kyle, do mind taking a walk with me?" Jeremy asked after the discussion had gone on for a while.

"Sure," I agreed. We walked about a hundred yards before I asked Jeremy, "What's up that you don't want to discuss around everyone?"

"Agents," Jeremy answered. "You know how Brandon gets sometimes when we talk about all the things that go on as successful college football players." I nodded in agreement. "I also wanted to spare Hal's feelings. Did you know he hasn't had a single agent contact him this month?"

"I didn't know that," I answered.

"Are the agents still driving you crazy?" Jeremy asked. "I know you talked with Zack to find some ideas to cope with the nuisance."

"Not one agent called me since last Thursday night," I answered.

"You're joking!" Jeremy responded. "How in the hell did you manage that?"

"It was Zack's idea," I said. "When you call my house you get a recording on our machine directing agents to a website I set up. The website has a detailed questionnaire for the agent to fill out. It also warns them that if they contact me or my family, or ignore the other directions on the website, they will be removed from consideration when I chose my agent."

"That's brilliant!" Jeremy exclaimed. "Hit them in the pocketbook if they don't listen to you."

"Why would I want an agent that can't follow simple directions?" I added.

"Do you think your dad would show my dad what you're doing?" Jeremy asked. "I'd love to save my parents from more of these damn phone calls."

"I'm sure Dad would help," I said. "I bet if your dad talked to my brother Andy or to Eric Connell, they could help him set up a similar webpage for you."

"I'm going to call home right now," Jeremy said. I rejoined our group while Jeremy spent about five minutes on the phone. He had a big smile when he sat down beside Kathy. "I think Kyle's suggestion will fix my phone problem at home," he explained to Kathy. No one else was clued in about that cryptic message except Kathy and me.

Brandon and Jake shared a tent. They had suffer through listening to Hal and Tammy; Jeremy and Kathy; and Penny and me make love that evening. I wasn't sympathetic. They knew what was going to be going on when they decided to come on this trip without girlfriends.

--oooOooo--

Penny and I were cooks for Wednesday. We made breakfast for the group while Brandon followed Jeremy down to Barryville. Brandon's SUV and the trailer were left at the Barryville campground while Jeremy drove the two of them back to our campsite. Breakfast was ready when they returned. We loaded up all the camping gear in my car and Jeremy's car.

We headed down river around 9:30 in the morning. It was an exciting thirteen miles with lots of rapids. We ran into the first of the eel dams that Mr. Chapman warned me about. The dam was a few feet high at the highest and V shaped. During the eel season the fishermen would put their traps at the apex of the V. They left room on the right side of the dam for us to get around. It was a rush dropping a few feet as the water sluiced through the paddle-around spot at the end of the dam.

Brandon drove Jeremy and me back up to Narrowsburg for our cars when we finished canoeing in the afternoon. Penny and I made spaghetti for our group when we got the cars back. We grilled some garlic bread on the griddle. We served it with a salad I picked up at the market when I left Narrowsburg.

We relaxed and talked over some more of Jeremy's beer in the evening. The next morning we shuttled cars down to the campground near Pond Eddy. The section of river between Barryville and Pond Eddy was excellent. We started off with a couple of long, exciting sections of rapids near Barryville. We passed a couple eel dams along the seven mile stretch of river before we pulled into our campsite for the evening.

We were running short on milk and eggs, so Jeremy, Brandon and I drove our cars down to Matamoras for groceries and to drop off two cars at the end of our trek. I insisted we buy our groceries at the Turkey Hill Minit Market. I stocked up on Turkey Hill Iced Tea for everyone, so we didn't go into iced tea withdrawal.

Friday's run was fun and at ten miles, one of our longer days on the river. We ran into some great rapids and quite a few eel dams. My only disappointment was at Mongaup. Mr. Chapman had told me about how much fun the rapids and standing waves were when his troop came down through last fall.

I had the map out and recognized the small creek coming in on our left and knew about the big retaining wall on the Pa. side of the river holding the railroad tracks forty feet up from the river. I never would have known there were good rapids there without those two landmarks. We passed through with barely any riffles on the surface as we went by. Mr. Chapman said there were standing waves 24" high when he went through.

I guess that shows how much a river can change with time of year and amount of flow.

We paddled into the boat launch on the Pa./Matamoras side of the river a little after one o'clock. Jeremy drove me back up river to Pond Eddy while the rest of our group loaded the canoes on the trailer Brandon was towing.

We stopped off on the north side of Reading for dinner on our way home. Jake knew about a good barbecue place. The place turned out to be half a mile from Penn State's Berks Campus. I knew Berks Campus from when I was a high school senior. I had gone there for placement testing and initial course sign up before I started at Main Campus.

The barbecue place was a chain restaurant. I ordered a rib combo platter with half a rack of baby-backs and a serving of brisket. It was quite good in spite of being produced by a chain. These guys knew barbecue.

I was a bit melancholy as I drove the final forty miles to my house. Our four day camping and canoe trip had been wonderful. At most, all of us might be able to do something like this one more time, next spring during spring break. All of us, except Jake, would be graduating from college in a year. We were probably going to scatter to the winds if we achieved our dreams of playing in the NFL.

--oooOooo--

My friends and I participated in two more afternoon passing drills the following week. By popular agreement among the players, we would hold a final scrimmage the last day of school. We decided to include everyone, from the little, soon-to-be seventh graders up to the almost seniors. Jeremy would coach the Red Team with Andy and Jake's assistance with the offense. I would coach the White Team with Kenny and Mike's help on defense.

The six of us stayed around Tuesday after the drills were over and picked our teams. Jeremy won the coin toss and got to select the first quarterback. Of course he took Matt Sauder. I was OK with that. I thought Jake Baughman would do fine for my team. I grabbed Cody Stevens and Dave Mitchell. Jeremy took Gary Harrison.

I had an advantage when we picked the offensive and defensive lines. I had watched the older guys play the last season or two. Jeremy hadn't seen our lines play since the two of us graduated from high school.

Mike Johanson grabbed my attention as we were drafting the youngest of the kids for our teams.

"You gotta take Joe Eberly," Mike insisted.

"You sure?" I asked. "Isn't he finishing sixth grade now?" We were still drafting kids from last year's JV and middle school teams.

"Trust me, Coach," Mike agreed. "He's big for his age and he has spectacular instincts for a kid so young. He's the best cornerback available now."

"I'll take your word for it," I replied. Jeremy, Andy and Jake snickered at my selection.

Mike smiled, leaned close to me and whispered, "He's the best cornerback that age that I've seen in about seven years. Coach could put him on JV this fall and he would do well."

"I trust your judgment, Mike," I replied. I smiled. I knew exactly which seventh grade cornerback from seven years ago that he was referring to – himself. I agreed with Mike's judgment too. I hadn't seen a better cornerback in high school than him.

--oooOooo--

The kids were doubly excited the following Tuesday. It was the final day of school and they were let out at 11:30 am. They got to play some football too! Most of the senior high and middle school players met at our stadium and ate bag lunches before dressing for the scrimmage. The boosters and coaches were kind enough to let the kids use the school's pads, helmets and practice uniforms for the afternoon.

I dressed for the part. I carried a clipboard of notes and ideas I wanted to try. I wore my Penn State "Coach" visor that I got the previous Christmas too. Some of the older kids teased me about the visor but I didn't care. I was getting to practice my craft that day too. The guys were stretching and getting themselves ready when I spotted Coach Turner and Coach Brady sitting high up in the stands. I trotted up to say hi.

"Hey, Jason. Hey, Patrick, it's good to see you today," I said as I arrived at their row.

"It's best if we don't talk before whatever is happening on the field today," Jason replied. "I don't want the PIAA to think I had anything to do with organizing a team function now, since that would be against the rules."

"I understand," I said. "I'll let you guys be. Enjoy the show."

"Of course, if you and the other 'coaches' should happen to end up at the pizza place afterward, I'm sure Pat and I would enjoy hearing about how your day went," Jason said. He gave me a wink. "Hell, I'd even spring for sodas and a couple pies for our school's famous alumni."

"I'll pass the word to my friends," I agreed. "I'm sure sodas and pizza after an afternoon in the sun will sound good to all of them." I passed the invitation on to my assistants and to Jeremy and his assistants.

The scrimmage turned out to be much lower scoring than last year. Jake called a more conservative game than Ed had the previous spring. Matt Sauder didn't have his fast, deep threat to stretch my defense either. Dave could run deep routes for me but Jake Baughman, my quarterback, didn't have Matt's arm strength or accuracy.

What Jake Baughman could do was run the option. He did great, making proper decisions about when to hand the ball to Cody and when to keep it. We were able to move the ball on Jeremy's Red Team, to his great disgust. Jake managed to complete a couple deep play action passes to Dave before he was done playing at halftime.

The varsity offensive players had us teach our varsity defense how to play zone defense this spring. Both teams used zone coverage during the second quarter so our offensive guys could get game practice beating the zone. Gary Harrison was deadly between the deep and short zones. Dave Mitchell worked the deep seams well too. My team had a 21-20 lead over Jeremy's guys.

My friends and I had an informal depth chart for the six quarterbacks. Matt was #1, of course. Jacob Baughman was #2. Jeremy took the #1, #4 and #5 quarterbacks when we drafted our teams. I had our #2, #3 and #6 quarterbacks.

Ryan Newswanger, my second quarterback, took over to start the second half. Ryan was thirteen, almost fourteen and would start ninth grade in September. He was big for his age. I kept things simple for him the first two plays. He handed off to our tailback, picking up eight yards on two plays. I called a short option pass. I did include a deep route by the split end, just to draw some of Jeremy's defenders away from the point of attack. Ryan faked the handoff to the tailback and then rolled to the right.

I expected Ryan to hit the flanker about five yards downfield. Jeremy's defense left my split end in single coverage and rushed towards my QB. Ryan scanned the field, stopped and set up. To my horror and shock, he spotted the open split end and hurled the ball across his body to the far side of the field.

Nine quarterbacks out of ten don't have the arm to make that throw. The tenth quarterback usually regrets making that throw because it is picked off more often than not. Ryan got lucky. Our split end got loose, snagged the ball on his fingertips and sprinted for the end zone. He scored a TD before Jeremy's defenders could catch him.

"High five!" I declared as he jogged off the field. We slapped our hands together.

"Thanks, Coach," Ryan said.

"Don't ever throw that pass again," I added.

Ryan stopped short, stared back at me and grunted, "Huh?"

"You made a hell of a throw," I replied. "You were lucky to complete that pass. Nine times out of ten that throw ends in an interception."

"Sorry, Coach. I didn't realize that," Ryan said.

"I'm going to find you some deeper passes for the next drive," I said. "I didn't realize you had such a gun for an arm. We'll find deeper, but safe passes for you."

"OK, Coach," Ryan said. I worked through some pass plays for Ryan to try on his next drive while Kenny and Mike took care of our defense. The Red Team managed a field goal after a long drive. The score was White-28, Red-23.

Ryan did well on the next drive. He managed to extend our lead with a field goal on a ten play drive. He threw the ball with accuracy and velocity. I decided by the time the drive was over that our varsity team would be set in a year or two at the QB spot. I expected Ryan would out-shine Jacob by the time both were playing varsity.

Neither my nor Jeremy's seventh grade quarterback could move his team in the fourth quarter. Jeremy's QB was better, but Mike and Kenny had called a brilliant defense.

They stacked up nine players on the line of scrimmage to stop the run. A cornerback shadowed Red's best receiver while Joe Eberly, the promising seventh grader, played center field as our free safety. Andy and Jake Kring tried to exploit the stacked defense but couldn't. Joe had the speed and athleticism to get to any receiver going more than ten yards deep. I understood what Mike had told me last week. Joe Eberly was going to be an excellent player someday.

The final score was White – 31, Red-23. The two squads congratulated each other at center field and then headed to the locker room to change and return the gear. Jeremy, Hal, Jake, Kenny, Andy, Mike and I gathered as the players dispersed. We congratulated each other for a good game and off-season drills. I pointed up towards the stands where Jason Turner and Pat Brady were climbing down towards the field.

"Coach Turner invited us to go over to Nino's," I said. "He'll treat us to pizza and Cokes. I think he wants to pick our brains about what we observed working with his players."

"Pizza! Cool!" "Sounds great!" and "Count me in," my friends chimed following my invitation. I gave Jason a smile and a thumbs-up as the seven of us headed for our cars. I saw Jason and Pat head for the parking lot too. Our big group invaded Nino's Pizza about five minutes later, ending the late afternoon quiet at the pizza shop.

I introduced Jason, Pat and my friends. Jason took drink orders and suggestions for pizza toppings and headed over to the counter to place the order. The rest of us pulled enough tables together to make room for all of us.

"This is fantastic guys," Pat gushed. "Jason told me about the dedication of the football players before I was hired here, but I didn't understand until I saw it for myself."

"We've been doing this a long time," Jeremy said.

"I know," Pat agreed. "I was impressed by the kids' dedication to weight training this winter. I was pleased to see them studying film too." He chuckled. "My classroom looks out over the practice fields. I was amazed to see sixty kids out when they started practicing in the spring ... and the whole thing is student run."

"It always has been," I agreed.

"I saw the tempo and quality of play improve when all of you returned home last month," Pat said as Jason sat down beside us. "Do all of you play college ball?" He got head nods from us. "I know where Kyle and Jeremy play. The whole country knows that. Where do the rest of you play?"

"Villanova," "Delaware," "Syracuse," "Rutgers," and "Texas Longhorns," my friends replied.

Pat stared at Mike for a second and commented, "You're a long way from home."

"You betcha," Mike agreed. "Up here is a long way from home."

"Mike's a Texas transplant," I explained. "His dad works for New Holland Ag, the farm equipment manufacturer in New Holland."

"You can tell he's from Texas by his grating-on-the-chalkboard accent," Jeremy teased.

"Y'all suck!" Mike retorted.

"Seriously, guys," Jason interjected. "You guys all put in an incredible effort to help our team improve. I want to thank you for your work this spring."

Jason got us settled down and focused on the task he needed from us – to evaluate the kids' practices and the scrimmage. It didn't take long to get to one of the keys to the game.

"How in the hell did you guys hold back Matt Sauder?" Pat asked. "He's supposed to be all-state quarterback and a top recruit."

"That was easy," I said. "Jeremy won the coin toss when we picked teams. He took Matt. That meant I got Dave Mitchell. We didn't dare put the two of them on the field together. It would have been a massacre."

"Yeah, like it wasn't hard enough slowing down Gary Harrison," Kenny added. "That kid is a royal pain the ass to cover."

"He reminds me so much of Greg," Jeremy commented.

"Greg?" Pat asked.

"The guy that Harrison Field is named after," I explained. "Gary's older Greg played tight end with most of us." I motioned around my circle of friends. "Greg was a good tight end, a great teammate and leader."

"I think Gary might end up as good as his brother," Jake said.

"You only saw Greg play as a senior," I countered. "I think Gary is a better player today than Greg was when he started tenth grade."

"Where did the kid learn to block so well?" Pat asked. "I've never seen a ninth grader hit like that."

"That would be my doing," I explained. "Gary worked at my scout camp last summer. I taught him what I learned about blocking from my coaches and from my roommate."

"You know his roommate," Jeremy added. "Damian Thompson. Thompson is a hell of a blocker. I should know. He knocked me on my can more than once when we played against each other a couple years ago."

"I've seen him play on TV," Jason agreed. "He is a hell of a blocker. He can run the ball too."

"Coach, you should know that Matt, Dave, Cody and Gary will be working out with me this summer," I said. "All of them work for me as lifeguards at our scout camp's pool. We train every day after lunch."

"You were a scout too?" Pat asked. "I did my time in scouts when I was younger."

"Most of the guys here were scouts or Venturers," I said, " ... except Kenny and Mike."

"I was a scout ... back in Texas," Mike added. "I got too busy keeping up with Andy and Kyle when we moved here. I concentrated on football instead."

"I'm sure you'll give my guys good instruction over the summer," Jason said. "Let's talk about some of the other players."

We went through the varsity and then the JV players, one by one.

"What did you think of Baughman's arm?" Jason asked.

"He's not the strongest I've ever seen," I replied. " ... but how could you expect two guys like Matt Sauder on one team? Jacob did well for what I asked of him."

"I guess I saw what I could do with Baughman if, God forbid, anything happens to Matt next season," Pat said. " ... lots of option plays. Baughman looked good on the play fake off the option."

"How about Newswanger?" Jason asked. "He pulled off a couple good drives, except..."

"I know," I interjected. "I chewed him out after he threw back across the field on that rollout."

Jeremy laughed and asked, "You chewed your quarterback out for throwing a touchdown pass? That's a good one."

"The touchdown was beside the point," I replied.

"It's a dangerous, low percentage pass," Jason said. "I'm glad you reminded him I don't want that sort of thing."

"Other than the one bad decision, Ryan played well," I said. "He has a better arm than I expected."

"I saw you opened up your offense when you realized that," Jason said.

"It made sense," I explained. "I ran option when I had a quarterback suited to it. When I had a guy with a strong arm I took advantage of it."

"You'll make a good coach when you get your chance, Kyle," Jason said. "A lot of coaches twice your age don't remember to tailor their offense to the talent they have."

We talked some more about the other JV and middle school players, though not in quite as much depth. Jason and Pat had years to learn about them before they arrived on varsity.

"Who was the kid you had playing free safety at the end of the game?" Pat asked. "Is he going to be on JV next fall?"

"I doubt it," Mike answered. "Joe Eberly finished sixth grade this morning. He isn't eligible for JV yet, is he?"

"No, he isn't," Jason confirmed. "He could be a hell of player when he gets bigger. What was your thinking with the defense in the fourth quarter, Kyle?"

"Ask Mike and Kenny," I replied. "They handled the defense for me."

"I didn't figure that deep passing was a big threat," Mike explained. "I thought I could stuff the run at the line and dare them to pass deep. I told Joe to play centerfield and just go for the ball if anyone tried throwing. Joe would have just as good a chance as the receiver to come up with the ball. Taylor [the seventh grader playing QB for Red in the 4th quarter] doesn't have the arm strength or accuracy for deep balls yet."

"Yeah, it worked out that way," Jake agreed. "I tried to get Taylor to go deep but he couldn't put the ball on the money. I never got White out of the stacked defense in the fourth quarter."

"I'm impressed with all of you," Jason said. "Walt Caffrey was right. The seven of you are excellent football players and good at coaching too. Thank you for all your efforts. You have made my and Pat's jobs much easier come August."

We thanked Jason and Pat for the pizza and Cokes and wished them good luck for the coming season. None of us would be able to see how the Wolverines did when football two-a-days started in the middle of August. We would be in the middle of our own training camps.

--oooOooo--

My six week vacation was ending too quickly for my taste. Penny and I made good use of every minute we had left that week. We went Mini-golfing with Jeremy, Kathy, Hal and Tammy Thursday evening. Penny decided to spend the night with me even though she had work on Friday.

I spent most of Friday packing and getting my things ready for my six weeks in summer camp. I warned Penny to dress up for dinner. I took her to Iron Horse Inn in Strasburg. I had read excellent things about their food.

We enjoyed a leisurely dinner in the quaint old inn. I enjoyed their stuffed mushrooms appetizer while Penny had crab and artichoke dip. Friday was prime rib night, so both of us ordered that for our main course.

We headed over to the park and relaxed along the banks of the Pequea Creek. We cuddled, talked and enjoyed a romantic evening as we watched the stars come out. Kisses were shared at the park but no more. Penny and I headed back to my house to become more intimate.

Our favorite ice cream, mint chocolate chip, shared in my kitchen gave us more energy for our lovemaking. Downstairs, we made out for a while before sharing our bodies together. We lay in bed cuddling after our first time, in that mellow state between climax and alertness.