Chapter 36

I bumped into Jay Nicholson in the bathroom Monday morning before my first class.

"Hey man, no cast," I exclaimed when I saw my friend. "You look good standing on two legs again."

"I know," Jay agreed. "It feels great to be free of that damn cast. I have to lose another fifteen pounds and then get myself in shape."

"And rehab," I added. "Don't forget about it. It's a royal pain in the ass."

"Yeah, I know that," Jay replied. "I was wondering, Kyle, would you mind if I joined you, Chip and Damian when you do your passing drills. I need to work on my arm strength and accuracy."

"I'll talk to Damian and Chip," I replied, " ... but I don't see why it wouldn't work out. Two quarterbacks, two receivers – what's not to work?"

I caught up with Damian in the afternoon and Chip at dinner. Both guys were agreeable to Jay joining us Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. We would stay late when spring practice started to continue our passing drills.

The school week was routine. My two history courses were excellent. Art and geography was good. Sociology was OK. Even Thursday, my busiest day, was a blast. I had three hours of art followed by an hour and a half of climbing at the YMCA. I had to eat lunch on the bus ride back to campus so I could make it to Sociology 1 without being too late. I finished off my day with an hour of passing drills with Jay and Chip.

I thought Damian was doing much better at catching passes, thanks to the months of work he and Chip put in. I enjoyed working with Jay again. Jay's throws didn't have the same velocity or distance that they had last fall. His timing on the routes was very good, considering that we hadn't worked together in five months. I was confident Jay would get it back by summer.

Jen and her new boyfriend Mark Armstrong invited Kelly and me to go out for pizza and bowling on Friday night. Jen talked about Mark all week. Kelly met him briefly when he stopped by their room Wednesday night. I didn't meet him until we met at Kelly and Jen's room to go downtown Friday night.

Mark was 5'-11" tall with blond hair and blue eyes. He had an average build and looked like he weighed in the neighborhood of 175 pounds. Kelly and I got to know him better as we shared pizza with him and Jen at Hi-Way Pizza. Mark was majoring in electrical engineering. He was a sophomore like the rest of us.

Mark and Jen hit it off on their first date on the Friday night Kelly and I left to go skiing in the Poconos at the beginning of the month. They spent almost the entire weekend together. Jen spent half a week of spring break at Mark's home in Nazareth, Pa. Mark spent the other half a week at Jen's home in Bryn Mar. I could see why Jen fell for Mark. He was handsome, friendly and a good conversationalist.

I offered to drive everyone. Mark offered too. We used his car since it was parked near his downtown apartment, not too far from the pizza place. We bowled three games before we were ready to call it a night. Mark dropped us off on Pollock Road near our dorms when we finished.

I found another reason to like Mark a lot then. Jen did not get out of his car. She planned to spend the night at Mark's apartment. I knew Mark shared a small two bedroom apartment with three roommates. The guy sharing Mark's room lived about an hour from campus and always went home for the weekend. Jen planned to stay over on weekends at Mark's frequently.

Of course that meant I got to stay over at Kelly's room frequently too. I definitely was going to like Mark a lot! Kelly and I stopped by my room to pack an overnight bag and to let a note for Damian.

Kelly and I had time to make love twice that evening before midnight. I did need to make sure I got some sleep that night. I had to be in good shape Saturday morning for the Pro Scout Day so I could help Zack Hayes impress the scouts.

Kelly was still asleep when I slipped out of her room around nine o'clock on Saturday morning. I needed to get moving to be ready for Pro Scout Day but Kelly didn't. I showered, dressed and grabbed a breakfast sandwich at the Mix on the way to the Lasch Building.

J. T. Hill, Angus Pitts, Jake Washington, Vlad Lazlo, Cuch, Karol Zizka, Steve Cobb, Zack Hayes, Shawn O'Conner, Evan Foster and Hassan Jackson were all in the locker room getting dressed and ready for their evaluations.

More underclassmen then me showed up to help with the event. Glenn Korbel, Shawn Byrd, Christian Hunsecker, and David McCall came too. Glenn would provide an extra arm to throw passes to the guys. Christian was there shag punts for Steve and to provide a receiver to cover for Cuch and Angus. Shawn and David were there to cover Hassan and Evan when they ran routes.

I was surprised when Anders Voight walked into the locker room a minute after me. "Anders, I thought you weren't interested in turning pro?" I asked my buddy. "Are you giving up on grad school?"

"Of course I'm going to grad school," Anders replied. "I'm here to help the coaches." He gave me a wink and added, "Remember, it's 'Coach Voight' now."

"Yeah, rrrrighttt..." I answered laughing. "Whatever you say, Coach."

It was going to be hard next season if he did become a grad assistant coach for our team. I suspected I would always think of him as my buddy first. Could I call Anders 'Coach' if Coach Burton hired him for the next season?

All of us suited up and headed over to Holuba Hall. Our practice fields still had some snow on them and weren't really fit to use yet. Undoubtedly we would be working inside on Monday when spring practice started.

There were half a dozen of our coaches and thirty-five to forty scouts waiting for the group when we came out of the locker room. Ten players' agents stood along the sidelines too, waiting to see how their clients did today. Max was among the agents that I saw.

I recognized two other faces among the crowd. Gary Kubiak, head coach of the Houston Texans, was there. Jeff Baldwin from the Denver Broncos was present too. Baldwin was bigger in real life than I had imagined from seeing him on TV. I guess that happens when you are constantly surrounded by big football players in pads. Baldwin looked to be over six foot tall, maybe only two or three inches shorter than me.

Everyone stretched and got themselves ready first. We extras hung out on the sideline as the potential draftees ran the 40, did various shuttle drills and demonstrated their leaping ability. The whole crowd went over to the Lasch Building when the seniors demonstrated their bench press abilities.

J. T. Hill benched an amazing 41 repetitions with 225 pounds on the bar. Zack did an excellent 21 repetitions, only a few less than Karol's and Jake's totals. We went back to Holuba Hall after that.

Our coaches ran Evan, Shawn and Hassan through a progression of passing routes while Zack and Glenn threw to them. Coach Burton sent me in to run a progression of routes for Zack after that.

I tried my absolute best to run precise routes for Zack. I didn't want my mistakes to make him look bad. We went through short and medium routes. Coach Adams told me to cut loose on the deep routes. I flew down the field on fly, flag and post routes. Zack hit me in stride on all of them. My friend threw brilliantly.

The coaches sent Evan, Shawn and Hassan out to catch against Angus, Karol, Shawn and David's coverage. They even sent Jake out to cover Shawn on some shallow pass routes. I assume the coaches wanted to demonstrate his versatility. Draft pundits speculated whether Jake would play as an undersized, fast defensive end or as a big, fast linebacker. I thought Jake had the skill to do either.

I was hanging out along the sidelines with Christian and Anders when one of the team officials walked up and stood beside us. I glanced over and saw it was Coach Baldwin from Denver.

"I guess you gentlemen have played with Hayes for a couple seasons now," Coach Baldwin said. "Any observations you care to share with me about catching his passes?"

"I played with Zack three seasons," I explained. "We played together one season in high school and two here. I watched your team enough last season when we were cheering on Antwaan to know you are here looking for a good quarterback. You won't go wrong if you pick Zack."

"Why is that?" Coach Baldwin asked.

"Zack has size, mobility and good arm strength," I replied. "That is a small part of his skills. No one works harder on our team than Zack. He is a tremendous leader and has football savvy. No member on our team is better at X's and O's than him. Have you checked out our stats after the loss to Ohio State?"

"Not personally," Coach Baldwin replied.

"He pulled us together after that loss and gave our team focus," I explained. "He was determined to show the world how good our team was. We blew every team away that played us after that. The scores only tell part of the story. Zack's stats look OK over that stretch. They are eye popping when you realize he often was benched before halftime in most of those games."

"Interesting," Coach Baldwin commented.

"Forgive me if I am being presumptuous but you need to pick a new quarterback this year," I said. "You're undoubtedly looking at Zack, Brady Rasmussen and Elijah Carter. Elijah Carter is a good quarterback. I know. My best friend is Elijah's backup this season. I know Brady personally. I caught passes with him when I was being recruited for college. I consider him a friend. He is a hell of a quarterback too. Still, I believe you will fall in love with Zack when you get to know him. No one in college today is as good as him."

"The Maxwell Club agrees with your evaluation," Coach Baldwin said. "What do you think Mr. Hunsecker?"

"I agree with Kyle completely," Christian responded. "It has been a privilege playing with Zack the past two years."

"Thank you for the insight, gentlemen," Coach Baldwin said. He got a grin on his face and gave me a wink. "You wouldn't consider going pro this year, would you? I could use a wide receiver to go with my next quarterback."

"Sorry, you'll have to wait," I replied. "I'm only nineteen and not eligible. Anyway, I won't be leaving Penn State until I have my degree in hand two years from now."

"I'll keep you in mind then," Coach Baldwin said. "Thank you for talking with me." The coach moved on down the sideline and rejoined the crowd of scouts and team officials watching the workout.

"Do you think I sold him on Zack?" I asked Christian.

"We'll find out in the end of April when they do the draft," Christian answered.

Coach Burton sent me back in again later in the morning. I ran random routes that the coaches called against Shawn Byrd. I gave the scouts a chance to see exactly how Zack could handle coverage. Shawn defended some of the passes but Zack and I completed more. I thought the two of us put our friend in the best possible light for the scouts.

My part was done before lunch. Zack thanked me for helping out. After lunch the scouts and coaches were doing Wonderlic (IQ) testing and interviews. Zack invited Kelly and me to join him, Leigh Ann and Max for dinner tonight. I accepted my friend's generosity.

Zack decided to try something different with us on Saturday night. He took us to Herwig's Austrian Bistro. Herwig's served authentic Austrian food so the menu looked a little foreign to us. I choose the Bauernschmaus, a platter featuring roast pork, bratwurst, sauerkraut and a knödel (bread dumpling). Kelly decided to try the Käs Spätzle, miniature dumplings sautéed in butter after they were cooked with caramelized onions and then served topped with cheese.

Max went with the Wienerschnitzel, Zack had the Tyrolean Gröstl, a hash of meat, potatoes and caramelized onions. Leigh Ann decided to have Rosmarin Schweinsbraten, pork roasted with rosemary.

Herwig's was a tiny restaurant, seating only twenty-four people. Brandy, Mr. Brandstetter, the owner, took excellent care of us. His food was excellent. In some ways it reminded me of Pennsylvania Dutch cooking but more cosmopolitan. I guess that makes sense. The food I was used to back home was simple farmer's food. The Austrians, particularly the Viennese, considered themselves to be more refined than that.

Max's conversation was interesting. We talked art, history, politics and of course, football. Max recited a list of teams he thought would benefit from Zack's services. Naturally we came to no conclusion about where Zack would play next season. We would have to wait five weeks until the NFL draft to find out that information.

Max promised to keep in touch with Zack about once a week. He didn't expect much action until the end of April. The teams with first or second pick in the draft often contacted agents about deals before the draft but not any teams with lower picks. Kelly and I thanked Zack for our meal and Zack thanked Max for his and Leigh Ann's dinner.

Zack, Leigh Ann, Kelly and I walked back to campus together. Zack's apartment was dark when we got there. Jake, Evan and J. T. all went out to dinner with their agents too. Kelly and I helped Zack and Leigh Ann set up for the night's party.

We needed about twenty minutes to get things in order. The beer was on ice in coolers. The bar was set up in the kitchen. We had snacks in the living room for everyone to enjoy.

The first guests began to arrive a little after eight o'clock. Half a dozen people were there when I answered the doorbell the next time. Karl Weaver, my high school teammate and fellow wide receiver was there when I opened the door. Karl was a semi-regular at Zack's parties. Karl and I had made varsity together Zack's last year in high school.

"Welcome Karl, come on in," I said. Karl stepped inside and I saw the guest behind him. "Jason! I didn't know you were on Main Campus," I exclaimed as I saw Jason Harting, another former teammate from Paradise.

"I invited Jason," Karl said. "I bumped into him in the Willard Building last Thursday. I suggested he stop by with me tonight so he could see you and Zack."

"I hope no one minds," Jason added. "I feel kind of weird – like I'm crashing the party. Zack probably doesn't even remember me. I never played football with him."

I barely started to reply when Zack spotted the new guests. He boomed out a greeting, "Hey Karl, glad you could make it." He spotted Jason next. "HARTING! It's damn good to see you. It's been ages."

Zack, ever the courteous host, made Jason feel welcome and comfortable at the party. I introduced Kelly to Jason and we visited awhile as we enjoyed the good brews Zack stocked for all his parties.

Jason had commuted to Berks Campus in the fall and had been extremely lucky to get a spot on Main Campus so quickly. It took most students a couple years to switch to Main Campus. Jason wanted here as early as possible. He was studying agricultural engineering and all the ag facilities were here at this campus. He didn't mind getting a room out in the hinter lands – room 719 in Sproul Hall at the northern end of East Halls.

I introduced Jason to a few of the available freshmen girls at the party before Kelly and I went on to mingle with other guests. I lost track of him later that evening. I don't know if he got lucky and took a young lady back to his room or if he just got bored with the party.

Kelly and I hung out with our friends enjoying the freely flowing beer and good company. We headed back to Kelly's room around midnight. We did a little role playing that evening. I was the stern school teacher and Kelly played the seventeen year old siren seducing the older man. Kelly really got into it. I wondered if she had a crush on one of her teachers when she was in high school. I had two good cums that night. Kelly had more.

Our football team's spring practice opened at 3:45 pm on Monday, March 21st. I was psyched about it. I hadn't played football in almost three months. It was time to go again. Coach Burton started us off with fitness tests, weigh-ins and equipment pickup the first day.

The coaches had us doing flexibility and fundamentals drills on Tuesday and Wednesday. We finally started practicing plays on Thursday. The coach's depth chart wasn't clear in the beginning. Chip and Glenn split time with the first team. Chip ran the second string when Glenn ran the first, and vice versa. Colin O'Shea and Jon Stafford split time running the third string offense.

Aidan Nagy and Alex Majerowicz were stuck strictly in the second string. They had been reinstated with the team in mid-January but were still in Coach Burton's dog house. I didn't see them advancing until August, at the earliest. By default Christian Hunsecker and Tanner Riggs took the flanker and slot receiver spots beside me on the first string.

Damian and Wyatt Smith split time at tailback between first and second strings. Jibril Sloan and Amir Lee split time as the first string tight end.

On defense Josh Bruno slid over to the middle and took Karol Zizka's old spot. Tony King and Jarrell Cook split time in Josh's old outside linebacker spot. Denzel Hunt took over Vic Samovitz's left cornerback spot opposite Shawn Byrd.

One surprise was at free safety. The coaches switched David McCall from cornerback to free safety behind Tyler Madden. I suspected that had to do with his speed. No one would ever go deep on us with David lined up at free safety. He was fast enough to cover the whole backfield, sideline to sideline.

Our practice was a little ragged the first day. We got better on Friday afternoon. The coaches planned a Saturday morning scrimmage for the next three Saturdays. The fourth and last Saturday of spring practice would be the annual Blue and White game. We would entertain a big crowd of our fans in Beaver Stadium on April 23rd.

Mark and Jen went out with Kelly and me Friday night. We went to Baby's for burgers, fries and shakes. We caught a movie afterward. I liked Mark a lot because he invited Jen to his apartment on weekends, leaving Kelly and me privacy too. He was a genuinely nice guy and Jen seemed to be crazy about him.

Mark invited Kelly and me to come to his frat's party on Saturday night. We thanked him for the invitation but declined. Kelly and I already agreed to help Zack set up for his party that evening. We promised Mark and Jen we would go with them the following Saturday night.

Saturday morning's scrimmage was fun, if a little ragged. Chip ran offense for the first quarter. I broke one kick return for a fifty-five yard gain. I made our punter, Mitch Jackson, look bad on a punt return when he was forced to tackle me. The only thing that stopped me from scoring on the play was getting run down from behind by Dave McCall when Mitch slowed me down.

I ended up with five receptions for 94 yards and two touchdowns in my half of play. I was very pleased for Damian. He did a good job running the ball in the first half, carrying ten times for 53 yards. He caught a couple flare passes out of the backfield and made a great catch on a slant route.

Damian got a step on Tony King. Chip led him a little too much but Damian pulled the ball into his chest without breaking stride. He ended up gaining thirteen yards on the play. Coach Schroeder and Burton had to be impressed. No way would he have made that catch last fall. His time spent working with Chip and me was paying off.

I spent Saturday afternoon lifeguarding at the Natatorium. I needed to earn some money so I had cash. Spring break was fun but had cost way more than I had budgeted for it. Dad was understanding about my financial situation, but still I didn't want to spend my first year out of college paying off my debt to Dad.

Zack invited Kelly and me to join him and Leigh Ann for dinner at his apartment that evening. Zack set up a small charcoal grill in front of his apartment. I helped him grill up steaks for the four of us. Kelly prepared baked potatoes and a salad for dinner. Leigh Ann called home and got her mother's cherry cobbler recipe.

Zack and I sat outside and watched our steaks as the girls worked inside. We were fortunate that the weather was nice. The thermometer peaked above fifty degrees that afternoon. Most of the snow in State College had melted, except for the big piles left from clearing streets or parking lots. After enduring almost two months of sub-twenty degree weather this winter, the day's fifty degrees felt like summer.

Kelly and Leigh Ann came outside and joined us when their dishes went in the oven. We relaxed and talked as our dinner cooked. Zack reviewed the highlights of the day's scrimmage.

He wasn't a team member anymore and hadn't participated in the scrimmage. Still he was out on the sideline in the morning in khakis and a blue Penn State football sweatshirt like the coaches. He stood with Coach Schroeder and Coach Burton and conferred with them occasionally as the scrimmage continued. My friend was going to make a hell of a football coach someday when he finished playing football.

We took our steaks back inside when they were finished. Steaks, baked potatoes, corn and salad made an excellent dinner. Leigh Ann's cherry cobbler smothered in vanilla ice cream topped the meal off perfectly.

Kelly and I stayed around to help Zack and Leigh Ann set up for the party. Jake and Keneisha came back from her apartment when they finished their romantic dinner together. J. T. and Evan arrived later with beer, wine and liquor they picked up from the state store.

The party got going around eight o'clock. Everyone was in good moods. The football scrimmage was just the thing to get rid of the winter blues. Evan decided to play bartender again that evening. The drink of the night was Long Island Iced Tea. Everyone knows how much I like iced tea. By the fourth one I was not in any shape to keep count. I know I had more than that but I have no idea how many more.

J. T. found Kelly and me dead to the world on Sunday morning, sprawled on the couch in their apartment. J. T. was kind enough to get us aspirin and bottles of water. He helped us head back to Kelly's room. We collapsed on her bed and slept until noon on Sunday. Kelly and I skipped brunch and stayed in her darkened room until we recovered from our Saturday night debauch.

I received a call from Zack Sunday after dinner commanding me to appear at his apartment. I tried to circumvent the temperance lecture I knew was coming when Zack answered the door.

"I'm really sorry about Kelly and me crashing on your couch last night Zack," I said. "We had a little too much to drink." I gave my friend a wink. "Evan makes a pretty good bartender."

"Jesus FUCKING Christ!" Zack exclaimed. "Is that all you have to say to me?"

"What?" I asked. I wondered why Zack was so worked up.

"That's what you think this is about?" Zack queried. "Sleeping on my sofa? God! You're worse than I thought. You have no memory of tripping and landing on the table? You knocked chips, pretzels, and things everywhere."

"I don't remember," I replied.

"You and Kelly tried to sing along to the music last night," Zack continued. "I've heard you sing when you're sober. You aren't very good. You are God awful at singing when you are drunk."

"Sorry," I replied weakly.

"How about throwing up in the bathroom at 1:30 this morning?" Zack asked crossly.

"I did?" I answered. "I'm sorry, Zack."

"That's it?" Zack growled. " 'I'm sorry.' You're a fucking disaster. Do you think Evan and I wanted to clean up your puke in the middle of the night?" I shook my head no. "You're like a fucking piece of dynamite. Everyone knows you're going to blow up sometime. The only thing we're wondering is who you are going to take out when you blow up."

"Am I that bad?" I asked. My mentor's harsh words were a slap in the face.

"You commented how stupid you thought Alex, Max and Aidan were last fall when they got busted for drinking," Zack said. "Max got his ass thrown off the team. I had this exact same conversation with him last year. I sure as hell hope you wise up better than he did."

"I'll do better in the future," I promised.

"Talk is cheap, Kyle," Zack countered. "You prove it."

I didn't argue with Zack. I had gotten carried away on Saturday night. Still, my friend was overreacting. He had always looked out for me over our years together. I was almost twenty years old and was capable of looking after myself. I wasn't the only guy around who got drunk at the parties. I would be all right.

I was fully recovered from the weekend on Monday. Some trends were starting to become clear with three practices and a scrimmage under our belt. Glenn Korbel knew our offense best of the four quarterbacks on the field. His athletic talents limited his effectiveness. He couldn't run certain deep pass plays because he didn't have the arm strength needed. Glenn could be a little shaky on accuracy sometimes too.

Chip could deliver the ball with power, velocity or touch – whatever was needed. Chip had learned most the plays in the playbook but needed more practice to perfect them. We were a more explosive offense with Chip running things but we were prone to making mistakes. When Glenn ran things, we were steady but unspectacular.

Both choices were unattractive to me. Our team was spectacular last season so it was disappointing to see us make mistakes with our offense. I felt the answer to our difficulties was standing on the sideline. Jay came to every practice dressed in street clothes and stood with Coach Peterson, Coach Schroeder and Anders. He talked with the coaches, observed and commented on the plays.

Jay had the right mix of arm strength, experience, and drive to run this team near the level that Zack did last season. All we needed was for Jay to rehab his leg and to get himself into playing shape again. Hopefully he could do that by August.

I watched the third string occasionally when someone came in to take my place on first string. Colin O'Shea ran the offense efficiently. He was not the most graceful or athletic player around but he got his job done.

His job on our team was to run the scout team and to tutor the young guys on how our offense ran. This was his third season with the team and he was getting good at his job. I liked the how he worked with the younger guys, particularly Jon Stafford.

You could see the athleticism and physical gifts that earned Jon his scholarship here. He was so raw and inexperienced. He made a mistake on nearly every other play. Anders and Colin patiently explained things to him. To Jon's credit, he rarely made the same mistake twice. In a few years I expected Jon would be an excellent quarterback. That would be after I graduated. I expected there was little chance the two of us would ever play a meaningful game together here.

Our defense looked good as I played against them. Josh Bruno was proving quite capable of replacing Karol at middle linebacker. Shawn Byrd continued his outstanding performance at cornerback. Trevor now was the leader on the defensive line. His group looked solid. Next season we wouldn't need to score as many points as we did last season in order to win games. That was fortunate. Our offense wasn't able to score as fast or as efficiently without Zack at the helm.

Wednesday evening I got a call from my brother Will.

"What's up big brother?" I asked when I recognized his voice.

"How would you feel about feel about working at the pool this summer?" Will asked.

"I could do that if you want," I agreed. "Are you sending Trent back to the boat yard?"

"No, that is why I'm calling," Will explained. "Trent can't work at camp this summer. He got an internship that fits his major."

"That's good for him," I said. I was disappointed that I wouldn't spend one last summer with Trent before he graduated from college. "Who are we going to send to the boat yard if I work at the pool?"

"I thought Eric and Dustin could handle it the whole summer," Will replied. "They did a nice job after you left for football last summer."

"Which one will be the assistant director?" I asked.

"Both of them I think," Will answered. " ... assuming John [our camp director] approves that. That is how they handled things last summer. They work great together. I don't see any reason to promote one over the other."

"That's cool," I said.

"There is one other piece of camp business I wanted you to think about," Will said. "We are short one aquatics staffer now. Let me know if you think of anyone we can hire to fill the spot. I can put an extra CIT at the pool for the first few weeks to fill the slot. I'll promote one of the CITs to paid staff when I find out who does the best job."

"That will work," I agreed.

"I'd rather have someone with a little more maturity to help you at the pool," Will said. "You know how chaotic things can get when we have 80-100 kids there working on swimming, lifesaving, lifeguarding all in one period."

"I hear you, bro," I agreed. "I'll keep my eyes open and see if I can recruit anyone to help."

Will and I talked for a few more minutes about our lives. Classes were going well for him and Abby. I told him how things were for Kelly and me.