On the snap, David took a seven-step drop and pumped his arm to get the corner to break toward where he thought the ball was going. The receiver cut hard upfield. The pump fake had pulled the corner closer so that when the receiver cut upfield, the cornerback didn’t have as much time to react as he usually would. As soon as the receiver got his shoulders even with the cornerback, Ridge knew that David had him.
The safety had reacted when he saw his cornerback get fooled and was sprinting to disrupt the play. The cornerback had himself situated between the receiver and the quarterback as he tried to squeeze the receiver out of bounds. Ridge was impressed that the defensive players were doing everything they should.
Frequently, Ridge would have seen that and gone to his next read because it was the safe play. He smiled when David threw this high arcing pass. Both the corner and safety saw it coming. The cornerback timed his jump and reached for the ball. If it had been thrown normally, it would have been swatted away or intercepted. Instead, the corner didn’t have a chance of touching it as it dropped over the receiver’s shoulder, right into his hands.
The safety had held back to let his cornerback handle the play. When the receiver caught it, the corner had slowed down because he’d jumped. It was all the room the receiver needed to juke the safety and run free to the end zone. That was the type of throw that separated David from average quarterbacks.
“Matt’s looking good,” Doug said, referring to next year’s starter.
“That’s not Matt. That’s a freshman walk-on who they recruited to play defense.”
“Who is he?” Doug asked.
“David Dawson.”
“Why is that name familiar?” the agent asked.
“He’s the actor.”
Doug looked confused for a moment and then smiled.
“Maybe you can introduce me.”
“You know the rules. You can’t approach anyone who still has eligibility,” Ridge reminded him.
He left Doug on the sidelines and trotted out. David spotted him and tossed him the ball.
“They’re warmed up for you,” David announced.
“Now that I’m here, I’ll show you how it’s supposed to be done,” his friend shot back.
David just shook his head in amusement. Ridge really wished that David had been here last semester. Having him on the team would have been interesting. The two of them were competitive, and he would have enjoyed playing ‘if you can do that, I can do it better.’ As it was, David would improve his game because Ridge was damned if he would let an upstart show him up in his own house.
Penny, Ridge’s fiancée, greeted him at the door and gave him a kiss.
“You look like you had a good workout. How did your meeting with the Browns go?” she asked.
“Not bad. They wanted to have a quick conversation before the combine. Doug said they’re worried I might not want to go there and be hard to sign. I had to let them know that I was just excited to have the opportunity.”
“But you don’t want to go there. Why didn’t you just tell them?” she asked, following him into the bedroom as he got ready to take his shower.
“Doug told me not to. He repeated the stats about how short the average NFL career is, and all it would take is one injury. He wants me to get as much guaranteed money up front as I can to ensure our future. If I end up getting that with the Browns, I’ll suck it up and pray I make it to free agency where I can go somewhere better,” Ridge explained.
Penny stepped up and touched his chest with concern.
“I understand, but that’s where young quarterbacks go to die. If you go to Cleveland, you’ll be on the field before you’re ready. All it takes is one bad season, and the rest of the NFL will discount how good you are even if you make it to free agency.”
Ridge loved that she knew so much about football. He pulled her into his arms.
“Ridge! You’re gross right now,” she complained.
“That just means you need to take a shower with me,” he said as he wrapped his arms around Penny to keep her from escaping.
“Someone did have a good practice,” she observed.
Ridge chuckled because, after big wins, he and Penny celebrated. When he lost, he wasn’t in the mood.
“Actually, I got schooled by frickin’ Dawson. I think Doug was ready to dump me as a client and sign him. I mean, I’d seen him have some ‘aha’ moments the last few days, and he needed to knock the rust off of his arm, but he’s a freak. Everything he did worked today,” Ridge grumbled.
“Does that mean you had a bad day?” she asked.
“Hell, no. I wasn’t going down without a fight. I made throws today I only wish I’d made last season. Working out with David was the best decision I ever made.”
“Is he better than you?” Penny worried.
He laughed.
“Not now, he’s not. I’m confident that if tryouts were tomorrow, I would easily beat him out. I’ve had too much experience at this level of ball for him to take my job.”
“What about in a couple of years?” she asked.
“The kid has so much potential, it’s not funny. Coach should forget about Matt and take his lumps because the long-term future of USC football is David Dawson. If he becomes only half the football player I think he will, he’ll play on Sundays,” Ridge predicted.
“We need to invite him over for dinner some night,” Penny suggested.
“When we do, we need to ask Cassidy, too.”
“Good. I want to meet the girl who’s abusing my man.”
“Speaking of abuse...”
Ridge pulled her into the shower.
They’d just finished dinner when there was a knock at the door. Ridge looked out the peephole and sighed. It was Matt Long, and he didn’t look happy. Ridge opened the door, and Matt pushed past him.
“When were you going to tell me that David Dawson was on campus?” Matt demanded.
Before Ridge could respond, Matt was off on a tirade.
“He walked into the weight room, and within a minute, he had them all following him to the practice field to play seven-on-seven. From what I heard, it wasn’t good. Tell me that he was just here to practice with you. I don’t need him messing with what I have going,” Matt seethed.
“I thought you were so good that someone like David wouldn’t matter,” Penny said, sticking her head out of the kitchen.
Ridge kept the smile that wanted to touch his lips off his face. It would just serve to make Matt madder. He also didn’t want Matt to turn the team against David before they got the chance to know him. Matt was self-centered, like a lot of football players, but he also had a mean streak. David had been nothing but kind to Ridge and had gone along with the football coaches’ wishes. Ridge knew he had to head this off.
“David is playing baseball. I know for a fact that he didn’t get a football scholarship. It’s my understanding that Coach has you penciled in as the starter for next year,” Ridge said.
Ridge was glad that everything he told Matt was the absolute truth. He’d leave it to the coaches to explain the football side of things.
“What was he doing working out with you?” Matt asked.
“I spotted him on campus, and I needed someone to work out with. He said he would help me get ready for my NFL tryouts,” Ridge explained.
Matt took a moment to take all that in. Ridge hadn’t realized he was holding his breath until Matt relaxed, and he let it out with relief.
David had no idea of the politics that went on behind the scenes at major college programs. USC was littered with four- and even five-star players who never got the playing time their talent indicated they should when they got onto campus. Part of that was the way they were coached, but sometimes it was because they were simply overrated. Finally, their chances might also be sabotaged by other players—upperclassmen in particular—who were worried about losing their own playing time.
Ridge felt that all went back to coaching because the coaches should know whether that sort of stuff was happening.