“Five of them are my kids; I have 4 boys and a girl. The other three are my brother’s children.”
“Wow. Five kids at your age? I had no idea.”
“Yeah, they’re really mine. I can tell you the story sometime, but I don’t imagine you asked me here to talk about my munchkins.”
“Well, you’re right. I need to talk to you about what happens now. During your rehab, I’ll be your point person
with the football team. Being the resident psychologist, Coach Merritt handed me that role for all injured players.”
“You worried about my mental health?” David quipped.
“Funny, coming from someone with a concussion. If you want, we can talk about how your parents messed you up or your feelings.”
David held up his hands in surrender.
“Just tell me what I have to do.”
“Swing by the trainers’ offices each morning so the medical staff can evaluate you. Until they say otherwise, you can’t do any football-related activities. As you get better, they’ll be in charge of what’s allowed and what isn’t,” Amy said.
“And something else: what exactly do you think you’re doing taking on a defensive end? As much as you may not believe it, you’re not Superman. I’m told you’re tough, and you certainly looked that way to me. But here you are with a concussion. If you don’t want to repeat this exercise, you need to stop taking unnecessary risks.”
“Okay, I got it. So, what’s your role in all this?”
“To start with, I want you to give me regular updates on how you’re feeling. Once you begin doing more, we’ll see.”
There was a knock at the door, and Bryant Franzese, USC’s recruiting coordinator, stuck his head in the door and looked at David.
“Do you know Jim Ball?”
“Offensive lineman at Alabama?” David asked.
“That’s the one. He just entered the portal, and when I talked to him, Jim said he knew you. Was he your teammate in high school?” Bryant asked.
“And friend,” David admitted. “Jim was a year ahead of me and played left tackle. When he graduated, he was undersized weight-wise, but Jim’s been in the Alabama development program, and last I saw, he’s a beast.
“Why is he leaving?” David asked.
“He’s being recruited over and doesn’t think he’ll ever get playing time. My concern is, does that mean he can’t play here?” Bryant asked.
“I have no doubt you could plug Jim in at any position, and he would start for us. I’m not saying that because he’s a friend, I’m saying that because I had him as my starting left tackle for two years. He had better footwork in high school than John Johnson has now. And I’ll bet he’s in better shape than John, too; he used to regularly do sixty minutes of hell with the rest of us.”
“That was what I was hoping you would say. I think we’ll make Jim an offer,” Bryant said.
“Hey, while I have your ear, there is a receiver you should be looking at. Damion Roth is at Iowa Western Community College. He might be the best receiver I’ve ever had the pleasure of throwing to. When my high school team played against him, he was nearly unstoppable. I swear Damion’s the reincarnation of Randy Moss. I met him at Elite 11 camp.”
“We don’t normally look at JC players.”
“You may want to reconsider that. I looked it up once, and Frank Gifford, OJ Simpson, and Keyshawn Johnson all came to USC out of JCs. Anyway, you should check him out.
I promise you that you’ll look like a rock star when you sign him,” David promised.
“I’ll look into it. Thanks,” Bryant said and left.
“Do you know any other players we should be looking at?” Amy asked with a wry smile.
“My younger brother. He would make a better backup quarterback than—and I say this with no disrespect intended—the backups we currently have. You have Colt Macklin coming in the following year, who will step into my shoes when I leave.”
Amy just shook her head and kicked him out of her office. As David went to stand up, he all but toppled over as a dizzy spell hit.
“You okay to walk home?” she asked, clearly worried.
“The team managers have been running me all over campus in a golf cart so I don’t have to walk. I would be fighting the doctors on their concussion protocol if it weren’t for that small issue,” David admitted.
“Who arranged for the golf carts?”
“Dr. Liao.”
“Good to know,” was Amy’s parting comment.
◊◊◊
There were two golf carts out front when he went outside. One had his friend Tracy Dole driving, while the other had a woman driving and a cameraman sitting in the back with Pac-12 Network logos on their polo shirts.
“Guess who the new Pac-12 student reporter is for USC?” Tracy asked.
“And your first assignment is me?” David asked.
She gave him a big smile.
“Congratulations on getting the job.”
“They said they liked my baseball interviews and felt I was the woman for the job.”
“So, what’s the plan? We do the interview as you drive me around?” David asked.
“Part of it. We set up in the courtyard behind Heritage Hall.”
“Chip Wagner is going to have my balls,” David said.
He was the local Channel 10 sports reporter who David was still deciding whether he trusted or not. It never hurt to have an ally. David had told him that the only person who would get a scoop before him was Tracy, so Chip would just have to understand.
Tracy didn’t care as she began the interview.
The ride to the courtyard was quick, so Tracy had them take a roundabout way. She used it to get background on film before the actual interview.
When it aired on the Pac-12 Network, it was only three minutes long. They’d chopped it down from an hour and a half. They also packaged a one-minute segment offered to local TV stations around the country.
Tracy gave him a ride back to his dorm when the interview was done.
“I see that you launched a new social media challenge,”
Tracy said when they were away from prying ears.
“I highly recommend Rejuvenating Body Cream. If you’d like to participate, I have a jar in my room.”
“I have to go work on the video we just shot, or I would be tempted. You should take it over to our place and talk to Pam. I think she’s about finished with her latest boyfriend,”
Tracy shared.
“He still being a good boy and keeping it in his pants?”
David asked with a chuckle.
“He is. I think what Miss Grumpypants needs is an afternoon with you to remind her what good sex is. You might even get her to agree to marry you if you asked again,” Tracy teased.
Pam was the only girl he’d ever made that offer to. He’d done it three times, but she wisely turned him down. As Coby’s mother, he’d wanted to do right by her. But Pam was right; they were too young.
The thing was that if pressed, David would offer again.
But in all honesty, what he felt about Pam had more to do with friendship with benefits. When she began to date in college, his inner Alpha Male hadn’t reared its head and declared that she was his; instead, David had felt happy for her.
He was amused that her current beau wanted to play it slow. Logically, David understood the guy’s motive to get it right with Pam. David had never met the kid, but he suspected that Pam was out of his league, and he probably thought she should be treated right and not pressed to
sleep with him. If the dummy only knew the truth, he would slit his wrists for waiting.
“I’m not going to be the guy who breaks up Pam’s relationship. Now, if we were both out of college …” David said and acted like he was thinking about it.