Hunter and Ridge looked at me funny. I think they were putting the pieces together that Mark and I didn’t get along. Mark blanched when I said I was going to kick his ass. He also knew I was serious and would do it.
“They’d kick you out of camp,” Mark told me.
“I’ll track you down after hours and you won’t have anyone to pull me off of you. So, what’s it going to be? Ass-kicking or you act like a civil human being?”
He looked at the other two for help.
“Don’t look at us,” Hunter told him. “My guess is if you act like a jerk all day, we may help him.”
Mark blushed and then nodded.
“Let’s call a truce for camp. I don’t want this to be awkward,” he said, offering his hand.
I took his hand and we shook. Ridge stepped between us and put his arm around each of our shoulders.
“It’s good to see we’re all competitive. It’s also good to see we can work together. Now, let’s go kick some ass on the football field,” Ridge said with a smile.
We met our coach and camp counselor, Coach Bud Mason, who was a long-time quarterback coach. When he first got into coaching in the NFL, he was with the Oakland Raiders. The Raiders relied on quick movement by their wide receivers on the outside sidelines for the deep threat or long ball. It had been a hallmark of Al Davis as their general manager while he was alive. Coach Mason looked to be almost 70, but there was still fire in his eyes.
Our camp counselor was Quaid Rudd, the starting quarterback for Florida. Last year’s season had been the worst since 1979. They lost their last seven games and finished 4–8. It was the first time they’d missed a bowl game since 1990. Quaid was not a lock to start this year, but he was an alumnus from the camp and had enough talent to be recruited to Florida. It was one of the places I was interested in going, so I hoped to get a chance to talk to him about the campus.
“Quaid and I have had a chance to watch you all on film. Ridge, we need to work on your release on your long ball. You’re overthrowing it and we need to get you a more natural motion. Hunter, you have a high ceiling if we can get you focused. You’re too inconsistent right now. Mark, you have a great short game. I’ll help you develop a medium and long game to make you a well-rounded quarterback, or you’re going to have to find a very specific college program to fit your style,” Coach Mason told the guys.
“David, how you survived last season, I have no idea. We need to make you more of a pocket passer or you won’t survive at the next level. I know the trend is for a quarterback being both a run and pass threat. I personally don’t agree with it. I think it shortens your career.
“Now, I’m not one for a bunch of drills. I want to see you in live action. We’ve got some boys to come in so I can see you with actual players. I don’t need to see you throw to garbage cans. I’m sure you can do that or you wouldn’t be here.
“If you haven’t noticed, I’m old,” he said, and I chuckled. “Something funny about that, son?”
That caught my attention.
“No, sir,” I answered.
“Ah, good, a boy with manners. What I was going to say is I’m not your mama. I’ll get on you hard. We only have a few days and I don’t have time to mess around with you complaining. If I come across as gruff and uncompromising, it’s because I want you to be the best damn football player you can be. If you feel like crying, be a man, and do it in your car on the ride home.
“Now let’s talk about Quaid since I personally picked him. The reason I did was because he played on the worst Florida team in many years. You’re all used to winning. So was Quaid, until last year. It takes real character to go through what he did. I picked him because he has the character to turn it around. I want a fighter at quarterback. Quaid had his nose bloodied and he’s back for more. I want him to give you all a reality check. Before you’re done with football, you’ll face adversity. I hope you can learn some things from Quaid that’ll help you when you do. Plus, he’s one hell of a quarterback. So listen to him when he talks.”
We were then sent to lunch. Quaid went with us while Coach got everything ready for the afternoon.
THE CAMP HAD PASTA or hamburgers for lunch. I had them give me four hamburgers without the bun and a big salad. I’d also brought a couple of protein drinks because I was afraid of what might be served. I was glad I did. We found a table to talk. Mark chose to go sit with some other guys he knew.
I’d gotten my tablet and brought it to lunch. Kendal wanted me to start blogging. I felt it was kind of like having a diary but sharing it with the world, and that made no sense to me. A diary should be your innermost thoughts, not shared with the world. Despite my misgivings, I promised I would start at camp.
“What’re you doing?” Hunter asked me.
“My blog.”
“Don’t tell me you do the whole social-media bit,” Ridge commented.
“Sure I do. Want to see my stuff? I think I even have video of why I dislike Mark.”
I showed them my football website and I dug into the archive and found the video of Mark saying he was a better quarterback than I was. I then showed them the one where I was on ESPNU announcing for State. I had done five minutes as a rebuttal.
“Who are they?” Quaid asked pointing at the girls.
“The blond is my manager, Kendal. The cute brunette is my social media guru, Lily. And the one sitting next to me was my girlfriend and is my media slash recruiting person, Tracy.”
“Good lord, she’s as hot as that girl you were within LA,” Ridge said.
“The girl in LA was even better looking with her clothes off,” Hunter shared.
“Hunter!” I warned him.
“Sorry, Dude, I wasn’t thinking,” Hunter apologized.
“What are you guys talking about?” Quaid asked.
I pulled up the photos of Rose and me at the pool.
“I don’t have anything to teach you,” Quaid moaned. “I need you to come to Florida, and I’ll be your wingman.”
“Wait till you see this,” it told him.
I showed him the photo of Hannah Minacci kissing me on the plane.
“Is that ...?” Hunter asked, and I nodded.
I couldn’t help myself. I pulled up the video of Adrienne in Chicago where I put the lip-lock on her.
“Hey, is that Adrienne? Dude!” Ridge exclaimed when I kissed her.
There were some high fives, I’m embarrassed to say.
“That job as my benchwarmer, bag boy and picking up my overflow isn’t looking so bad now, is it?” I teased Ridge.
“Penny would kill both of us.”
Yes, I think she would. We then talked about Coach Mason. Quaid told us what he knew.
“I came to camp my senior year. I was honestly not the best quarterback here. We’d won state the year before mainly due to our defense. I was motivated to learn when I came to camp. I was lucky in getting Coach Mason as my coach. He taught me to be a quarterback, and when it showed on the field, I got a lot of offers. I owe a lot to him. He got me headed in the right direction. I came back as a counselor to learn more from him.”
I went to the locker room to put my tablet away. I found Mark talking to a recruiter. Their body language screamed ‘sneaky,’ so I turned on my tablet videocam and recorded them. I then saw Mark take money from the guy. I quietly went to my locker and put my tablet away. Mark and the other guy didn’t appear to have seen or heard me. They left, and I hurried out to find the guys. I’d never expected to see that. What had I stumbled into?
Hunter saw my mood had changed. I didn’t know what to do.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“I ran into Mark.” I tried to play it off.
Dang it, I shouldn’t have told them I saw Mark.
“You know what? Let’s just forget I said anything, and go learn some skills.”