The good news was I was now very coachable. I think that was the point of this exercise. Too many people counted on me. Everyone from Coach Lambert to my teammates to the community somehow were invested in how well I’d play. Even Coach Harrington had something on the line that was directly related to how I played quarterback.
I TOOK A SHOWER AND went to Coach Lambert’s office. He motioned me in and I sat down. He was finishing a call.
“Yes, he just came in. I’ll see you in a minute,” he said when he hung up. “Coach Harrington is joining us.”
We only had to wait a short time and Coach Harrington came in and shut the door behind him.
“How was this morning’s training?” Coach Lambert asked.
“After watching the film, I realized how far I have to go,” I admitted.
“Good to hear. Is there anything I can do to help?” Coach Lambert asked.
“Actually, there is. Can you show me what we’re working towards, so I can have something to compare my progress to? I’m not talking about comparing against what I can achieve in the next few weeks. I want to compare against the best.”
Coach Harrington pulled out his laptop.
“You have PE right after lunch. Come back here for PE. I wanted to show Coach Lambert this morning’s film. I’ll also show you both what we’re working towards. Now get out of here.”
I WAS THE FIRST ONE to our lunch table. Today was some kind of gray mystery meat in gravy over runny pseudo-mashed potatoes. I felt my stomach rumble, so I took the gamble. Greg was the first one to join me.
“Hey, Bro, long time no see. How’s Uncle Jim?” I teased him.
I’d lucked out and hadn’t seen Uncle Jim for more than five minutes. He was the baby of the family and acted as if everyone should take care of him. We all loved him, but he was the most self-centered person I knew. Greg gave me the finger.
“He’s the biggest slob alive, and he snores. I swear Mom’s going to kick his ass.”
“I’d like to see that.”
Alan and Jeff sat down.
“Hey, guys,” I said.
“Nice of you to grace us with your presence,” Jeff said, giving me a hard time.
“So how was Kentucky?” Alan asked, digging for dirt.
“Okay, one at a time. Jeff, it’s good to see you. Alan, Kentucky was awesome. Every time I turned around there was a better-looking girl. The campus is crawling with babes. I also met Lori Winnick.”
Everyone else started to join us.
“Tell us about the hot chicks,” Tracy said as she sat down next to me.
I blushed.
“Busted,” Alan said, as he cracked up.
“Yep, you guys suck. You’re supposed to give me a heads-up.”
Jeff gave me a superior look.
“The foundation of a good relationship is open communication.”
Tracy gave him a look.
“You’ve been watching too much Dr. Phil.”
Luke sat down.
“So, your boyfriend is keeping secrets.”
Tracy turned to him.
“He’s not my boyfriend. We’re just close friends.”
AFTER LUNCH, I WENT to Coach Lambert’s office, only to be directed to a conference room. The coaching staff was all waiting for me. Bo Harrington was sitting next to a projector. There was an open seat between him and the screen and he indicated that I was supposed to sit in it. As soon as I sat down, they dimmed the lights and ran through the highlights of my morning session.
“David asked me to show him what we’re working towards. I’m going to show you film of Jeff George. In high school, he was the first winner of the Dial Award as the best high school player in the nation in 1985. He’s who we’re going to use as a model for David’s development.”
The film started showing Jeff when he was at the University of Illinois. Coach Harrington let it run several plays before he stopped.
“Jeff George was the number-one draft choice in 1990. The reason he was drafted that high was because of his arm strength and quick release. The ball is out of his hand in one smooth motion.”
I could see him glide back and stand tall in the pocket. He made playing quarterback look effortless. I now had something to model my play after.
THE REST OF THE WEEK was much of the same. I would have been lost in my classes if it hadn’t been for Suzanne and my tutoring sessions. She seemed to be able to keep me focused on what I needed to survive scholastically. The rest of my life was football. Even lunch hour was turned into seven-on-seven drills organized by Magic and Luke.
The one thing that stood out that week was my video chat with Alice and John Phillips. I’d gotten home from practice at a quarter till eight when I got a text from John. I sent him a message back telling him to jump onto video chat. I turned on my tablet and connected to find Alice and John seated at their kitchen table.
“Hey guys, good to see you.”
They both had big smiles, and it was good to see them. Alice winked at me.
“Hey, David,” Alice said in a sultry voice.
John wouldn’t take the bait.
“Shut up, Alice, you can talk to him in a minute. I hear you got a coach.”
“Wow, you’re well-informed. I just started working with him today.”
“Dad’s thinking about hiring someone to help me. Do think your guy is helping?”
“Why don’t we talk in a week or two and I can tell you more. So far, I know everything about what I’m doing wrong. Text me when you and your dad will be around and I’ll fill you in.”
“How much is it costing you?”
“He’s here through the rest of the season and will stay if we make the playoffs. It isn’t cheap. He’s charging almost $50,000.”
John whistled.
“Dad won’t spend that much. Is this guy some kind of guru or something?”
“He’s a ‘fixer.’ His list of clients is impressive. You saw how bad my technique is. Why don’t you talk to the coaches at Kentucky and see what they recommend?”
“That’s a good idea. I’m going to jump off so you can talk to Alice.”
She gave me another wink, letting me know that we were going to play with him again.
“Hey, Stud, I’ve been a good girl.”
“Oh, Baby, so did you get your mom to show you how to get all the Popsicle in your mouth?”
I saw a dishtowel fly into view and hit Alice in the head.
“Dawson, you suck! Quit trying to corrupt my little sister!”
“Love you, John!”
Alice cracked up.
“Okay, he just left. I miss you. We need to figure out how to see each other.”
“I don’t know. I can’t even drive to come see you until this summer when I get my license. For now, we’ll just have to chat like this.”
“You look dog-tired. Get your rest and we’ll talk this weekend.”
“I look forward to it.”
Friday October 4
THE GAME THIS WEEK was away at Lakeview. They had a bad team this year and we expected to win. Our fans filled their stadium by driving the 20 miles in a huge caravan. It turned into essentially a home game.
I was nervous before the game, and what made it worse was everyone was leaving me alone. We won the toss and decided to receive. The kickoff team gave us the ball in a decent field position. We’d only been able to put in three pass plays so we didn’t have a very deep playbook. My first pass sailed high and was intercepted.
When I got to the sideline, Coach Harrington found me.
“Good, we got that out of the way. You’re going to have that happen. No big deal.”
His relaxed attitude calmed me down. The rest of the game was the most fun I’d ever had playing football. We never punted and Coach Lambert didn’t take us out in the second half. We played the full game to get experience. The final score was 70–6. I threw ten touchdown passes and completed 46 of 52 passes for 635 yards. The only running play we did was when I kneeled down to end the game.