“We’ll see,” I said.
Quaid shook his head and sent me back. Coach Mason was quick on the whistle if I looked like I wanted to run. He was no fun at all.
AFTER PRACTICE, I CALLED Teddy Wesleyan.
“Mr. Wesleyan, please.”
“Speaking.”
“How are you, sir? David Dawson,” I said.
“Good. I hear you put on quite a show at the Nike camp. Are you calling to tell me you decided to make my day and come to Wesleyan?”
“Better, I found you the next Calvin Johnson, and he needs to go to prep school.”
Calvin Johnson, a.k.a. ‘Megatron,’ was the Detroit Lions’ All-Pro wide receiver. Like Damion, he was six-six and ran a 4.3 forty. Some thought he was the best wide receiver in the NFL. He had played injured the last two seasons and still managed to gain 2,569 yards and scored 20 touchdowns.
Teddy and I talked for about thirty minutes as I told him everything I knew. He was intrigued enough to look into it. He wasn’t sure if they had any ‘needs’ scholarships left. If he did, they would get him an application.
TONIGHT, I INVITED the other three quarterbacks and Quaid to go to dinner. Bo was coming with Jordan and Tanya, as was Damion. We decided on an inexpensive barbecue place that Bo recommended. Ben was keeping us all in stitches. He was just one of those guys you liked to be around. He never seemed to take anything too seriously and he always had a ready smile.
“Sooo, Damion,” Ben said. “I hear you’re rooming with David. What did you do to get the star treatment?”
“If you call sleeping on a six-foot couch when you’re six-six ‘star treatment,’ I guess,” Damion said.
“I heard you got kicked out. What could you possibly have done?” Ben asked.
“I had a disagreement with one of the guys about a girl,” Damion said.
I looked at Bo as soon as Damion said it and he wouldn’t look at me. It had to be Flee and Candy. There was more to this than Damion said. I would have to talk to Bo when I got a chance.
BO AND TANYA CAME BACK to our place after dinner while Jordan went home to call her friends. Damion said he was going out. I decided to give the lovebirds their privacy and went to my room. I got out my iPad and sent texts to several people to see if they were around. I got one from John Phillips, so we logged on to video chat.
“I was meaning to call you and congratulate you. Good job,” John said.
“Thanks. How are you doing?”
“Going stir-crazy. I can’t do anything until this cast comes off,” he said. “Before I forget, Coach asked me to call you and have you fill me in on what you know about Felix Johnson.”
“Flee is a great guy. Is Kentucky thinking about recruiting him?” I asked.
“Maybe. Coach wanted to know what you thought.”
“Flee was good enough to beat out over four hundred quarterbacks to make it to Elite 11. The only knock on him is his size. He’s listed at six feet, but he’s really a touch under five-ten. He can make all the throws, and he can run the ball. Flee will make someone a good quarterback. I think Kentucky would be a good fit for him.
“If you want, I could plan to come for an unofficial visit the same weekend he’s in and help sell him on the place,” I offered.
“I’ll let Coach know,” John said. “I have someone here who wants to say hi.”
“Hey, David,” Nancy said as she peeked around the monitor so I could see her on the webcam.
“Hey, Gorgeous, how’ve you been?” I asked.
“I have a new boyfriend,” she told me.
“Who’s the lucky guy?” I asked.
John got a big grin on his face as she kissed his cheek. I wanted to ask what happened to his high school sweetheart but now wasn’t the time. They’d be good for each other. We talked for a few more minutes before I needed to go. I got out my electronic playbook and reviewed our new offensive plays. I finally was tired enough and went to bed.
Saturday July 18
I WOKE UP EARLY AND found Bo in the kitchen, drinking coffee. He looked like he’d been up all night.
“Rough night?” I asked.
“I had some problems with Damion and had to send him home,” Bo said.
I looked in the living room and saw his stuff was gone. What the hell could the kid have done?
“Care to share?” I asked.
“Tanya caught him in Jordan’s bedroom when she went home last night,” Bo said, and let that sink in. “I screwed up.”
“How so?” I asked.
“I should have never let him anywhere near Jordan. He’d already proven he couldn’t be trusted.”
“What happened in the dorms?” I asked.
“He got aggressive with Flee’s girlfriend. Several of the campers had to separate the two of them. They were going to send him home, but he has so much talent. I made a bad decision.”
“Shit. I recommended him to Wesleyan Academy. I need to talk to them and warn them,” I said.
“What are you going to tell them? That he’s sexually active? No one’s claiming rape,” Bo pointed out.
“You don’t understand. I have a personal relationship with the folks at Wesleyan. I can’t just drop someone like him in their laps without warning them. My reputation is on the line, too.”
“Just be careful what you say,” was all the advice Bo gave me.
TODAY WAS A HALF DAY. Coach Mason had us play a little seven-on-seven for fun and then turned us over to the scouts and the press to do interviews. He had tried to keep them away for the majority of camp so we could focus on football.
It was the typical stuff repeated over and over again. I did get one good question.
“David, do you consider football to be everything to you?”
“At different times in our life, God reveals what our purpose is. I don’t know if I can define my purpose in one sentence, but I know this is part of it. If you were to see my life goals, football doesn’t even make the list. I look at it as a means to an end,” I said.
“What do you mean?”
“Think about what’s important to you. Your health, your family and your friends, financial security, et cetera. Nowhere does football make that list, but it can be a tool to help you get there. I know I’m much healthier because of how much I work out. Granted, I could get hurt, and that would change. I have also made great friends through football. My financial future is being affected by what I learn playing football; things like working as a team, leadership, facing adversity, and the list goes on. I might someday make a living playing the game, but I can’t count on that. There have been plenty of examples of guys like me who looked great and then things didn’t work out. So, no―football isn’t everything to me.”
WE WRAPPED IT UP AND I said goodbye to everyone. I thanked Bo for a good summer. He was off to Cleveland to work with the Browns and their quarterback situation. If he could help get that worked out, he would look like a genius.
While I was waiting for my flight, I called Teddy Wesleyan and we had a long talk about Damion. I guess I wasn’t surprised he had done his homework and knew about some of his character flaws. Wesleyan was going to take a chance on him. I just shook my head and wondered if his talents really made people turn a blind eye to his behavior. At some point, character had to become a factor, especially at Wesleyan. All it was going to take was one of their little princesses crying rape and Teddy Wesleyan would be in for a shit-storm. I guess I had warned him. I wished him luck.
As I boarded my flight, I thought about what I was going home to. I was finally going to get some closure with Tami. Either we were friends or more. At least I hoped those were the only two options.