“As I said, I’m a junior at Lincoln High. I’m a good friend and a classmate of David Dawson. We’re in many of the same classes together, and we also hang out together a lot.
“We have been sexual with each other in the past, and may be that way in the future, but we’re not boyfriend and girlfriend. The two of us are just good friends, with benefits. Every single time I have been involved sexually with David has been entirely voluntary on both of our parts. David has never forced me or pushed me to make love, and he has never, ever been abusive or violent with me in any way.
“As a result of this, and because we were not as careful as we should have been, I am now pregnant. David is the only one who could be the father of my baby. He has readily acknowledged this and has volunteered to help with medical expenses and to help raise the baby. Due to the strong family structure he has, we’ve agreed his family will be the baby’s primary caregivers. Regardless of what’s decided, we have both agreed we are too young to marry, and we may not ever be married to each other. No matter what, though, I plan to be thoroughly involved in raising our baby, and David is fine with that.
“Now, due to an unfortunate set of events shortly after I learned I was pregnant, there have been allegations that David raped or coerced me. There have also been accusations that he has otherwise been abusive or uncaring about the baby or me. I will tell you now that those allegations have absolutely no basis in fact and are utterly false. All those allegations have done is invite a media circus and the attempted intervention of various women’s rights groups. Those, in turn, have caused a great deal of pain for David and for me. Each of us separately, and both of us together, really would like to lay this matter to rest so that we can get on with our lives.
“I’m very appreciative of, and in general support, the work the various women’s rights groups do. For all women, girls, mothers, and families. I just want to say that their efforts are entirely unnecessary here.
“David’s work as a model and actor, and his ability to play quarterback at an elite level, automatically create a degree of interest from the media. I can understand that. Nevertheless, now that what has happened has been explained to you as plainly and clearly as I possibly can, I would also hope that you will respect our privacy. That applies to David and me, and our families—both existing and yet to be,” she said as she rubbed her tummy and smiled, to scattered laughter. “We ask that you move on from this story that, really, is over.
“Thank you very much for your time,” Pam said.
She stunned me when she bent to give me a quick kiss on the cheek and left.
Coach Hope made sure there were no questions about what she had said and got the interview focused on football. I had a newfound respect for Pam after she made her statement. I would later learn that she’d come up with the idea of making a statement on her own. She had first approached her mom and then my mom with the idea. Everyone involved in the dispute had read and signed off on the speech she had read. Ms. Dixon was very good at covering my butt, but Pam had insisted that she needed to get it on the record and do the right thing by me. Later on, Pam told me that that moment became a talisman for her. All she had to do was to remember the moment she’d faced all those reporters with her head held high. She could then hold her head up in the face of just about anything.
I’d been in touch with Frank Ingram, my PR agent, and he had sent me some talking points in case this was brought up. I knew that it would never really go away, but Pam’s statement seemed to satisfy the sports reporters, including even ESPN.
◊◊◊
For dinner, Coach gave us the option to either go out with our parents, or there would be a team outing. He said something about all he could afford was the BK Lounge, code for Burger King. I decided that I wanted something better than that, and this would give me a chance to show my appreciation to a few people.
I made a point to invite Ms. Dixon, Coach Mason, and Jim. Of course, I told Phil he could go. Jim took it upon himself to ask the offensive line to join us. Tracy stopped by to see what I was doing while I was on the phone, talking to my mom. Phil told her, and she said she’d tell all the cheerleaders. This had gotten out of hand. Of course, one of the offensive linemen told the starting skill players.
When we all met downstairs, we had almost seventy people when you included parents. I’d gotten a recommendation for a sports-bar type of place called High Velocity. It was only a few blocks from where we were. I realized this was what I needed a PA for. Kendal would have organized this whole event. We were fortunate it was a Wednesday night, or the folks at High Velocity would have had a line out the door. My dad took charge and organized it so we took over a section of the restaurant.
