“I will say, though, that if by retiring my number, it can motivate future Bulldogs, I’ll know it was all worth it. If it encourages a future Bulldog to work a little harder or dig a little deeper when things go against them, it was all worthwhile. The mornings I didn’t want to get out of bed to go run. Times I traveled to football camps to improve my skills. Hours I spent with you all at practice and in the weight room. Let’s not forget Cassidy and her personal goal to see me keel over from a killer workout. If my doing all that inspires you all to strive to be better … it was all worth it.
“I want to thank my parents and family for all their support, as well as our coaches, our fans, and especially the Booster Club. Without your guidance and support, none of what we’ve achieved to date would have been possible,” I said and then paused.
“Take the mic away from him,” Wolf called out.
That got a laugh.
“Tomorrow’s a big day for us. It will be the last football game some of us will ever play. For the seniors, it will be the last time we have the privilege of putting on our Lincoln football gear and taking the field of battle. For all of you, I want to say up front that I thank you for everything you’ve done. We have one last chance to make our mark. I plan on going out a champion,” I said and then handed the mic back to Mrs. Sullivan.
◊◊◊ Saturday November 26
It was hard to believe that a week ago, we had four inches of snow on the ground. The high today would be in the mid-50s.
I opened the downstairs door, and Precious darted out with a kitten in her mouth. It was the evil golden one. He was the dominant kitten and kept his brothers and sisters in line. He must have been getting the majority of the food because he was bigger than the rest. For some reason, Precious favored him.
I let Duke out, and he ran straight to the kitten. I had visions of Precious ending his life, but she just went about her business. The kitten wasn’t happy when he received a puppy-scan. When the golden boy took a swipe at Duke, Duke got down and wanted to play. That was when Precious sprang her surprise attack. Duke shook her off and then chased mama around the backyard.
I sat down next to the kitten as Precious and Duke played. I was surprised when he came to me and crawled onto my lap. We must be making progress if his first instinct wasn’t to make me bleed.
Brit had assured me that Precious and her kittens would be moved out by the time I came home from LA. I gathered up the kitten and Precious, took them upstairs, and put them into the crate. In a little while, Brit would be over to take care of them. Duke and I went back downstairs and into the house.
Mom had given our new cook the day off. We were meeting everyone at Granny’s West for breakfast. Then I would go to the high school where we would take a bus to State for our game. Dad was drinking coffee as he read the paper.
“Mike smarted off,” he said, nodding to the paper.
“Is he stupid or something?”
“He said that going to Wesleyan was the best thing he ever did. I guess they have much better facilities, better coaching, and the topper is you aren’t there.”
“I’m sure Mike was tired of riding the bench.”
“He said that Wesleyan was more of a team instead of you leading and everyone else having to follow. I read it to mean that Wesleyan doesn’t have any leadership,” Dad said to make my day.
“I’ll be sure to tell Jeff you said that.”
Dad didn’t care.
“I’ll be going with you to LA. Your mom will join us a few days later and stay until right before Christmas. We’ll fly back to have Christmas here.”
“Are you going to be my golf coach?” I asked.
“Yeah. I also get to teach the other actors to hit balls. Saul arranged for me to get paid.”
“Look at you. You have your own agent,” I teased.
“I might need my own entourage. Maybe Ian would be willing to tag along if I promised him we would play golf.”
“Talk to Caryn. Have her set up tee times for you and Ian. I’m sure you both have a list of courses you want to play,” I suggested.
“You buying?” Dad asked.
“Hell, no. I got you a job. You don’t need handouts.”
Dad seemed to get serious suddenly. I hadn’t meant to hurt his feelings.
“I told you how much your mom and I appreciated everything you did when she had her cancer. We were close to being homeless or having to ask for loans from your uncle or grandmother. Your mom prayed that a solution would show itself. I’m not really all that religious, but our prayers were answered when you started to make money modeling.
