Bo just grinned. No one believed that Alabama would change their approach simply because they recruited one player. That didn’t mean that they might not make some adjustments to take advantage of my skill set. They had a system that worked, and Alabama would be crazy to change it. I would end up being a game-manager type of quarterback whose primary responsibility was to distribute the ball to the playmakers. I would only need to be more than that in a big game. No, I would pass on that.
“I want to thank you guys for taking the time. I hope that I can call you if I need more advice.”
“Of course you can, my boy. I hope you’re not a stranger. I have a feeling that recuperating will get boring,” Coach Mason said.
“You’re always welcome to come visit us, too,” Dad said.
We walked out with Bo.
“Between us,” he said once we were alone, “I’m probably not going to be at Alabama next year. Offensive coaches don’t seem to last very long. I look at it as having a really nice new line item on my résumé now. I want to move up and either work as a quarterback coach at the pro level or as an offensive coordinator at the college level. And eventually, I’d like to be a head coach at either level.”
“If there’s anything I can do to help, let me know. I’d be honored to be a reference if you think it would help.”
“Maybe we could be a package deal,” he said with a smile.
“Who knows? I’d love for you to be my coach again. If you’d been at one of the three I was looking at, they would be my top choice,” I assured him.
It had been a standup thing he’d done when he’d warned me about Alabama. Not that they weren’t a great destination. My playing style just wasn’t what they were looking for.
“Don’t be a stranger, and check in on Coach Mason. He has come to really like you,” Bo said, and then got in his car and left.
I joined Dad in the back seat as Flo drove us home.
“What did you think?” I asked.
“I don’t believe they said anything you didn’t already know. Come spring, you’re going to have to make some hard decisions. I think one of the biggest will be how you’ll deal with the NCAA. You need to get the ‘use of image’ part of it hammered out. It might end up that you should enter the Major League Baseball draft and play baseball. At least then, you would have control.”
“The schools, conferences, and NCAA stand to make a huge amount of money off using my image, and I won’t get compensated for it. That doesn’t sit right with me. I don’t think now is the time to fight that battle, though,” I said.
“No. Let’s get past this shoe-company mess before you pick a fight.”
It looked like we were on the same page.
◊◊◊
On the ride home, I’d gotten a text from Brook to call her. She must have talked to Lexi. I was interested in what my PA was up to. I stepped into my room so I could have some privacy.
“How did your singing lesson go?” Brook asked.
“Turns out my voice coach is none other than Jett, the lead singer for Birthrite. We made a deal. If she doesn’t think my voice will cut it, she’ll be honest and tell me.”
“Do you think you’ll be happy when she’s done?”
“I don’t know. What I did discover was that there’s a lot more to singing than carrying a tune. I was doing everything wrong. She gave me exercises to do that are supposed to make me better. What little she was able to help me with did make a difference.”
“Good,” Brook said, and then grinned. “Guess what.”
“What?”
“I’d applied to my dream school and was wait-listed. I received confirmation today that I got into Princeton.”
It was one of those moments where I was super happy for her, but sad for me. This just confirmed that we weren’t going to college together.
“That’s great news! We’ll have to go out and celebrate when you get here,” I said, and the word ‘celebrate’ triggered something. “Oh, I’m a terrible boyfriend. I forgot to ask you if you wanted to go to my premiere with me.”
“Way to steal my thunder,” Brook teased. “I tell you my great news, and you one-up me.”
“I’m sorry, that wasn’t what I meant at all. It’s just that I knew if I didn’t tell you, I would forget, and you wouldn’t have time to get a dress,” I said.
Then I gave her my drowning-puppy-dog face.
“I can’t believe people pay money to see your films.”
Ouch! That hit a little close to home.
“Tell me all about Princeton,” I said to get back onto safer ground.
Brook started into a twenty-minute monologue about how she would major in political science and probably intern in DC during the summers. For a guy, that one sentence would have sufficed. Then she said something that brought me back to the conversation.
“Lexi and I had lunch.”
“I’ve been wondering what she was up to,” I said.
“She wanted to apologize in person and assure me that she would keep me in the loop from now on. Then we got to talking about her background. Lexi admitted that she had a bad attitude when the two of you first met. She shared some stuff that I agreed to keep between the two of us.”
“You mean you and me or you and Lexi?” I asked.
“Lexi and me.”
“Okay.”
