I smiled when I saw the phrase ‘contribute immediately’ in the letter. I’d read several other similar ones, and none of them implied immediate playing time.
“You’ve given me something to think about. I’m not ready to commit anywhere just yet, and to be frank, I’m not sure about Southwest Central State,” I said.
“All I can do is let you know you have choices. We might not be the logical one if you’re just looking for a normal situation. I think in the long run, we offer a lot more. If you want more information, don’t hesitate to get in touch.”
After he left, I looked at Dad.
“What did you think?”
“If you wanted to build a program, that might be the place to go. Then again, you could go to Kentucky, which already has most everything in place. I would advise that you pass. It’ll be hard enough to play ball and go to school. You don’t need to be the one to also get involved in turning the program around.”
“He was pretty sly about the Springbok connection. I almost wonder if someone gave him a heads-up.”
“Could be,” Dad said, and we called it a night.
Fritz would be in shortly to gather his equipment and download the video.
◊◊◊ Wednesday December 14
When I got up, I already had messages from home. Today was the beginning of the college football early signing period. Ty, our All-State running back, had made it official and signed with the University of Michigan. I thought it was a good fit for both of them. Michigan fans would be happy when they saw what he could do for them. Ty wanted to get his recruitment over with and had known after Michigan had held a football camp at our high school that he would play for them.
Brock and Bryan Callahan had decided to play ball for Western Illinois. The Leathernecks had gone 6–5 overall and 3–5 in the Missouri Valley Conference this season. The school was in Macomb, a small college town basically in the middle of nowhere. I was sure that when the two of them hit campus, they would liven things up.
Mike Herndon, my nemesis, had also signed with Michigan as an athlete, which meant he would probably never play quarterback. His going to Michigan was the one disappointment from today’s news. As much as I would like to think I could be above it all, that bothered me. Not because I thought Mike would ever take my place on the field, but because he was such a complete jerk. I was sure that at some point, I would have to kick his butt. That wasn’t enough to keep me from going there, though. Mike Herndon would just be one guy on a roster of eighty-five if we decided to play for Michigan.
One surprise was that Percy Wilkes pulled the trigger and committed to USC. I was sure that the people in Texas were disappointed that one of their own had gotten away. I had to admit that his going there made me think again about going to USC. He was a top-five recruit on every one of the recruiting services’ lists. He had the rare combination of size and speed that just screamed ‘NFL prospect.’ Most kids his size were either offensive or defensive tackles. He would be a monster at defensive end.
I had only seen one man as large as he was move as quickly. He’d been the starting defensive end for the Buffalo Bills who’d worked out with me in Chicago. That was the day I committed to getting bigger and faster because I knew that if someone that big was chasing me, I didn’t want to get caught. If he did catch me, I had to be strong enough to handle the pounding.
◊◊◊
Dad begged off on surfing, so it was just Manaia and me. He said that the waves were better at Zuma Beach today. The beach itself was nearly two miles long. Even with the number of people in the water, there was room to find your own spot this morning.
Manaia and I surfed for about an hour and had to get going. If I were lucky, I would get all my scenes done today and not have to work on Saturday.
We stopped at a place for breakfast.
“Is it okay if I inquire about your tattoos?” I asked.
Manaia had one on the right side of his chest that traveled up and covered his shoulder and the upper part of his right arm. He also had a tattoo that started at his waist and ended just above his knees; I assumed that one covered his buttocks. Both the upper and lower tattoos looked like intricate armor.
