“When we first met, we didn’t like each other,” Manaia explained. “Now, I treat him like a little brother who I have to babysit all the time.”
I let that one go … for now.
“Normally, he’s much better behaved,” I told my uncle.
Uncle John chose to ignore our little spat. Manaia was just pissed because I ditched him. Granted, I hadn’t tried to pull that with him to this point. From the whining I heard from Chuck and Paul, I was aware that Fritz took a dim view of them losing me. Manaia was a fairly new hire and was still on probation. I was sure that if something happened to me because I slipped away, he would be looking for work.
“Your dad and I have done some research on the decisions you have to make. Can we agree that you, at the very least, plan to play football and go to college?” Uncle John asked.
“Yes. I talked to the guys, and they’re strongly leaning towards Michigan. Of the three schools, they have the best baseball team, too,” I said.
“Which schools are you considering?” Manaia asked.
“Michigan, Oklahoma, and USC,” I said.
“We talked to several coaches to determine how valuable a quarterback is to an NFL franchise. We wanted to get a better idea of whether playing quarterback is best for you. The reason we asked was that coaches told us you might be even more successful on the defensive side of the ball,” Uncle John said.
While the logical side of me already knew my best position was quarterback, the caveman in me would love to play defense.
“The NFL has been trending towards offense,” Uncle John continued. “Of the thirty-two NFL teams, half pass the ball at least sixty percent of the time. Bud Mason told us four positions are considered most valuable in today’s game. Those are the tackle who protects the quarterback’s blind side, the quarterback, any player who can sack the quarterback, and a shutdown corner.
“Obviously, you can’t play tackle and, according to Bud, you don’t have the speed needed to play cornerback at that level. He did say he thought you would make an ideal stand-up defensive end or linebacker.”
“Why did you ask about all this? I’m sure Bud told you I should play quarterback,” I said.
“He did, but we wanted to cover all your options,” Uncle John explained.
It sounded like they had been busy behind the scenes working on this. This told me that my dad and uncle had taken my request for help in solving this predicament seriously.
“Let me point out some interesting stats that Bo Harrington dug up for us. Of the 192 first-round draft picks in the last six years, only 19 were quarterbacks. In comparison, there were 36 defensive ends and 33 linebackers. That works out to an average of just 3 quarterbacks taken in the first round each year. When you figure there are 236 Division I football teams, the odds of making it into the NFL as a first-round pick are slim,” Uncle John said.
The numbers were sobering. They told me that the chances were slim that I would emerge at the top of the college game by the time I graduated. A multitude of things could happen to derail your ascent to the highest levels. I guess I didn’t understand how long those odds were until he’d pointed out the cold facts. I’d assumed that because I was the number one overall prospect, I would simply continue on the same path when I got to college. Uncle John made me want to rethink whether I should lean so heavily on football moving forward.
“When we heard the stats, we were a little worried. Then we talked to other coaches,” Uncle John continued. “To a man, they felt that even if you weren’t drafted in the first round, you would make it into the league and play. Some paths would be easier, though.”
“What did you find out?” I asked.
“Michigan might be the hardest of the three schools you’ve selected in terms of having their quarterback drafted. USC has the most recent success at getting a quarterback to the NFL. They told us they feel Oklahoma might be the best place for you to go to highlight your skill set. They explained to me that Michigan is in one of the toughest divisions in college football as far as defenses go, unlike the other two.
“USC is rebuilding and is a few years away from competing for the championship, even though your friend Ridge Townsend will be a first-rounder next year. Oklahoma plays in the Big 12, where offense is king.
“Bo Harrington predicted that if you were to go to Oklahoma, you would have a great chance to win the Heisman as the best college football player. While you might not win the national championship, it would put you on the path to a long career in the NFL,” Uncle John said.
I agreed with his assessment. It was pretty much what I’d figured out.
“Michigan has the edge in baseball,” I said again to attempt to justify my pick.
“And USC would be the best for your acting,” Uncle John added to give me a hard time.
I let a little smile touch my lips. They had done a thorough job if Uncle John knew which was best for acting and baseball.
“So, where do you and Dad think I should go?” I asked.
