We’d had an issue with Mr. Morris wanting to jump in when I didn’t need his help. I expect he thought of me as a kid with zero experience. If it were about anyone else, I would agree with him.
“I’m sure we’re all on the same page,” Dad said to head off a confrontation before we even got started.
Mr. Morris gave me a slight nod and continued.
“What Stewart Chadwick is doing is extortion, using the legal definition. It is a crime in which one person forces another person to do something against their will. Extortion involves the victim’s consent to the crime, but that consent is obtained illegally.
“We have to be careful not to do the same when we bring this up to the NCAA leadership. If we demand that they agree to your eligibility and/or request for waivers, our actions could be viewed similarly. The line between negotiation from a position of strength and extortion might be a fine one,” Mr. Morris said.
“Can we even ask for what we want, then?” Dad asked.
I wanted three things out of this meeting: my eligibility restored, a waiver that allowed me to act in and promote my movies, and to protect my image. Oh, yeah, and a fourth: I also wanted to protect my friends.
“We can, but we can’t tie them together. We encourage the NCAA to do the right thing without conditions,” Mr. Morris explained.
“There is also the issue of consent when you recorded the conversations. California is one of the states where you must obtain permission from all participants. If you ever were to decide to sue the NCAA, you’ll have problems using some of the recordings,” Ms. Addison added.
“I would simply release them to the press and let the court of public opinion deal with it,” I shot back.
“And you might never play ball in college,” Mr. Morris reminded me.
“To be honest, that might help me. I would either go into acting full-time or play baseball professionally.”
“Let’s get back on track,” Dad said.
“The last untethered balloon we have floating out there is the FBI. I know we don’t plan to tell the NCAA that they’re looking at this, but we need to be careful,” Ms. Addison said.
“Let’s be frank, the FBI only cares about its own interests. Individuals within the organization may feel some compassion, but they won’t buck their superiors if those superiors want certain things done or want them done a certain way. They’re worse than Stewart in that they don’t care about you if you should get in the way of their investigation.
“If their actions end up causing collateral damage to your career, they might regret it for a millisecond, but no longer than that. The only limitation I can see is if the FBI feels its treatment of David would carry with it a significant possibility of adverse publicity for the FBI. In that case, it might curb or alter its tactics,” Ms. Addison explained.
There came a knock at the door. Ms. Addison was closest, so she answered.
“Were your ears burning? We were just talking about the evils of the FBI,” she said to the man at the door. “This is Special Agent Bryn out of the Chicago FBI office. To what do we owe this pleasure?”
“A little birdie told me you planned to storm the walls of the NCAA today. I was sent to ask that you cancel the meeting. Mind if I sit down and we discuss my concerns?” he asked while taking a seat without permission.
“Please, join us,” Dad said with raised eyebrows.
“Sorry, that was a little presumptuous. I know that you plan to talk to the NCAA higher-ups about the connection with Southwest Central State and Springbok. With an investigation ongoing, the FBI doesn’t want anything elevated to that level,” Special Agent Bryn shared.
“That means you found the connection?” I asked.
“Sorry, I can’t discuss an ongoing investigation.”
I bet everyone rolled their eyes at that one.
“I guess I’m not clear about why you don’t want us to meet with the NCAA. To our knowledge, we’ve never made the connection to where the money that David and his teammates received came from,” Mr. Morris replied.
“We’re meeting with the NCAA because one of their investigators threatened David. He said that if David didn’t help with their investigation to entrap Southwest Central State, they would pull his eligibility,” Mr. Morris explained.
“I hadn’t heard anything about that,” Special Agent Bryn admitted.
“Play him the recordings,” Ms. Addison directed me.
After they’d been played, Special Agent Bryn contemplated his position.
“I’m still inclined to order you to not have the meeting.”
“You were right. They don’t care about what happens to me,” I said without thinking.
“I take it from your comments you still plan to meet with them, no matter what I say?” Special Agent Bryn asked.
“You’re damned right,” I said, not backing down.
“I would suggest that you advise your client what it means if we decide to level obstruction of justice charges against him,” he counseled Ms. Addison.
The agent and I stared each other down across the table. Special Agent Bryn blinked first.
