A Game Of Inches – Conclusion – Epilogue

Ashley left for home the following Friday morning, Alexis dropped her off at the airport. The previous night’s encounter was not repeated, in fact the days following up to Ashley’s departure were very low key, to say the least. Alexis had not brought the subject back up, so for now, I let it lie.

We opened training camp on Monday morning, to a standing room crowd of perhaps five thousand people. We had eighty eight players assembled for the first day, the previous year’s veterans, five new draft choices, the rest comprised of undrafted free agents hoping to land a roster spot. Two prospects immediately stood out, one being our first round draft choice, Sam Watkins, the linebacker. The second was a six foot four, wide receiver from a small division two school in Carolina that few people had even heard of. Nate Collins, as I learned had been spotted by one of our scouts while working out with a quarterback earlier in the year. He had only been brought in as a body for the prospect to throw to, but our scout was so impressed with his raw talent, that he convinced the organization to give him a tryout.

By the end of the first week, we were already beginning to shake off the rust, you could see both the offensive and defensive units getting better. Nate Collins was struggling to learn the system, it was apparent he was used to a much simpler offensive scheme. But when he was in the right place, he always managed to put himself in the right position for a catch. He had great hands and he wasn’t scared to get hit, something that is not possible to teach. After practice on Friday, Josh came over and pulled me on the side.

“Hey man, I like this kid Nate. He needs a lot of help but he catches everything I throw him. He’s got decent speed, but mostly he just goes out there every down and kills himself. We have to do what we can to help him, I think he can help us.”, Josh said quietly.

“Im in buddy, when and where ?”, I asked.

Since I did line up as a wideout in different offensive packages, I knew most of the routes as well as the nomenclature. It was decided that I was to work him with in the evenings on the playbook trying to familiarize him with the offense. Later after hopefully grasping the concepts, Josh would get with us later to work on timing and route running.

Since Nate was living in a hotel room during training camp, we would go to my place after practice, where we would spend hours working on the play book and watching discs from the previous year. Nate was a very quiet, polite young kid who had beaten every obstacle put in front of him during his youth. He had grown up in a blighted inner city housing project, had two brothers and countless friends killed within a mile of his home. Despite all of that, he was able to keep his grades decent and land a small college scholarship.

After the end of the second week of camp, you could see Nate catching on, he was right more times than wrong. He was beginning to understand the terminology, the audibles, in fact he even made his own adjustments once or twice. Coach Cullen knew Josh and I were spending time with him, but I think he may have been the only one.

We were less than a week away from our first preseason game, both the offense and defense were getting a bit edgy. We were tired of hitting on each other, in fact several fights had already broken out between players. We knew that in our first game, the starters would play possibly one series of downs, maybe two at best. This was a chance for the newest players to try and make their mark on the coaching staff.

After practice every day that week, both Josh and I stayed behind working extra hours with Nate, on route running and adjusting to balls thrown at him. Nate was definitely starting to catch on to the system but he was still having trouble making adjustments. Our first preseason game was on the road, we would be in Cincinnati. We left on Thursday evening, the game would be Saturday night. After the customary warmups before the game, we went back to our locker room to get dressed. As we were waiting to exit the locker room, I could see Nate was a nervous wreck. I smiled thinking back several years, when I stood in the very shoes he was wearing.

As was predicted the starters played two series, then we were pulled out. We managed to score once, which for this early in the season was not bad. By halftime we had jumped out to a 20-7 lead, thanks mostly to a much improved defense.

Nate finally got a chance to play in the third quarter and fourth quarters, he definitely made the most of it. He caught all four balls thrown at him, one for a touchdown in the back corner of the end zone. What was most impressive about the catch was his vertical leap. Although only being six foot four, it appeared he played much bigger, at least to me. We won the game 34-28, although our defense had fell apart late in the game allowing them two easy scores. We arrived back home in the early morning hours on Sunday, I headed straight home. It was almost three in the morning when I got home, Alexis was already in bed. I laid on the sofa for a while, I simply was too keyed up to sleep.

Alexis and I spent Sunday together quietly, just enjoying our time off with each other. During the team meeting on Monday, several of the rookies were acknowledged by name for their play against Cincinnati, one of them being Nate Collins. The one problem was he wasn’t getting playing time with the starters, so the comparsion made was skewed to say the least. We needed him to play with Josh and the first unit, go up against the opponents first unit defense to see if he could truly play at that level.

We would play the next two games at home, a welcome relief , the days were beginning to catch up with us. Nate continued to improve, in fact it appeared he might be the fifth or sixth receiver on the depth chart after the second game, one we lost by the score of 14-10.

As we prepared for the third game of the preseason, the list of injuries began to mount up. We already lost two offensive lineman, although the injuries were minor, a running back and one wide receiver for possibly the year. Our third game would be against Washington, it would also be the game in which most of the starters would play well into the third quarter. Our offensive production had still not matched the numbers we had put up last year, our timing just seemed to be a few steps off.

On our first possession against Washington, we quickly drove down the field, we were inside their twenty yard line in just five total plays. After a short run of four yards, Josh called my number on second down.

“X Slant Right, Double Pick, Power Option, Waggle Cross, Delay.”, he
barked in the huddle.


This was a relatively simple play that had two wideouts line up on my outside shoulder, between my position and the sideline. They would both run inside slants at various depths, I would use those slants as a screen and run a corner fade to the pylon. Hopefully my man would get caught up in the traffic and be screened out. The play came off perfectly, the ball was right on target, over my shoulder where only I could catch it.

Early in the second quarter, we were leading 20 -3, everything had been to perfection thus far. Finally on our next offensive possession Nate Collins was inserted in the line up, something both Josh and I had been waiting for. After a couple of first downs, we were at about midfield, when Washington called a time out. As we waited in the huddle, Josh mentioned that the next time we lined up in our Power Option package, he wanted to run our skinny post option to Nate.

Basically I would line up a few yards from the tackle, Nate would be two yards outside of me. On the snap, I would drive off ten yards down the field, then break outside to the sidelines. Nate would go straight up the field as well, but on my break out, he would slip inside of me and run a post down the center of the field. My job was to pick his man, making sure Nate got open. If the two defensive backs switched off, Nate would break off the route and run a come back.

When I got to the line of scrimmage, I looked down the field to see a basic over and under coverage, a version of the Tampa Two. Josh sensed it immediately as well, calling an audible at the line.

“Kill, Kill, Kill, Blue…Blue, twenty nine, Red thirty six.”, he yelled.

In this package I was the twenty receiver, Nate was the thirty. The second number would be the direction we were to take. I had nine, so odd meant outside, Nate had even, which meant inside. I looked over my shoulder at Nate, his eyes were locked on me. I slightly nodded to him, making sure he understood. I could see him flexing his fingers back and forth, he knew this was coming to him.

The ball was snapped and I got a great jump on my man, beating him to the convergence point. As I broke hard outside, Nate came right off my inside shoulder, in fact we actually brushed pads in the exchange. The two defensive backs switched off in an attempt to avoid the pick. But Nate’s cross had been so tight, there was no way the safety, could get inside of him, he had him beat. Josh read the play beautifully, throwing a perfect ball that hit Nate in stride. Sixty two yards later, he had scored his first touchdown as a pro. He was smiling ear to ear when I caught up to him on the sideline, the ball clutched tight in his hands.

“Way to go Nate, great route. I felt you on the cross.”, I said, slapping his shoulder pads.

“Thanks man, I wasn’t absolutely positive that the ball was going to me until you turned and looked at me. Thanks for the heads up.”, he replied.

We went on to win the game easily, 42-10, Nate had six more catches, another for a touchdown. I knew at this point, he was on the edge of making this team, it would just be a matter of numbers.

We lost our last preseason game on the road, very few of the starters even hit the field. When the final cuts were announced, I was elated not to see Nate’s name among them. He had worked really hard, he deserved at least a shot to be a part of this team. We were off both Sunday and Monday, then begin to prepare for our first regular season game. From that point on, we would play on Sunday, watch film and have meetings on Monday, be off on Tuesday. The rest of the week would be spent practicing for the upcoming game.

Alexis and I were spending little time together, this was always the worst time of the year for the both of us. She had gotten all four of her players signed with their respective teams, so things would be easing up a bit for her, but she still had to finalize all the paperwork. I on the other hand, only had one day a week off, so my time was limited. One thing about this game, you either had too much time on your hands, or not enough. There never seemed to be a happy medium.


We started off the season with four straight wins, our offense picked right up from the year before. Josh was putting up huge numbers as usual, everything was clicking. The biggest surprise was our defense and how much it had improved. Sam Watkins had become a beast at linebacker, he was absolutely fearless. His attitude had spilled over to the rest of the unit, they were playing extremely well.

Our fifth game of the year would be a home game, our opponent would be Dallas. They were a good team having only lost once this this season, that being in overtime. As we dressed for the game, the morale in our locker room was high, we were playing as well as we ever had.

As we exited the field for the start of the game, the crowd was loud, very loud, it was always good to be home. I glanced up at the thirty yard line to see Alexis in her usual seat, she very seldom missed a home game. The game started off as a defensive battle, both teams having to punt on both of their first two possessions. On our third possession we finally began to get our tempo where we wanted it. We didn’t waste a lot of time in the huddle, we came at you relentlessly. We ran a very quick, methodical offense, we wanted the opponents to always be on their heels.

We had a first down on the Dallas eighteen yard line, we were in scoring position for the first time. Josh called a running play in the huddle, we broke and approached the line of scrimmage. As he began to call cadence, Dallas brought three additional defensive players to the line, showing an inside blitz.

“Kill, Kill, Kill, Center………..Seventeen, Yellow Stop, Yellow Stop.”, he called.

I looked up the field and saw that indeed it appeared the linebacker had isolated on me, one on one. I was going to run a quick slant looking for the ball around the goal line. The ball was snapped, I came off and collided with the linebacker, pushing him off to my right. I started inside however the strong safety backed off the blitz and was occupying the middle of the field. I continued on my route, but he had gotten inside position, there was no way, I was going to be open. I turned back to the line, Josh was under pressure. He stepped up in the pocket, saw no one, then began to roll out to his right. I began to move towards the back of the end zone, hoping to find a crease where I could break up and look for a low pass. One of their linebackers was closing in on Josh, I had to break before I was ready. I moved hard from the back of the end zone towards the goal line, one hand up signaling to Josh where I was. There was a tight window open, he threw it up high and to my left hand. About two yards deep in the end zone I planted both feet and timed the jump as well as I could. I was able to get both hands on the ball, snatching it from the air. Just a split second after I secured it, I was hit hard in the lower leg area, my body flipping in mid air, my feet now straight up, my head down. I landed on the back of my helmet and my shoulder pad area, an immediate searing pain running through my back. The next few moments were a blur, first extreme sharp pain, then nothing, no pain at all. By the time I realized what had happened, the trainers and team physician were kneeling over me.

“Brian, don’t move. Don’t move.”, they shouted.

I laid there for several minutes while the medical team worked on my extremeties trying to assess the injury. I was asked to try and move my feet and my hands, apparently which I did, but I couldn’t feel anything below my neck. There were a number of people surrounding me, all moving very quickly. Finally the team physician leaned over me, talking above the crowd.

“Brian, we’re bringing out the cart. Just lie still, please don’t move.”, he insisted.

There’s several words in our profession, you never want to hear. Cart, is one of those words. It means you’re not capable of leaving the field under your own power, or with an assist from team personel. I felt the trainers roll me to one side, then slide the hard board under my body. They then rolled me back on top of the board. I knew they were taping me down to the board, although the only tape I felt being applied was to my helmet. After what seemed like an eternity, I was finally lifted up from the floor and placed on the medical transport.

As I was taken off the field and into the underground structure below the stadium, I could hear the physicians and trainers talking.

“We gonna take pictures here ?”, one of them asked.

“No, lets go straight to the ER, I don’t want to take any chances.”, another said.


Right before I was loaded into the ambulance, one of the trainers told me he would let my wife know I was going to the hospital. I was quickly placed in the ambulance, the doors closed, and we pulled out, sirens blaring.

We all knew injuries were part of the game, you just hoped none of them would be serious enough to side line you for any length of time. But as I laid in the back of the ambulance, I began to feel perhaps, this was worst, much worst. I still didn’t feel anything, it was as if my entire body had fallen asleep. It was numb, only a slight tingling sensation, every now and then.

We arrived at the ER quickly, I was wheeled immediately into a room full of doctors and nurses. People were shouting back and forth, it was confusing as I tried to grasp any bit of information about what was happening. After several moments of quick evaluation, I heard one of the doctors shout instructions.

“I want X-Rays and an MRI stat.”, he ordered.

I’m not sure how much time passed, it seemed like an eternity, before I was wheeled back into the emergency room. I was still immobilized for the most part, I couldn’t turn my head at all. Finally, the doctor leaned over me, very little expression on his face.

“Brian, you have had a spinal injury. It doesn’t appear at this time anything is broken or ruptured, all the X Ray’s are negative. I waiting the MRI to come back. Please be patient.”, he urged.

As I laid there waiting, something inside of me told me, this was it. My career was over, gone in the blink of an eye, or perhaps worst. Finally I felt the tape being cut off my helmet, my body being pushed and pulled on. Although everything below my neck was still very numb, I did feel something or at least I thought I did. The doctor leaned in once again, his voice steady and calm.

“Brian, we’re going to start taking your equipment off slowly. First the helmet, then everything above the waist. Finally the pants and shoes. If you feel any pain, yell out, let me know right way.”, he instructed.

Slowly they began to remove my helmet, as several hands held my head and neck as still as possible. During the next few minutes, little by little they removed most of the equipment I was wearing, or at least it felt that way. I then saw a face I recognized, our team physician, Dr. Moreau.

“Brian, so far everything is negative, which is great. We think at this point, you have a stinger. It’s a spinal injury, but not a spinal cord injury, which is what’s important. While your mobility and range are still limited, it shouldn’t be a permant thing. Hang it there for a while longer, we will know more shortly.”, he informed me.

“Hey Doc, is my wife outside ?”, I asked.

“Yes, she is.”, he answered.

“Let her know what’s going on please.”, I urged.

“No problem, I will go talk to her now.”, he replied.

Over the next hour, I was given analgesics and anti-inflammatory medication, as well as an IV and several injections. Little by little I began to have feeling in both arms either in the form of tingling or slight pain. After several hours in the emergency room, I was finally moved to a private room on the upper floors. Once I was transferred to the bed and all the monitors and medication hooked up, the nurse came over to my side.

“I’m going to get your wife. She has been waiting a very long time to see you.”, she softly told me.

A few moments later, the door opened slowly and Alexis stepped into the room. Tears were running down her face as she slowly walked towards the bed, her face pale in fear.

“How do you feel baby ?”, she asked, her hand softly touching my cheek.

“I am getting feeling back, a little at a time.”, I answered.

“Oh God Brian, I was so scared watching you lay on that field. You never moved the entire time you were down there. I didn’t know what to think.”, she sobbed.

“I’m going to be ok, Alexis, relax baby.”, I urged.

Several minutes later, two doctors along with our own team physician came into the room. Dr. Moreau walked around to the far side of my bed, next to the window.

“Brian, all the tests are negative. From what we can tell, as of now, you should be good as new in a few weeks. We’re going to monitor you for any pain or weakness in your limbs, any neck pain or back pain. But barring something unusual, you should be fine in two to three weeks.”, he finished.

“Thanks Doc.”, I answered.

He handed Alexis his card, telling her if I needed anything at all, day or night, to call him. He told me he would come back the following day to see how I was doing. If all went well, I might be able to go home the following day, or day after. As they left the room, a very pretty nurse, who had beautiful long red hair, came in the room.

“Mr. Stevens, I’m Vanessa, I’ll be your night nurse. If you need me for anything, please push the button. I will be in on you from time to time to check on you.”, she informed me.

“Ok, thank you.”, I answered.

She had only been out of the room for maybe fifteen minutes when it sounded like there was a disturbance going on just outside of my door. She pushed the door open, stepping back in, still arguing with someone out in the hall.

“Mr. Stevens, you have some vistors…….but you’re going to have to settle them down, or I’ll be forced to make them leave.”, she warned.

“Ok, let them in.”, I answered.

She opened the door and stepped out into the hallway. Before the door could close completely it was pushed back open and several members of the team walked in, led by Josh and Coach Reed. Before the door could close, there had to be close to twenty people in the room. Coach Reed was the first to step forward.

“How you feeling Brian ?”, he asked.

“I’m doing a bit better Coach, thanks.”, I answered.

“You gave us all quite a scare son. We kept trying to get information on you during the game but no one would tell us anything.”, he added.

“They were probably still running tests.”, I replied.

He smiled and nodded to me, just as Josh stepped up to the bed. He had that same confident look that he always had in the huddle. No matter what the situation was, he had a way of making you feel like it would work itself out.

“Look Brian, I talked to Coach for you, I got you the day off from practice tomorrow, but you have to be there first thing on Wednesday.”, he said.

Everyone in the room erupted in laughter, including Coach Reed, I felt Alexis squeeze my hand gently. Although still a bit numb, I could definitely feel her hand in mine.

“Look Brian, you know I love you man. But damn, why did you drop the ball ? That was a beautiful pass I threw.”, he kidded.

Once again the room was filled with laughter, everyone enjoying a light moment at my expense. I had no recollection of what had happened after the impact, everything was still quite vague. I was then informed we had been able to get another win, although by the narrowest of margins, the final score being 21-20. A few minutes had passed when the door opened again, my nurse Vanessa forced her way into the room.

“Ok, that’s enough. Time for everyone to get out. I have other patients on this floor.”, she commanded.

One by one, the guys came over and took my hand, wishing me well. Josh was the last one in the room, he leaned over and kissed Alexis on the cheek, then bent over and kissed my cheek as well. This caused Alexis to laugh for the first time , her face turning red.

“Is there something I should know about you two ?” she laughed.

“Yes, we’re madly in love, he didn’t tell you ?”, he replied.

“I said, out. Now get going.”, Vanessa once again told Josh.

“Ok, ok. But um Brian…….before you check out, can you get her phone number for me ?”, he asked, pointing to Vanessa.

“Out.”, she demanded, pointing to the door.

Josh waved and exited the room, the door closing behind him softly. Vanessa walked around the bed and began to check my vital signs. As she was taking my blood pressure she looked up at me and smiled.

“Everything seems fine, if you need anything just call me.”, she insisted.

She then began to leave the room, but stopped and turned around towards Alexis.

“You can stay tonight if you would like. I can get you a pillow and a blanket. That chair you’re sitting in folds out and makes a small bed.”, she offered.

“Yes, please.”, Alexis replied, without hesitation.

Vanessa nodded and left the room quickly, leaving Alexis and I alone for the first time in a while.

“Baby, you don’t have to sleep here, I’ll be fine.”, I told her.

“No way. You wouldn’t leave me alone here, I know better.”, she answered.

By the next morning, although I had developed serious soreness in my shoulders, neck and upper back, most of the feeling had returned to the rest of my body. I was taken for another complete MRI workout, shortly after Alexis had left to go home and clean up. By two o’clock I was back in my room, watching TV. Shortly before six that evening, one of the doctors came in and informed me everything looked fine on the test, I would be discharged in the morning.

Alexis was back at around six thirty, she was sitting next to the bed holding my hand as the door opened. The nurses were changing shifts, my day nurse told me Vanessa would be in to see me shortly, but that in the meantime I had a visitor outside who wanted to see me. I nodded to her it was fine, she stepped back out of the door.

A few moments later the door opened, both Alexis and I were shocked to say the least, at who entered. In walked the small boy who had changed my life after just one meeting. Bryan Butler, the small boy who had been the inspiration for my foundation, walked across the room, followed by both of his parents. He was wearing one of the shirts I had given him, although he had grown quite a bit since last I had seen him.

“Hey buddy, how are you ?”, I asked.

“Are you still hurt ?”, he asked, the most sincere look on his face.

“I’m going to be good as new.”, I answered.

He walked over to me and pointed at a spot on the bed next to me with his finger.

“Can I sit here ?”, he asked.

“Sure you can.”, I responded, motioning for his father to let him up.

After he got situated on the bed, he reached over and took his hand, wrapped it around my thumb.

“Why did that man hurt you like that ?’, he asked.

“He didn’t do it on purpose buddy, that’s just how the game is played.”, I answered.


He looked down as if he were trying to process what I had told him, but I’m not sure he really understood. His dad stepped forward, placing his hand on his son’s shoulder.

“I’m really sorry for barging in on you this way. We were watching the game and when you went down, well Bryan was very upset. He cried when they took you off the field on the cart. He wanted us to bring him up here last night, he begged us for hours.”, he admitted.

“You were worried buddy ?”, I asked my little friend, squeezing his hand.

He just nodded his head, the tears rolling down his face. Without any warning he leaned forward, falling on my chest, his arms around me. His mother began to move in our direction, but I shook my head telling her it was fine. I put one arm around him as he softly cried, his small body occasionally shuddering.

“I’m going to be fine, before you know it, I will be catching touchdowns again.”, I said, patting his head.

I could feel the emotion welling up in me as well, I really never knew just how much this little guy cared about me. It was obvious, I meant as much to him, as he did to me. He finally calmed down enough to sit back up.

“You know Bryan, Alexis here, well she is my best girl friend in all of the world. But you, you are my best man friend that I have.”, I told him .

“Really.”, he said, wiping the remnants of his tears from his eyes.

“Really, you are. You were my first fan when I got here, now you have become my first true friend.”, I responded.

He seemed to cheer up considerably after my last comment, then he made an unusual look, one that suggested he was perhaps confused.

“What’s wrong Bryan ?”, his mother asked.

“Well, that’s what I tell everyone at school, that he’s my good friend. But they all call me a liar….they um, they laugh at me.”, he confessed.


“They do ? Well, I tell you what buddy, we will fix that as soon as I get out of here. I promise you.”, I answered.

“What….. What are you gonna do ?”, he asked.

“Just don’t worry buddy, I will handle it.”, I assured him.

That seemed to make him feel a bit better, he began smiling and laughing. They stayed for close to an hour before his mom told him it was time to go. I thanked them for bringing him by, it really meant a lot to me.

I was discharged early the following morning, Alexis drove me home. After making sure I was comfortable, she had to go into the office to catch up on some work. Starting the following morning, I would have to report to the practice facility where the training staff and team physicians would start therapy on my injury. I had been told I could possibly be out for three to four games, I was hoping for a much quicker recovery. Although most of the feeling had returned in my extremities, I did still have some occasional numbness and tingling that would come and go.

The rest of the week I reported daily, spending hours with the trainers, alternating behind ice and heat, analgesic and anti-inflammatory mediciation and restriction of movement. Since our next game was on the road, I was excused from the trip, instead staying behind to work with the trainers. Alexis and I watched the game on Sunday, unfortunately we played horribly, losing the game 31-21, to Miami. It was our first loss of the year, we were still first in our division and tied for first in our conference.

Alexis had been wonderful at home, she waited on me hand and foot, her energy seemeed endless. By the following week, I had very little effects left, I was ready to start practicing again, but the trainers would not release me. Apparently with this type of injury, another trauma to the same area too quickly, could result in chronic pain and muscle weakness permanently. I was once again excused from the game in Denver, staying home to work with the trainers. For the second week in a row, even though we played much better, we lost.

At the team meetings on Monday, I was cleared to begin practicing again, I was looking forward to Wednesday. It seemed as if it were ages since I had last caught a ball, I was eager to get back at it. On the ride home from the practice facility I called Bryan’s mother, we spoke briefly about an idea I had. She told me she would call his school and talk to the prinicpal about it, she promised to call me back.
Later that night, she called me and told me she had cleared the event with the administrators of the school, everything was set for eleven o’clock next Tuesday morning, although no one would be told, it would be a surprise to everyone, including Bryan.

I started practicing the following day, but it became immediately apparent to me, I wasn’t a hundred percent. On several passes that I caught, I could feel tingling and stinging sensations move through my hands, arms, shoulder and neck. I didn’t say anything to anyone, I decided to try and work through it. We would be at home this week against Philadelphia, so I was able to work out up to game day. I was listed as probable, it felt good to be back in the lineup. Although I did play a dozen or so downs, caught two passes, I was rested for the majority of the game, which we lost by a field goal. We were now one a three game skid, the problem was no one knew why. We were simply just not getting the job done across the board, the simple things were killing us. We had dropped out of first place in our division, we were desperately searching for the answers to stop this downward spiral.

That Tuesday, I stopped by the foundation on the way to Bryan’s school to pick up the items I needed, then made my way to the small elementary school across town. I arrived at ten thirty, I made my way to the main office to meet with the prinicipal. As I stepped into the office, I was greeted by the school secretary.

“Yes sir, may I help you ?”, she asked.

“Yes, I’m here to see Ms. McDougal.”, I replied.

“Oh yes, you’re Mr. Stevens, wait right here, I’ll get her for you.”, she instructed and rushed down the hall.

A few minutes later, Ms. McDougal arrived, greeting me warmly, telling me everything had been arranged as necessary. She had one of the custodians remove the two large boxes from my car, then take them to the library, where the children would be assembled. She instructed me that the event was being limited to only third, fourth and fifth graders, she felt the younger children would tend to slow things down. I was kept in the office area adjacent to the library as the students were escorted in, grade by grade. From what I was told, there were two classes in each grade, a total of close to one hundred fifty children. I have to admit, they were quite orderly and quiet as I heard them being led into the room, then instructed on where to sit. Finally after all classes were seated, the teachers took there seats, the principal addressed the room.

“Boys and Girls, I know you’re wondering what is going on, as I sure your teachers are as well. I have a surprise for you today, we have a very special guest with us. He has invited all of you to join him for lunch, which will be pizza for everyone.”, she started.

The room erupted in a chorus of cheers, the principal quickly taking charge once more.

“What I need from you is as always, be on your best behavior and show our guest the respect and gratitude he deserves for making this possible for you. Do you all understand me ?”, she continued.

“Yes Miss McDougal.”, they all answered in unison.

“Good, then I would like to introduce to our guest today, I’m sure many of you have watched him on TV many, many times. He is a member of our own San Diego football team, their tight end,
Mr. Brian Stevens.”, she ended.

There was a nice applause as I walked into the library, the kids all looking at each other like something special was happening. I walked over to Ms. McDougal and shook her hand, then turned to the crowd of youngsters.

“I want to thank Ms. McDougal and all of your teachers here for allowing me to interrupt your busy day here.”, I started.

I scanned the room quickly looking for Bryan, I finally noticed him in the back next to one of the teachers, his mouth was open in surprise.

“I called Ms. McDougal and asked her permission to come here and have lunch with my best friend, who comes to this school. But
Ms. McDougal informed me that perhaps instead of just having lunch with my friend, I should have lunch with everyone. So I talked to my friend and he agreed, so here I am.”, I continued.

Before I could start up again, one rather large young boy in the front row raised his hand quickly. I pointed to him, he stood up and spoke in a clear, loud voice.

“Your best friend goes to this school ? Who is it ?”, he asked, looking around.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot to tell you guys that. My best friend is seated over there, Bryan, will you please come up here.”, I waved.

You could see everyone in the room just about drop the teeth out of their mouth, as I waved the young boy forward. Bryan jumped up and made his way through the maze of kids, quickly making his way to my side. I put my arm around him, then turned back to the assembly.

“Bryan here, was my first fan ever. I met him just after I arrived here in San Diego. He was with us last year when we won the Super Bowl, in fact the team has nicknamed him HD2.”, I admitted.

You could see all the kids just looking at each other in utter surprise, the fact that one of their classmates actually knew me in person was not believable. Just about that time, one of the doors in the back of the room opened, the pizza’s were being brought in.

Everyone was served pizza and soft drinks, the group was really having a great time. I set up the two large boxes I had brought with me behing a table, then sat down in a chair pushing up to the table.
I motioned for Bryan to come over and sit next to me which he did. I instructed him to pass me the items one at a time.

“Ok children, listen up. Quiet now.”, she instructed.

The room became quiet, the children all settled back down, their eyes on her.

“Before you go back to class, one at a time, you come to this table and see Mr. Stevens. He will autograph a tee shirt especially for you. Once you get your shirt, meet your teacher in the back of the room. Teachers, once your entire class has a shirt, please return to your room.”, she instructed.

One by one the children came up to the table and stated their name. I then personally inscribed a Hyper Dunk Tee Shirt to them thanking them for being so well behaved. Bryan was all smiles as he passed me shirt after shirt, on this day, he was definitely the big man on campus.
Bryan’s teacher came up and asked me to walk him back to class, when we were done, I nodded to her that I would. Soon the room was empty, he and I were walking back down the hall towards his class.

“Well buddy, I guess everyone believes you now huh ?”, I said, my arm on his shoulder.

We stopped at the door to his class, I knocked on the door, the teacher opened it quickly. She instructed Bryan to go to his seat, then stepped out in the hall.

“I want to personally thank you for what you just did. Bryan adores you, he has taken a lot of ribbing from the other kids. He did a paragraph once about you giving him a football you caught in a game, several kids really gave him a bad time. Bryan has been through quite an ordeal the past few years, I’m so glad to see him this happy.”, she stated.

“He’s a good kid, his parents are wonderful. It was my pleasure to be here.”, I answered.

We struggled through the rest of the year, ending the season with a record of 10-6, many experts stating that the magic we had produced one season ago, had vanished. We made the playoff’s as a wild card, but would have to win on the road this year, home field advantage was not ours. Our first game would be against Baltimore, although not the best team in the division, a team with a very good defense. We practiced all week, then left on Thursday, arriving late that night.

As I was being taped up before the game, I thought back about the season, trying to put a handle on what had went wrong. Looking at myself, I had not come close to the production I managed last year. I had missed a few games due to injury, but overall, I had not played as well as I knew I could have. Perhaps success had come too easily. As I looked around the locker room, this definitely did not look like a team that was ready to make a run at another Super Bowl. We needed something, I was just not sure what.

We opened on offense and went three and out quickly, having to punt the ball to Baltimore. They went on a long drive, but had to settle for a field goal when our defense held on a third and ten. On our second possession, one of our wide receivers dropped a deep ball that would have probably been a touchdown. As he came back to the huddle, he had a smile on his face, something Josh took exception to.

“You just dropped six, you find that fucking funny ?”, he asked Jaxon.

“Fuck you, like you never heave a dud.”, he shot back.

Josh started to go after him, I extended my arm pushing him back to his familiar spot in the huddle. He knelt down, listening to the call from the sidelines, coming through his helmet.

“Fuck it, I’m taking this game over, you don’t want to play, get the fuck out of my huddle now.”, he screamed, looking at each and every one of us.

“Power right, twenty cross, waggle, delay fade, ten hook, on two.”, he barked.

The ball was snapped, I came off hard on the linebacker driving him straight up the field. Ten yards into the pattern, I sat down hard and spun around, the ball was already on the way. I reached up and pulled it down, spinning to my outside avoiding a tackle, picking up an extra fifteen before I was brough down close to mid field. I got up, made a first down signal up the field, which the crowd voiced their displeasure at immediately. The linebacker I just beat squared up to me and yelled.

“Don’t get used to it motherfucker, you won’t get many more.”


I stepped towards him putting one hand in his chest, shoving him slightly.

“On your best day, you can’t run with me boy.”, I answered.

He immediately jumped at me, the referee quickly stepping between us. He was still yelling as I walked trotted back to the huddle.

“I see your making friends.”, Josh quipped as I leaned into the huddle.

“Everytime you see us matched, I want to abuse him.”, I answered.

Josh knelt in the huddle, he knew what I meant, we needed an emotional spark, anything would do right now.

“Double full, delay left, even screen, fade right on three.”, he barked.

The ball was snapped, Josh dropped back in the pocket and looked down field. As designed, the lineman held their blocks for a mental count of three then released their men, forming a wall to the left. Scott Douglas, our speed back, floated to the left as well, catching the soft screen pass from Josh. He went untouched into the end zone for our first score, we now led 7-3.

Our defense took the field and two plays later the Baltimore running back mishandled the exchanged, fumbling the ball at their thirty three. Sam Watkins, our rookie linebacker was on the spot, falling on the ball quickly. The offense ran back out on the field, determined to take advantage of the gift. Several plays later, we had a third and nine from their fifteen yard line. We called a play that had three options, one corner route by the wide receiver, a wheel route by our running back, and a quick slant by our other receiver.