A Game of Inches – Part Four

By the time the rest of the players starting reporting to campus, I was in mid-season form. Never had I been in better shape this early in a season. I instantly drew the attention of the coaching staff the first day of practice. I finished every drill first, I dominated every offensive lineman we had, I didn’t care what I had to do to win, I did it. By the end of the first week of practice, I had accomplished two things. First, I had no doubt secured my position with the first unit, no one was better. But secondly, I had isolated myself from the rest of the team. I sat alone, I ate alone, I dressed alone. It was of course, by my choice.

Although this would be my third year in college, I was still technically playing as a sophmore due to being red shirted my first year. This defense would basically stay intact for the next two years, we had only one senior who started for us. Unlike the previous two seasons, this year we were opening with a ranked opponent in their stadium. We traveled to Virginia for our first game of the season, one that would be be nationally ranked as we were. We opened the season ranked ninth, our opponent was fourteenth. For the first time since joining this team, we had a legitimate shot at a National Championship. All the pieces were in place, we had a great defense, we could run and throw the ball effectively. It would come down to a few bounces of the ball and the ability to keep players healthy.

I was taped and ready to go at least ninety minutes before the game, the locker room was unusually quiet for the first game of the season. The game was the featured game of the week, meaning it would be nationally televised. I knew a lot of people in my small town would be watching, not that I needed any motivation. By the time we hit the field, I had worked myself into a frenzy.

They received the opening kickoff and ran it back to the twenty seven yard line. Our defense took the field for the first time, lining up quickly. We moved around quick a bit pre-snap, trying to throw the opposing quarterback off, making him unsure what formation we would be in once he got the ball. This year, with the speed we had on the line and at linebacker, we would definitely see a lot of blitz packages called. As I lined up on the outside shoulder of the left tackle, I heard an audible on the very first play of the game. We sent eight men on a dog left from the opening snap, letting them know it was going to be a long night.

By halftime, we had built a 28-0 lead, completely dominating the first two quarters. Defensively we had only allowed two first downs, they had a total of seventy nine yards of offense in two quarters. I had a decent first half with three tackles, but I had been so close two or three times to making a big play, I was somewhat disappointed.

On their first possession of the second half, they attempted a wide receiver reverse, that came back to my side. Normally when the entire offense moves to your left, you follow it, you move to the motion. I don’t know why I held my ground, something seemed wrong. As the play moved away from me, I saw the one odd player coming back to the ball, I knew immediately. The receiver had just been handed the ball when I hit him between the shoulder pads at full speed. I lifted him up off of his feet, then drove him into the ground. In the process the ball squirted out, one of our defensive backs snagged it in mid-air and ran it back for a touchdown. Two quarters later, we had won our opener 42-0 in a convincing fashion. I had a good second half with five more tackles, the forced fumble and two sacks.

By the time our conference schedule began we were 3-0, had moved up the rankings to sixth, and statistically had the best defense in college football. I had accumulated six sacks, and was among the top tacklers on the defense. Everything was falling into place, except for that the fact that I was down right miserable. All I could think about was Ashley and what had happened. As much as I tried, I just couldn’t let it go.

Halfway through the season, there were only four unbeaten teams left in the country, we were ranked third. We were on a collision course with Florida, who was ranked just below us at fourth. They too were unbeaten and eyeing a National Championship. I got a call early in the week from Courtney’s Dad asking if I possibly had any extra tickets I was not using for the upcoming game. I told him as far as I knew, no one needed my tickets, he could have all four. I promised to leave them at the stadium club box office for him, the morning of the game.

The game with Florida was a sellout and again a nationally televised game on a major network. Florida was an offensive machine, a pure pro style passing offense, this would be our biggest test to date. They were averaging over thirty points a game thus far into the season. I arrived in our locker room about nine that morning and began to get taped up for the game. I had been very fortunate thus far this year, I was basically injury free, just a bump and bruise, here and there.

We opened the game with the first possession of the day on our own twenty one yard line. Two plays later we fumbled the ball, Florida recovered on our eighteen yard line. It took just one play for them to score, we were already down 7-0, with barely two minutes off the clock. Our offense came out and immediately tried to press the ball to get the points back, we threw an interception deep in our own end of the field, a few plays later it was 10-0. The entire load of this game had shifted to the defense, if we were going to come back, it was up to us to make a stand. We held them for most of the rest of the first half, they scored once, as did we, the score was 13-7 at the break.

The defense spent the entire halftime making adjustments. I was moved from my normal defensive end position, to outside linebacker on the same side. We would be rushing at least one to two extra players per down, trying to force a turnover. We definitely caught them off guard on the first series. On the second play of the half, I was able to break through and get a huge sack, a loss of fifteen yards. They were forced to punt the ball to us, we had excellent field position and scored quickly to take the lead 14-13.

From that point on, we were merciless on defense. We allowed nothing, they had to earn every yard they gained. We blew the game open in the first few minutes of the fourth quarter scoring twice giving us a 24-13 advantage. We knew that was going to force them to start to throw on just about every down. As a defense, we were going to pin our ears back and get after their quarterback. We sacked him six more times in the fourth quarter, winning the game 31-13.

From that point on, we never looked back in the rear view mirror. We finished the season unbeaten and ranked second in the country. We would play a team from Ohio the first weekend in January for the National Championship. Our coaches tried to prepare us for the hype that would surround the game, but nothing can really prepare you for a game of that magnatude, unless you have been there already.

Coach gave us ten days off for Christmas and New Years, but we had to be back on campus January 2nd to resume practice for the championship game. I was torn on what to do for those ten days, debating on whether to stay at school or go home. Since I had not been home in close to six months, I decided that maybe enough time had passed since that night with Ashley. I caught a ride with another player who had to pass within a few miles of my home town so he agreed to drop me off. I stopped in Coach Ray’s office to tell him I was leaving campus for the holidays. He asked me to sit down for a minute, he wanted to talk to me.

“Brian, as you know, we are in constant contact with pro scouts, agents and people around the pro game. Things have changed a lot in the past two decades, a lot of underclassmen are now leaving school early for the draft. I have actually been contacted by several scouts who seem very interested in you.”, he started.

“With that said, I am not a big proponent of kids leaving school early, unless the situation is completely right for them. Even though you’re technically a sophmore, I have heard talk you could be a 3rd or 4th round pick this year, if you declare early.”, he continued.

“I haven’t even thought about it Coach. I mean, I am only a sophmore. You really think someone would draft me ?”, I asked.

“Oh I am sure of it. The only question is, would you move up into the higher rounds with one or two more years playing here. Let me do some digging, we can talk when you come back.”, he ended.

I left his office in a state of disbelief, I couldn’t imagine it. To be drafted as a professional after only two seasons, it didn’t seem possible. It’s all I thought about on the ride home, there was actually a chance that I could play pro football and possibly make a great deal of money. It was around noon on December 23rd when my friend dropped me off at home. I noticed that Ashley’s SUV was not in the drive, I actually felt somewhat relieved. I went inside, unpacked my bags, starting two loads of laundry. I fixed my self a sandwich and was sitting at the kitchen table eating when Ashley came through the door.

“Hey, when did you get here ?”, she asked, sitting the grocery bags down on the counter.

“Just about thirty minutes ago, a friend dropped me off here. I have off until January 2nd.”, I answered.

“That’s nice, I was hoping to have company over the holidays.”, she told me, putting the groceries away.

While she seemed to be genuinely delighted to see me, for the first time in I can’t remember how long, she didn’t hug or kiss me. I just sat there eating as she put away the remainder of the groceries. I finished, got up and rinsed the dishes, placing them in the dishwasher. I went and laid down for a while, it had been a long trip home, I was up most of the night. I was startled from a dead sleep by the cell phone on the nightstand next to the bed. I picked the phone up, looked at the number, it looked familiar, so I answered.

“Hey Brian, how are you son ?”, came the familiar voice.

It was Mr. Timmons , Courtney’s Dad, inspite of what had happened between his daughter and I, we had become somewhat close in the past few years. It was always good to hear from him.

“Hey Mr. Timmons, I’m doing fine sir and you ?”, I asked.

“Just great Brian. Look, I am having a really big Christmas Eve party tomorrow night at my house. If you’re coming into town, I would love for you to stop in for a few minutes.”, he asked.

“I’m in town now sir. I got in last night. But I don’t know if it’s a good idea I come by, I mean I don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable.”, I replied.

“You won’t make anyone uncomfortable Brian. Both my wife and I would love to see you, I don’t think Courtney would mind either.”, he shot back.

“Oh, she isn’t seeing Darren anymore ?”, I inquired.

“I don’t know, I hope not, I can’t stand that asshole. Anyway, forget about that, just please stop by for a few minutes.”, he begged.

“Ok sir, I will come by for a few minutes, I promise.”, I said.



Ashley must have been in her bedroom while I was on the phone with Courtney’s Dad, she walked up to my door almost as soon as I had hung up the phone.

“Who was that ?”, she asked.

“Mr. Timmons, he asked me to stop over at his house tomorrow night for his Chrsitmas Eve party.”, I replied.

“Oh…… You’re thinking of going ?”, she inquired.

“I promised him I would stop by for a few minutes. He still calls me at least once a month at school, he has always been so nice to me. I couldn’t say no.”, I responded.

“Is Courtney going to be there ?”, she asked, in an annoyed tone.

“I have no idea Ashley, I didn’t ask.”, I answered.


She turned and walked down the hallway toward the front of the house. For the rest of the day, you could feel the tension in the house between us. I tried my best to be cordial but it was difficult to say the least. I went to bed early that night just so I wouldn’t have to deal with the situation any longer. I heard Ashley up several times during the night, I had no idea what she was doing.

I woke up early on Christmas Eve and decided to go into town and just walk around. Even though it was a very small town, everyone always went all out decorating for Christmas. I stopped in at the diner and had breakfast, a few cups of coffee, then started walking down main street. I saw several people I knew, stopping to talk to each of them for a few minutes. I window shopped for a while, then decided to go to Van Buren’s to get a haircut. Mr. V, as everyone called him, had been cutting hair in our town for over thirty years, he had cut my hair since I was a toddler. Lately he had slowed down, hiring two other barbers to help him part time. As I opened the door to walk in, I saw the place was packed. Mr. V looked up from his customer, his face lighting up upon recognizing me. He waved me to come in immediately.

“It’s ok Mr. V, I can come back when you’re not so busy.”, I said, thanking him.

“No, no Brian. You come right in, we will squeeze you in.”, he said, shaking my hand.

He turned to all of the men, their ages varied from teenager to senior citizen and addressed them as if they were all old friends.

“I think you all know who this is. If you don’t know, get out.”, he said laughing hysterically.

Everyone in the shop roared in laughter, as most of them waved a warm hello to me as I sat in the only chair open. As soon as Mr. V, finished with the customer he had in his chair, he motioned for me to come over and sit down. I tried to refuse, pointing to all of the people who had been sitting there waiting, but most of them motioned for me to go ahead. I sat down in the chair, as Mr. V quickly wrapped the white cover around me and secured it to my neck. He stepped around in front of me with clippers in his hand.

“So Brian, you didn’t see that you made the wall of fame ?”, he said, pointing to the main wall.

I scanned through the maze of pictures he had accumulated through the years, he was an avid football fan, his memorabilia collection was impressive. Finally about mid-wall I noticed a large 11 x 16 photo that had to be taken during the Virginia game. It was the hit I had made on the wide receiver reverse causing the fumble. The picture was phenomal, both of us were off the ground, the ball hovering in the air over us.

“Wow Mr. V, where did you get that ?”, I asked.

“Your old Coach brought that in for me, he had it framed as well. When you get to the pro’s, it will be one of the highlights of my collection.”, he beamed.

“Well I hope I get there Mr. V, I will try not to let you down.”, I answered.

For the next few minutes I was bombarded with questions about our team, what I thought our chances were of beating Ohio for the National Championship. Everyone was very nice and wished me luck in the big game. Mr. V had finished up, cleaned me off, and removed the wrap allowing me to stand up. I reached into my wallet and handed him a twenty dollar bill, he pushed my hand away.

“I don’t want money, I want a favor from you.”, he said.

“I’ll try Mr. V, what can I do for you ?”, I asked.


“I want you to autograph that for me.”, he said, pointing to my picture on the wall.

“No problem Mr. V, I would be happy to do it.”, I answered.

The old man bolted over to where the large photo was hanging on the wall. He snatched it down quickly, turned it over and turned the clips that held the backing in place. He fished out the photo and walked back over to me extending it proudly. One of the other barbers grabbed a black sharpie marker from the drawer and handed it to me. I stared at the photo for a second thinking of what to write. I inscribed the photo neatly, making sure not to mess it up.


To Mr. V, Thanks for everything.

Brian Stevens # 99


I handed the photo back to him, he was grinning from ear to ear. He wrapped his arms around me giving me a big hug. He started replacing the photo back into the frame. He finished, turned and hung it back in it’s place on the wall. He turned back to me as I was about to walk out and shook my hand wishing me a Merry Christmas.

I headed back towards my vehicle, then headed home. It was close to three o’clock by that time, I needed to get ready for the party. I arrived home, immediately taking a shower and getting dressed for the party. I was ready about an hour early, so I sat down and watched a bit of TV. I had always tried to bring some sort of item from the past season to Mr. Timmons, he had office in his home which was wall to wall football memorabilia, but I had forgotten to bring anything from school. Suddenly it struck me, that I had three of my first year jerseys hanging in my closet. Every year, you were given two home jerseys and two away jerseys. If they were still intact at the end of the year, you were allowed to keep them, give them away, they were yours. I went to my closet and found one of my white home jersys hanging in there. I pulled it out and placed it in a plastic bag. I watched TV for about an hour more, then left for the party.

As I turned on the block, I could see that this was not one of Mr. Timmon’s normal get togethers. There were three to four times the amount of vehicles that normally were parked in and around his home. I had to park in the block before his home and walk the rest of the way. I arrived at the front door and rang the bell, Mrs. Timmons opened it quickly.

“Hi Brian, I’m so glad you decided to come.”, she said, hugging me quickly.

She closed the door behind me and ushered me into the family room, although there were people throughout the house. It took a few minutes for me to find Mr. Timmons, he was in the kitchen icing down more beer. As I walked through the room looking for him, I could feel a lot of eyes watching me. As I stepped into the kitchen, he immediately jumped up and shook my hand.

“Brian , I am so glad to see you. Thanks so much for coming. Come on, I will introduce you everyone.”, he said.

For the next twenty minutes I followed him around the huge home as he introduced me to all of his friends, both male and female. About half of the people I met, knew who I was, several had mentioned they watched me play. We finally made our way back to the family room where I found a seat on the end of the sofa. I was just sitting there drinking a Coke when I realized I had forgotten to give Mr. Timmons his gift. By now he had once again disappeared into the crowd, I decided to stay put until I saw him again. I had been sitting there for about ten minutes, when I saw Courtney walk through the family room and into the kitchen. I know she didn’t see me through the maze of people, I slumped down a bit on the sofa, hoping she would be leaving soon.

Finally Mr. Timmons made his way back over to where I was sitting, he had two of his friends with him. He introduced me to both of them, as I stood to shake their hands. It’s tough to not be noticed in a crowd when you’re almost six foot, seven inches tall. As I stood to talk to the two men, I saw Courtney out of the corner of my eye, turn her head in my direction. I was glad to be engaged in a conversation at that point, I really didn’t want to talk with her.

“Brian, are you ready for the big game ?”, Mr.Timmons asked.

“Yes sir, I am. I just hope we play well, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity.”, I answered.

“Im not too sure, with the talent you guys have, you could make another run at it next year.”, he fired back.

“Maybe, but I would rather get it done this year sir.”, I replied.

The three men bust out laughing, I’m not sure why, I wasn’t trying to be funny. I know how much work, and to some degree how much luck it takes to go unbeaten in college football. It doesn’t happen every season, you have to grab the situation in hand when you can.

“Oh by the way Mr. Timmons, my coaches have told me that scouts are talking about where I would be drafted if I declared myself a hardhip this year and enter the draft.”, I stated.

“You’re kidding. That’s fabulous Brian, I always knew you would make it.”, he said, slapping my back.

“I doubt I will declare this year, my coaches think another year and I could possibly be an early second round pick. I am pretty sure I will come back at least one more season before I make my decision.”, I answered.

We talked for a few more minutes, then I remembered the jersey that I had brought him. I turned and reached down on the sofa and picked up the bag, handing it to him. I could tell once again, he was excited to see what I had brought him. He opened the bag and pulled the white jersey out of the bag. He opened it up and looked carefully at it, taking a while for it to register just what it was. After seeing the grass stains, tears and rips that had been repaired, and dried blood on the lower front, he knew what it was.

“This is your game jersey ? You wore this in the game ?”, he asked incredulously.

“Yes sir, last season.”, I answered.

For the first time since I had been introduced to Courtney’s Dad, he was at a lost for words. I could see tears well up in the older man’s eyes. He had to take a deep breathe to compose himself in front of his friends.

“Brian, I don’t know what to say. You should keep this, it could be quite valuable one day in the future.”, he said, extending the jersey back to me.

“No sir, I want you to have it. And if God is willing and I do play in the pro’s, you will get one of those as well.”, I answered.

Still quite choked up, he yelled over the top of the crowd, asking everyone to be silent for just a few seconds. He once again introduced me to everyone, then held up the jersey, explaining what it was and that I had just given it to him. With the guests whispering to each other he turned back to me, once again extending the jersey back to me.

“Would you do me the honor of signing this for me Brian. I would love to frame it and hang it in my office.”, he asked politely.

“Of course I will sir.”, I answered, taking the jersey.

As he disappeared in his office for a marker, I took the jersey over to the kitchen table and laid it out flat, with the back panel up. Mr. Timmons reappeared quickly, a black sharpie marker in his hand. I took the marker from him and bent over, trying to think of an inscription. I smiled thinking this was already twice today someone wanted my autograph, a niave kid who grew up in a small town. I placed the black sharpie inside one of the two number nine’s on the jersey. Inside the first number I wrote the inscription:

“Game Used – Florida”

Inside the second number nine , I wrote the following inscription :

To : Mr. Gerald, Thank you for the kindness & friendship –
Brian Stevens # 99

I handed the jersey back to Mr. Timmons as a few of the people in the room applauded. He once again thanked me for the generous gift telling me how much it meant to him. He told me by the time I would come back to town next summer, it would be framed hanging in his office. He walked across the kitchen to show his wife the item up close. I looked up at the clock, saw it was close to nine o’clock, I decided I would soon thank everyone and head home. I walked back to where I was sitting to wait on Mr. Timmons when Courtney cornered me, I had no place to go.

“Hey.”, she said, a weak smile on her face.

“Hi Court, how are you ?”, I asked.

“I’m ok, I guess. How about you ?”, she replied.

“Doing ok too, just really crazy up at school, with us being in the National Championship this year. I barely have time to breath right now.”, I responded.

“Yea, I can imagine. You must be excited huh ?”, she inquired.

“Yea, I am ready to play now, I wish the wait wasn’t so long.”, I laughed.

We talked for a few more minutes, mostly just things in general, I could sense maybe she had something in mind. I was extremely anxious to leave, I guess it showed.

“You have any plans for the holidays ?”, she asked, adverting my eyes.

“Nope, not at all. I have to be back at school in a little over a week for practice. I don’t plan on doing anything other than just laying around.”, I answered.

“Oh…. Ok.”, she responded, “Well if you get bored, give me a call, maybe we can do something.”

I guess the look on my face must have immediately told her what my mind was thinking, because she quickly spoke up before I could.

“Oh, I mean, you know…. Just hang out and stuff.”, she answered.


“Honestly Court, that might be nice, except I don’t need any of Darren’s bullshit while I am in town. He’s already been in my face several times in the past few years. One of these times, it might get ugly. I just don’t need the aggravation.”, I replied.

“Oh, we’re not dating anymore. We broke up a few weeks ago. He already has another girlfriend.”, she confided.

“Well, I’m sorry to hear that Court, but honestly I never understood what you saw in him anyway. Thirty years from now he will still be in this town trying to relive his high school days.”, I told her.

“I know, I know. My Dad gives me the same speech all the time. I screwed everything up, I really did.”, she said, looking down at her feet.

We talked for a few more minutes, then I wished her Merry Christmas, thanked her Mom and Dad for inviting me to the party and left quickly. It was almost eleven that night when I finally arrived back at home. The lights were all still on, there was a car in the drive I did not recognize. I parked my truck, unlocked the door and went into the kitchen. I heard Ashley immediately yell out from the family room.

“Brian, can you come here for a second ?”, she asked.

I went to my room, tossed my jacket on the bed, and walked back down the hall to the family room. Upon entering I saw Ashley was seated on the sofa with a very young, extremely attractive blonde lady, they were both drinking wine. They both stood up when I walked into the room.

“Brian, this is Stephanie Jenson, she is a new teacher at school.”, she began, “Steph, this is Brian Stevens.

The blonde woman immediately extended her tiny hand to mine, a smile crossing her face. I reached out and took her small hand in mine.

“Nice to meet you Miss Jenson.”, I said.

“Where in the heck have you been keeping him ?”, Stephanie laughed, “Oh my God, what a man.”

Both women laughed out loud, I felt really uncomfortable as they shared the moment.

“I go to school in another state, I am never here.”, I answered for Ashley quickly.

“Please tell me you’re engaged, have a steady girlfriend, hurry quick”, Stephanie said laughing.

“Actually, no mam, I am not seeing anyone, haven’t in a while.”, I answered.

“Oh my God, come sit with me honey.”, she squealed, grabbing my arm and pulling me down on the sofa.

I sat down next to her out of sheer courtesy, it was obvious both of them had been drinking for a while. While neither was drunk, they were both rather giddy, I guess you can call it. For the next few minutes I answered questions about school, football and anything else she could throw at me. It seemed she was just out of college herself, this was her first year teaching. She would be twenty four in a few months, making her barely older than me. As the conversation progressed I could sense maybe Ashley was becoming a little uneasy with her new friend. I decided to call it a night.

“Well ladies, I am exhausted, it was nice to meet you. I am going to bed.”, I stated.

It took me a while to go to sleep that night, I could hear Ashley and Stephanie laughing in the other room for quite a while. I woke the next morning about seven o’clock, Ashley’s door was still closed, she must have had a real late night. I made a pot of coffee and sat down at the kitchen table. I was on my second cup when Ashley appeared walking slowly, apparently feeling the effects of last night’s wine.

“I need coffee….. Badddd.”, she said softly.

She poured a cup of a coffee then fell into one of the chairs across the table from me. I had to grin slightly, she was a mess. I finished up my coffee, took a quick shower, then settled in on the sofa to watch TV. Since it was Christmas day, I knew everyone would be with family, there was no point in trying to go anywhere, or see anyone. Sometime right after lunch my cell phone rang, I reached over and answered it.

“Hey Brian, it’s Courtney, what are you up to ?”, she asked.

“Nothing, just watching TV with Ashley.”, I explained.

“Well, my Dad wanted me to call and ask you if you would come over tonight for dinner. That’s if….um, you don’t have any other plans.”, she said quickly.

“No, I don’t have any plans. I guess I could stop in for a little while.”, I answered.

“Ok, see you then.”, she replied, hanging up.

As I laid the phone back on the sofa, I could see Ashley giving me the eye. By the look on her face, I could tell she was not happy.

“Who was that ?”, she asked.

“Courtney.”, I replied.