“The second item I wanted to bring up is that there will be an announcement on the Sunday talk shows. It will say that if schools in California allow players to be paid for NIL, they will not be eligible for postseason play,” President Ellison said.
“Is this just an idle threat?” Brent asked.
“No. The NCAA’s Board of Directors met this week, and they are seriously considering making this a formal rule change.”
Jaxson quietly muttered several trigger words that described his thoughts on how messed up that was. The state of California had passed a bill to allow their student-athletes to profit off of NIL but had delayed the effective date. Jaxson hoped that the NCAA was just posturing to put pressure on the states pushing for this.
In his head, Jaxson already was formulating a response he could make when boosters, the university’s administration, or the press wanted a comment on the athletic department’s stance. He would call the president of the university tomorrow to coordinate.
When neither Brent nor Jaxson said anything, President Ellison stood up to signal the end of the meeting. Everyone was very cordial on the surface as they shook hands.
“What do you think?” Brent asked when they walked down the hall.
“About what? His veiled threat or the FBI? Both are a problem,” Jaxson admitted.
“Do you think you have an admissions problem?” Brent asked.
“I’m willing to bet good money that the former AD thought everything was fine right up until the FBI charged one of our assistant coaches in the shoe scandal. At least with this heads-up, I can attempt to find out if we have another, but I would be surprised if we don’t. Most of USC’s employees would become willfully blind to a violation if a bag of cash landed on their desk. And I wouldn’t put it past some of our wealthy families to ‘donate’ to get their children into the university,” Jaxson said.
Brent nodded his agreement and went to find his wife.
◊◊◊
“Just the man I wanted to talk to.”
Jaxson saw a smiling Gabe Francis, the studio exec who was one of USC’s principal boosters. Gabe’s studio had made David’s movie, The Royal Palm, for which he won his Academy Award.
“What can I do for you?” Jaxson asked.
“I was just talking to the head of the USC Booster Club in Sacramento.”
“We have a dinner with them next week.”
“That’s the one. When I told him where I was, he asked that David be added to the guest list,” Gabe said.
Jaxson took a moment before answering. During the summer, there were weekly dinners or luncheons that Jaxson attended. Most times, either the head football or basketball coach would attend. Players didn’t go because they weren’t allowed free meals or travel expenses. Those expenses would have to come out of the players’ pockets. It wouldn’t be cheap, either, because they planned to fly.
“That’s a pretty big ask because David would have to pay his own way,” Jaxson said.
“I was just talking to Chubby Feldman, and he has been renting his plane to David. I didn’t know this, but David has his pilot’s license. Since Chubby isn’t a booster, he could hire David to be our pilot,” Gabe floated.
Jaxson chuckled.
“It’s that type of shenanigan that causes me to lose sleep at night. I’ll approve David going, but he will have to pay for everything himself. And forget about having him paid to be our pilot.”
“Since you’re the rule enforcer, I’ll let you ask David. Just get an answer tonight if you can. That way, we can get the word out. I’m hoping to raise more than our boy did today.”
“He raised money? For what?” Jaxson asked.
“Instead of gifts, he asked that everyone donate to his charities. He added a generic category today. I guess our governor made a comment that David should put his money where his mouth was for the homeless,” Gabe said.
“What were the original charities?”
“Teen mothers is one, and his mom had cancer, so she organized another charity to support the families of cancer victims.”
“I didn’t know that,” Jaxson said.
“You should talk to him about it sometime. It’s quite an inspirational story. David actually got into modeling to help his family financially while she was getting treatment. I think he was a freshman in high school.”
“I take it his mom is okay.”
“Last I heard, she beat it,” Gabe shared.
“I’m glad you told me. I’ll make a donation.”
“No! My goal is to outraise David. If people keep giving, I might have to write a check.”
Jaxson knew the studio exec was just kidding. He was probably the first one to stroke a check for David’s charities. Gabe was a shark when it came to business, but he also had a big heart.
“I’ll do my best to get David to the booster event,” Jaxson promised.
Like Gabe, he knew that David would be willing to help out if asked.
Jaxson looked at his watch. He’d promised he’d be back to the Queen Mary’s main lounge to schmooze alongside his wife by now. His motto was ‘Happy wife, happy life.’ So far, that had worked out for him.
◊◊◊
Chapter 34
David
When David came back from test-driving his car, he found one of his security team waiting, and they took the keys. They would take it to his Malibu house for now. He was disappointed it wouldn’t be there for his use, but he understood. His car was one-of-a-kind that Dodge used to test the Demon concept. That first year they’d only made 3,000 of them, making it even more desirable to collectors in the future.
“I should probably drive it back to your house,” Cassidy said as she tried to grab the keys.
“No, you shouldn’t. Your dad’s here, and he wouldn’t be happy if you took off to go joyriding,” David said.
“I’ve decided that I want to be your security again,” she said as she watched the Demon drive away.
“You get to tell Ruth she’s fired.”
Cassidy smiled. He didn’t know if that was good or not.
Brook’s phone beeped.
“Your mom says you need to get ready.”
David glanced over at Tami and saw her frown. He knew she was wondering when his mother decided to have Brook do stuff like that and not her. That had to be a good thing, right? Tami and his mom had ganged up on him for years. Maybe he’d finally gotten through to his mom. Then again, he shouldn’t read too much into it.
“I’ll see everyone at dinner,” David said as they went to their rooms.
◊◊◊
Crystal was in the shower. He saw that his new suit was laid out.
“Did you think I couldn’t dress myself?” David asked as he went to the sink to brush his teeth and shave.
“No. That was Adrienne. She had clothes for you to wear, but when she saw your new suit, she agreed it was the best option. She did leave you a shirt, boxers, and a tie,” Crystal said as she turned off the water.
David handed her a towel as he finished up at the sink. When she stepped out, he went in.
“I want to use my veto power tonight,” Crystal said.
If girls only knew that saying something like that to a guy only made them want to do just the opposite even more.
“Tell me.”
“I have three. Brook Davis, Kate Upton, …”
His head shot out of the shower.
“… and Fiona Beckham.”
‘What the actual hell?’ David thought.
Of all the women on the planet, Crystal had somehow picked out the three women he was most attracted to. He’d already decided that Brook was in the ‘no-go zone’ due to the long-distance reasons and because if he did sleep with her, all his old feelings would resurface.
Kate Upton was off the menu because she married that stupid baseball player. Somehow, she’d gotten herself knocked up, and they now had a little girl. What sucked even more was that David read she really loved the guy. He must have hypnotized her to make Kate pick him over David.