What he really thought was that if the FBI decided to come after Grace Davenport, they would try to gin up some bullshit excuse to take her down.
‘Good luck with that,’ he thought.
He knew that Grace would have said something already if there was anything questionable that had been done to get Cassidy her scholarship. That, and how well she was actually doing for the team, made him confident that the FBI had other low-hanging fruit that would be a lot easier to go after. Veronica was one of the easier targets because of her jet-setting lifestyle.
“I believe what she said. Based on raw talent, I would have given you a scholarship if I were a coach,” David said.
Cassidy gave him a funny look.
“You mean that, don’t you?”
“I do.”
She looked down and then up when she decided how she felt about all of it.
“I believe her, too.”
◊◊◊
For his last show, David invited all his fellow freshman recruits. He’d been talking to them about beginning to develop their image. Someday, if they either made it to the NFL or the NCAA got out of the way, they would want to monetize it.
Having a few extra bucks a month would make a big difference for some of the guys. David had started to take them all out to lunch each week because he saw that some of them didn’t have free cash to do something like that. Plus, it was part of his team-building plan.
For today, he had each pick out one play from high school that highlighted their talent. It would be shown when they were interviewed. David decided not to do the interviews himself this week. He wanted the guys to get used to dealing with the press, so he asked Chip Wagner of Channel 10 Sports to help out.
When the lights went up, David went first.
Chip: “I think everyone knows who you are by now, so I’m going to skip all your accolades. Tell me about this clip we are about to see.”
David: “I dug back into the archives and pulled a clip from my freshman year of high school before I was asked to play varsity ball.”
The screen showed a title: What if Superman Played Football?
At that point, the music started to build, and a voice-over came on.
‘Kal-El was born on the planet Krypton.’
There was a scene from DC Comics that showed the baby superman.
‘Jor-El sent his only son to Earth before the destruction of Krypton.’
Next, there was a view of the planet as it exploded, followed by a shot of the baby as he was found in a field.
‘Now he has grown into a teen named David Dawson.’
It showed him standing on the sidelines as his coach pointed at him to send David into the game.
‘Let us see what happens when mere mortals play football against Superman.’
David had started off playing fullback his freshman year. On the first snap in high school, he was handed the ball up the center of the line. The opposing team’s linebacker made the correct play and met David in the hole to make the tackle. David lowered his shoulder and blasted the kid, putting him on his backside. David stepped over his prone body and ran for the first down.
On the second snap, the coach had called the same play. Even now, years later, David flinched when he saw what happened this time. The linebacker was looking for some payback, so he brought it. David lowered his shoulder as they met between the guard and center. He remembered his surprise when he hit the kid so hard that the ’backer crumpled into a heap. David then ran for daylight. A corner raced forward to tackle him. At the time, he didn’t know that he could just make a move and leave him in the dust. Instead, he lowered his shoulder and knocked the kid silly. From there, it was all green grass.
The video showed the plays three times in slow motion so you could get the full effect of seeing would-be tacklers demolished.
Chip: “That was your freshman year of high school?”
Everyone could hear the disbelief in his voice.
David: “They decided that I might hurt someone, so they moved me to varsity the next week.”
Chip: “I can see why. Now that summer is almost over, what do you see as the greatest progress your freshman teammates have made?”
David: “Honestly, they’ve become acclimated to college life. They’ve all made strides physically and have begun to learn the playbook, but this summer was more about them getting used to being here. Not all of them are from big cities or have lived on their own. In high school, you went to school, and then everything flowed. Now, in college, you have to get to class and learn how to manage your time, all while you have football commitments.”
Chip: “How do you think they did?”
David: “Some better than others, but that’s to be expected. At least now they understand what’s to come during the season. I have faith they will all succeed.”
◊◊◊
David invited the guys back to his place where he’d ordered pizza and had a couple of cases of beer waiting. Just enough so they could have a couple, but not enough to get crazy.
“You’re actually drinking?” Jesús asked.
“I do every once in a while. I just wanted to celebrate a good summer. We’ve all worked hard, and I figured before you got serious studying for finals, we could kick back and relax,” David said.
“I have some good news,” Bear announced. “My little brother verbally accepted an offer from USC.”
“Why are you happy? From what I hear, he’ll be stealing playing time from you,” Knackers joked.
“There’s room enough for both of us. We have David to thank for helping to seal the deal,” Bear said.
“I did send him some awesome messages, but I’m not sure that did it,” David admitted.
“I told him about you hooking me up with Fiona Beckham.”
“Yeah, I had to verify his story,” Big Cat added.
“How did you know her? She was totally into you, but you bailed,” Bear said.
“She went to high school with my personal assistant. I met her at a party my PA’s parents threw. I did date her a couple of times.”
“Jesus, Dawson. You leave a trail of undies off some very high-quality snatch. I don’t care how hot Crystal is, I would have banged Fiona like a dunny door,” Knackers said.
“Knackers is a complete Neanderthal, but I’m with him on this one. Why would you pass on that?” Jesús asked.
“Bear, let me ask you. Did Fiona give you her number?” David asked.
“No. She said she had fun and left.”
“Hollywood is different. I was on a movie set with a guy who probably slept with three new women every day. That was on top of the makeup artist blowing him daily and random hookups with the other talent.
“Getting laid is like shaking hands to those people,” David said and then looked at Bear with concern. “You did wrap it, didn’t you?”
“I … uhm … no,” he admitted.
“Go get checked tomorrow,” David encouraged.
“I should be worried?”
“What do you think? You had a threesome with an actress and a porn star.”
“Shit, he’s right,” Big Cat said.
“Sucks to be you,” Knackers quipped.
In a silent poll, Knackers had been voted as having the most punchable face for comments like that.
“You should be worried, too,” Bear fired back. “I’ve been using your towel to dry my junk after practice for the last month.”
Knackers went a bit pale when he realized that Bear was serious. The rest of them roared in laughter because they’d all witnessed it at some point.
“You all fucking suck, you bunch of traitorous arse-fuckers,” Knackers pouted. “Someone could have warned me.”