As we settled in, I checked my email. One caught my eye. It was an invitation to go to football camp at Ohio State. The only problem was it was the same time as the Kentucky camp.
“When does serious recruiting start for football?” Tami asked.
“This summer I need to start showing what I can do. We’re talking about the national camps. Do I skip Kentucky? I mean, I can’t really, can I? I made them a commitment to go.”
“Call and ask,” Tami suggested.
I scrolled through my contacts until I found Coach Styles, the head coach for Kentucky. We exchanged pleasantries.
“What can I do for you, David?”
“Remember when you told me if I needed to bounce something off of you I could?”
“Yes, what’s up?”
“I got an invitation to attend Ohio State’s football camp, but it conflicts with another camp I’m attending,” I said, not wanting to tell him I was thinking of skipping his camp.
“How many camps are you going to this year?”
“Yours, Alabama’s, and I’ve been invited to the Elite Quarterback Camp in Houston again.”
“Why so few?” he asked.
“I guess I didn’t think about doing more. Should I?”
“Think of it as not counting towards your recruiting-trip limit. At the very least, I would suggest you make arrangements to tour the campuses of your top choices as if you were going as a student.”
“So what should I do about my conflict? Is it in bad form to go back on your word?” I asked.
We both knew I wasn’t talking about skipping Alabama or Elite.
“I’ll see you at Elite. I’ll send you a refund,” he told me, letting me off the hook.
“Can you use my spot to allow someone who couldn’t afford it to come?” I asked.
“Not anyone we plan on recruiting, but I’m sure there’s someone we could find. Good luck this summer,” he told me, and then hung up.
“I take it we’re going to Ohio State?” Tami asked.
“You plan on going to camp with me?”
“Of course I am. I can’t trust you to check out campuses.”
I guess she was going to camp. I wondered when her mom was going to put her foot down. Tami needed to spend time with her mom at some point, since she’d spent nearly a year in the UK.
Chapter 5 – Ohio State Football Camp
Wednesday June 10
Tami and I had arrived in Columbus the night before camp because the football staff wanted to show us around before sign-in at eleven that morning. We were directed to the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. The facilities had been originally built in the late ’80s. Recently they did an almost twenty-million-dollar upgrade and expansion. If there was a better football facility in the country, I wanted to see it.
Tami and I went to reception to meet our guide who turned out to be a guy that looked like he was a player. When he saw me, he came over and shook my hand.
“David, so glad you could make it. And you are?” he asked as he shook Tami’s hand.
“Tami.”
“Hi, I’m Fred Rogers. I’ll be your guide and go-to person if you need anything over the next three days. We’re waiting for three more players and then we’ll get started. Can I get you anything while you wait?”
Tami and I sat down while we waited and relaxed.
“What time is your tour?” I asked.
Tami had arranged to receive a tour of the campus while I ‘played,’ as she called it.
“Same time as you register, eleven o’clock.”
My phone rang and it was Kendal.
“I’ve got some bad news: Range Sports is buying out your contract,” she told me without preamble.
“I guess mouthing off to the owner wasn’t my best move.”
“You’re right, it wasn’t; but no one’s blaming you for what you said. We both know making Devin look bad in front of Adrienne was not the best move. The two of you probably should’ve had a private conversation,” she said, and then I heard someone in the background. “I have to go. We pulled your contract and are reviewing it to see how the buyout language reads. Your parents are coming in this afternoon. I’ll keep you in the loop.”
“What happened?” Tami asked.
I was explaining everything to her when Fred came and got us.
I WONDERED IF I SHOULD have brought more people with me. Each of the other three guys had their parents, girlfriend, and siblings with them. One even brought his seven-on-seven coach.
Felix ‘Flee’ Johnson hailed from Miami, Florida. He was entering his senior year and was listed at six foot, but he had to be five-ten at the most. He played quarterback and according to Scouts.com was listed as the number 8 athlete in the senior class. I would have put down serious money that his girlfriend Candy was a stripper.
Roland Thibodaux was from Houma, Louisiana. I recognized his name because he was the number 5 quarterback in the senior class. The SEC was recruiting him hard, so I was surprised to see him at Ohio State. They must have pulled out all the stops to get him to show up. I was sure he could write his own ticket if he went to LSU.
Percy Lancaster was a local boy from right here in Columbus. His dad was a big-time attorney and a major booster for Ohio State athletics. His whole family had their Ohio State gear on. I think his little sister could have given the tour. She was a chatterbox and was more excited about him going to camp than her brother was.
I made a mental note that when I went to Alabama, I needed to show up wearing, at the very least, a hat. Plus, I wanted to dump my Range Sports clothing. I wouldn’t give them any more free advertising. I’d have Tami go get me clothes to wear for the next couple of days.
Fred took us through the Les Wexner football complex. Mr. Wexner had donated a hundred million dollars to The Ohio State University. It didn’t all go to the football program, but they weren’t cutting any corners.
When we were done, we were shown where registration was. It was a madhouse. I was relieved when Fred magically appeared with our packets and room keys. Tami laughed aloud when she saw where I’d be staying the next two nights. It was small dorm room they had set up with two sets of bunk beds. The four of us would be rooming together. Oh, joy!
Tami was booked into Embassy Suites and had a king-size bed. Luckily for her, she’d had her tour to go to or she might have ended up trading with me.
“DID YOU TRY OUT FOR Elite 11?” Flee asked Roland as we walked to practice.
“Not yet. Monday’s the regional here in Columbus. How about you?” Roland asked.
“Yep. Now I have to wait and see if I get selected,” Flee said.
“What’s the Elite 11?” Percy asked.
Thank you. I didn’t want to look stupid.
“It used to be called Nike Camp, but ESPN got involved. Quarterbacks compete at regional ‘campetitions.’ The regional camps include instructional drills, accuracy competitions, and a final-two-minute drill. Top performers can earn a spot at Elite 11, July fifth through tenth, at Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon,” Roland told us.
“How about you, David? Are you here for the competition, I mean ‘campetition’?” Flee asked
“To be honest, I didn’t know anything about it.”
“You have to apply, so it might be too late. Columbus is the last regional event. If you win the event, you get to compete against the best-of-the-best. They do allow a few select underclassmen to compete,” Roland told me.
“I’ll have to see. It sounds like fun.”
We found where we were supposed to go. We began by doing drills and running. This gave the coaches a chance to watch and evaluate us with something measurable. I counted seventeen other quarterbacks. Since this was a position camp, we would all be working closely together for the next two days.