“Part camp, part competition. It’s the premier quarterback development process in America. I think it’s bigger than that. It has become a tribe. It’s where coaches take their life experiences and pour them into you guys so that you don’t make the same mistakes as players and in life.
“In a hundred and twenty-one hours, eleven of you will be asked to be a part of the Elite 11. That will be a tremendous honor for whoever gets invited. Something I want to make clear to all of you is that being selected to be on this stage is not the victory. The victory is the journey you are about to embark on. Trust me, this journey will not be like any you’ve ever been on. It will change your life if you buy into it, and it starts right now,” Coach Trent said.
We were all loaded into a bus and taken to a park-like setting.
Coach Simson got us organized for the first event. He paired us each with a partner. Flee and I were put together. It looked like they were pairing us by how we were rated because I suspected Flee and I were the last two picked. I knew Wes and Doyle were rated the number 1 and number 2 prospects, and they were paired.
“At the edge of uncomfortable is where greatness happens. So, the first thing we’ll try to do is take your legs. You’ll run the obstacle course we have created just for you. Remember, everything counts. We’re not just looking for the fastest or the strongest. We are also looking for leaders.”
The other eight teams hurried to the starting line. I stopped Flee.
“We have to work as a team and think everything through. Let’s be sure to talk to each other out on the course and figure out the best way to do things. A little planning will go a long way,” I said.
Bo had warned me to figure it out instead of rushing forward.
As soon as we reached the starting line, they started the race. The first part of the track was winding down the hill to the lake between flags put into the ground. Most of the teams took off in a full sprint.
“Did they tell us how long this run is?” Flee asked.
“No. No, they didn’t. Let’s pace ourselves as if this is for something longer.”
The next stretch of the race was along the beach. Flee, being from Miami, suggested we run along the water’s edge. The sand was firmer there. Only one other team was doing that. The rest were running through three inches of sand. I could see guys were breathing hard after the sprint, and the sand took its toll. Flee and I were starting to catch up to the group.
The next section was through the woods. I think they found the steepest climb they could, and then would wind us back down the hill only to have us climb it again. This reminded me of the fell running I’d done in the UK. I was feeling it when we came out of the woods.
The next obstacle was a twelve-foot wall. I could probably make the jump and continue, but there was no way Flee would. I could see the wall was a real challenge for the teams. I actually saw guys leaving their teammate as they went over the wall.
“How about I boost you up and you lean down and help me up?” I asked.
Flee looked relieved. I bent down and made a cup with my two hands. Flee stepped into my hands and I hoisted him up so he could grab the edge of the wall. He pulled himself up and straddled the top. He reached down to help me, but I just ran to the wall and put one foot about three feet up and used my momentum to reach the top. I didn’t want to knock Flee off his perch.
“Let me go down first,” I told him.
I grabbed the ledge and let myself dangle before letting go. I ended up on my ass, but nothing seemed to be injured. I told Flee to do the same, except I was there to grab him and let him down gently. We now had passed three teams after getting by that obstacle. We ran to the next checkpoint where they had water for us. We stopped for a moment and drank. It gave us a chance to catch our breath. One of the teams we had passed caught up with us and didn’t stop.
Flee and I then found ourselves on a paved road. We set a steady pace. It was good that we did because this portion was three miles. Our slow and steady approach began to pick off teams. When we entered the next section of the race, we found ourselves in third place. This was the home stretch. It was like a traditional obstacle course. We started out having to high-step through a grid of ropes. I could feel it in my thighs by this point. Whoever thought up this course was evil.
The next challenge was side-by-side logs which looked slick.
“Grab my hand,” I suggested to Flee.
It was a good thing I did because he about slid off. I was afraid if one of us fell, we would pull the other one down. I had to laugh when Roland came sprinting up to catch us and did the splits on the log. If I hadn’t been close to the end, I would have fallen off. After that, I don’t think Roland cared if he won or lost.
We handled the rest of the obstacles and finished third. Flee wanted to lie in the grass and rest. I made him get up and stretch. I somehow knew this couldn’t be all.
WHEN WE ALL FINISHED, Coach Allen took over.
“Teamwork! Some of you did better than others. Some of you failed miserably. In the first part of your training tonight, we took your legs. Now we’re going to take your upper body. Remember, everything counts! Don’t worry about what others are doing. Make sure you’re challenging yourself. This camp is designed to make you a better version of yourself. Take full advantage, and remember to work as a team.”
They had set up a circuit that had to be run three times. At each stop, one of us had to do an exercise or a challenge. The key was figuring out who had to do what. There were seven stations. The first was the rowing machine. You had to row the equivalent of 500 meters. The next station was a rope climb, followed by monkey bars. Then you had to hold two twenty-pound dumbbells straight out from your shoulders for sixty seconds. If you failed, you had to start over. The next station was twenty chin-ups, and then we had to tackle a twenty-four-foot-long pipe where you had to go hand over hand to get to the end. If you fell off, you had to restart and do it again. Finally, there was a 20-foot-high cargo net that you had to climb up and go down the other side. This course reminded me of the CrossFit Games I’d watched on TV.
“What do you think? What are you good at?” I asked Flee.
“You do the rowing, dumbbells, and pole. I’ll do the rope climb, monkey bars and chin-ups.”
I had never used a rowing machine. It figured out your distance by how hard and quickly you pulled the rope. I watched some of the other guys who seemed to know what they were doing. You needed to use your whole body to pull the rope. After the run, this was nuts. I saw one team switch who was rowing at the halfway point. They finished first. Flee said we should stick to our plan.
He had the next two events, the rope climb and then the monkey bars. He was the smallest guy here and had an advantage in both of those. We were first after three stations. I then did the dumbbell lift. Twenty pounds in each hand doesn’t sound like much, but after doing the rowing machine, I struggled. My shoulders were shaking when time was called. This was where people started to fail. I couldn’t imagine having to go again right now.
Flee flew through the chin-ups. I was now going to tackle the twenty-four-foot-long pipe. I went hand-over-hand. When I got halfway across, I started to worry my grip was going to give out. I had to stop and hang for a moment to refocus. Flee cheered me on and I was able to finish.
The final challenge was the cargo net. It was a giant V. The problem was you had to stay on top of the ropes because of the angle. It would have been much easier if it was straight up and down. You could have just climbed it like a ladder. Flee and I perfected a crab-walk technique and finished the challenge.