Once the scores were announced, we would all go to lunch and then have our draft. They were going to let us each pick four players to join our team and then they would assign us the rest. Flee and I would get to go first and pick our top eight. Then they would draw names and the other quarterbacks would pick theirs.
As soon as the scores were posted, Bo and I went to lunch. One receiver’s SPARQ score was 144, a good eleven points higher than the next closest receiver. He was six-six, and I swear he looked like a young Randy Moss. I hoped to win the coin toss and pick him. If he was anything like Randy Moss, I would win the tournament easily. The scores ranged from 96 to 144, with the majority in the 105 to 125 range.
David’s SPARQ Score:
- Height: 6’4”
- Weight: 208 lbs.
- Vertical Jump: 39.7” (Vertical jump height and body weight are factored together to assess your peak power).
- 40 Yard Dash: 4.69 (A measure of off-the-mark quickness and transition to top speed).
- Power Ball Toss: 38’ (A test designed to measure the ability to develop and deliver coordinated power).
- Agility Shuttle: 4.2 (A drill demanding split-second changes of posture, direction and speed).
- SPARQ: 120.97
My score was the top one for quarterbacks, followed closely by Flee. Bo had full access to a couple of the recruiting services. He pulled up the Randy Moss look-alike. We both read his profile.
‘Damion Roth has a very high ceiling with the right coaching. Physically he has the attributes to be a dominant player. Has yet to learn to separate himself from defensive backs, and has average hands.’
“Dang it,” I said.
“Keep this to yourself,” Bo said.
“I bet you Flee would let me pick two or three times to get Damion first. Do you think I should go make a deal with him?” I asked.
“Go see what you can do. I’ll match up the top guys on the recruiting site with their SPARQ scores while you do that.”
I went and found Flee.
“Want to guarantee you get the top guy?” I asked.
He and his dad were going over the list.
“What did you have in mind?” his dad asked.
“I trade you the rights to Damion Roth for letting me have all my picks next.”
“I don’t know if he’s worth letting you pick the next four,” Flee said.
“He’s eleven points higher than the next best guy. He runs like a gazelle and can outjump anyone here. You need every edge you can get,” I said.
“What if I get the first pick?”
“Are you willing to let me pick him if I get it?” I asked.
He looked at his dad and got the okay. I waived Coach Trent over.
“We have a trade,” I said.
He looked at us and shook his head.
“Let’s hear it,” Coach Trent said.
“I get Damion Roth, and David gets the next four picks,” Flee said.
“I hope you didn’t make a mistake,” Coach Trent said.
He didn’t say which one of us should be worried. He just had an amused expression on his face. I hurried back to Bo to see what he’d figured out. I found my dad, Greg and Tami going over the lists. I also found some of the receivers hanging around.
“Take these guys out and throw to them,” Tami said.
I went out and threw to the six guys Bo had selected. Five of them were good, very good. The last guy was perfectly fine, but not the same caliber as the others. As I talked to them, I found out one of the receivers was a teammate on Wes’s high school team. He also planned on going to Alabama with him when they graduated. I knew for sure he was going to be on my team! I wasn’t going to give Wes his favorite receiver in the seven-on-seven competition.
I came in and told everyone what I’d found out. Tami handed me a list. It had four names on it and matched what I had found out, so I had my picks. I made a copy for Flee so he could pick his and then took a copy to Coach Trent. Coach Trent took a look at the list and shook his head, but didn’t say anything. He showed it to my coach, Coach Allen, who got a big grin on his face.
“Wes isn’t going to be happy,” Coach Allen said.
“Wes will get over it,” I replied.
Seven-on-Seven List:
- Dan Berger (Phoenix, Arizona – Alabama commit)
- Justin Dampier (Las Vegas, Nevada – Florida State commit)
- Craig Hendricks (San Diego, California – USC commit)
- Jim Butler (Dallas, Texas – Undecided)
When Flee saw my list, he was confused.
“None of these guys are in the top five on the SPARQ results. Why did you pick them?”
“Don’t trust the SPARQ score. Go throw to them and see what they can do before you decide. I would suggest you invite one guy, Terry Halsted. He made my short list. You only have fifteen minutes,” I warned him.
“Shit! Why do I think I’ve been had?” Flee complained, then gathered the guys who he was thinking about and hurried outside.
WHEN IT CAME TIME TO pick our teams, Flee went ahead and picked Damion first. When my picks were called out, Wes flipped me off. My new teammate, Dan, laughed at his friend. I think he enjoyed the idea of playing against him. The draft went quickly. Flee took my advice and picked Terry Halsted.
When Flee and I were done, we took our guys and headed to the fields to start practicing. Tomorrow we would play in a tournament. We would face some of the best defensive backs in the country. Rumor had it we would go up against NFL defensive coordinators. They were working with their charges today at a local high school to get ready. The only requirement was we had to use the playbook given, and the defense had a copy of that book.
“David, we’ve been working up to tomorrow all week. We’ve prepared you to do well. Help the guys learn to run the plays today. I have every confidence in you,” Coach Allen said.
We had four more guys show up to be on our team. Coach Allen handed out Elite 11 orange and blue jerseys to my guys. Someone had done their homework as to my high school’s team colors.
Practice went about as I expected. It was obvious these new guys were extremely talented, but they had only been running these plays for an afternoon. Coach Allen picked ten plays for us to learn. Bo pointed out that I needed to add some deep sideline plays.
When we were done, I asked the guys if they would go with us off campus to practice for another hour. They agreed when I said I’d buy the pizza. Coach Allen gave me a funny look when he saw us all load into my dad’s van. I’m not sure it was completely legal to pack so many people into a van, but we were only going about a mile. There was a high school football field there, and Bo had made arrangements for us to use it.
“I’m Bo Harrington, David’s quarterback coach. We asked you all here because David has been holding out on the Elite 11 guys. He has a pass that’s a little unconventional, but extremely effective. The best way to explain it is to show it to you.
“Jim, you cover Dan. Line up ten yards back so you can run with him. We’re going to run a deep fly pattern up the sideline,” Bo said.
“Go!” I called out.
Dan took off and Jim was able to cover him like a glove because he had plenty of room to get ready for him. I did my normal five-step drop we’d been using all week and unleashed my deep ball. I put the high arc on it so Jim wouldn’t have a chance at it. I placed it right on the sideline so only Dan could catch it. I think it surprised him to see a ball coming at him from that angle. It was almost as if it dropped straight down to him. I chuckled when it went through his hands.