Junior Year Box Set

The first thing we did was walk out onto the field. We were all impressed that one end zone had been painted orange and blue with ‘Lincoln High School’ and our bulldog logo. The other end zone had been painted purple and white with their school name and a lion logo. I strolled out to the center of the field and slowly turned around to take it all in.

“Impressive, isn’t it?” Coach Mason said as he stood next to me. “In just a few short years, you could play here on Sundays.”

I looked around and wondered how ESPN expected to fill this place. It held almost seventy thousand people. I knew our fans traveled well, but they wouldn’t put a dent in this stadium. Coach Mason saw me lost in thought.

“Go get dressed. I think you’ll find it’s the same size as your field back home.”

“I know, but it just seems bigger.”

“Get used to it,” Coach Mason called out to me as I jogged to the locker rooms.

We got dressed and returned to the field to practice. The ESPN camera crews had shown up and started to film us. I had the advantage of my experience with the ESPNU staff when I was involved in Elite 11. So I wasn’t surprised when one of the cameramen found me and followed me around. They wanted to put a mic on me, and it surprised me when Coach Hope let them. He did warn me that if I embarrassed him, there’d be hell to pay.

Coach Mason had told Coach Hope to have us run sprints to burn off our nervous energy before we practiced. That proved to be smart because my teammates soon forgot about the cameras and where we were. Coach Hope made us run our asses off. When we were all sucking air, he started practice.

“Fourth quarter! Huddle up!”

We weren’t given a chance to catch our breath.

“Hustle, hustle, hustle! On David!” Coach Diamond called out.

We ran to the line of scrimmage, and I began to run our hurry-up offense from the shotgun. On the bus ride over I’d sat down with both Coach Diamond and Coach Mason. They told me what they wanted in practice. My orders were to keep a crazy tempo and not to throw anything long if I threw the ball. If I did throw long, I was supposed to dump it in the dirt or throw it to one of the defenders. They wanted King High School to see that the number-one quarterback in the junior class looked like a paper tiger. Sure enough, King was sitting in the stands, watching us. I did such a good acting job that the guys were getting nervous.

“Huddle up!” I called after throwing Yuri, our linebacker, a pass that bounced off his head.

Hey, I was supposed to mess up, I might as well have some fun. Yuri didn’t appreciate it, though. If it had been Kevin from my first year, he might have stuck the ball up somewhere I didn’t even want to think about.

“Settle down. This is just a show for our friends watching in the stands. Wolf, if you go long, do you think you can drop the ball like you do in games?” I asked.

“Screw you, Dawson.”

“Okay, the next three passes are coming your way. Make me look bad. On two, BREAK!”

Once my teammates were in on it, they did just that. I think I completed like one for thirty, with eight interceptions. You could see King’s players actually laughing at us.

◊◊◊

After practice, we all put on our football jerseys and found the rooms where we were to be interviewed. ESPN wanted us to say our name, what position we played, and what year we were. They’d use that as part of the intro. We were then split up to do one-on-one interviews with the different talent from ESPN. I was surprised to be taken into a Colts’ media room where I found Tracy, Coach Hope, my parents, Ms. Dixon, Pam, and Lacy.

Coach Hope and Pam sat on each side of me. When we were seated, Tracy stood up and introduced everyone. This part would be tedious because she had to give out our bios and spell our names for the press.

“Many of you may have followed the difficulties that David Dawson went through last week. If you need to see the official record, you can obtain it on the County Circuit Court website. We also have video for those who want it. At this time, Pam Bell has asked to read a prepared statement. When she is finished, she will not take any questions,” Tracy said, and gave Pam a reassuring look.

Pam stood up and looked at the waiting reporters and camera crews nervously. But then she took a deep breath, looked down at the paper in her hand, and seemed to gather herself. She looked up at the cameras with a forthright expression.

“My name is Pam Bell, I’m a junior at Lincoln High School, and I’m seventeen. I’m speaking to you all as a result of the media circus that occurred over the last week. I asked to talk to you on my own initiative. With my mother’s consent, I’d like to try to clear the air, to get the facts public, and to dispel a lot of gossip and innuendo. And as well to express the fervent hope that you will all go away and leave us alone, now that this is all over.