Junior Year Box Set

I wanted it to be clear that I wasn’t willing to take money to come to Michigan State. I was also a little annoyed that he thought a hundred dollars would get the job done. I had read where this was a common practice at a lot of universities. Of course, Michigan State and all the other universities had no idea that this was going on. The article I’d read said that many of the players appreciated the ‘hundred-dollar handshake.’ If you were poor and only received a scholarship, you didn’t have any pocket money. That was one reason the Northwestern football team had tried to unionize. College football was a big business, and everybody but the players made money on it.

“Consider it found money,” he told me.

“I’m sorry, sir, I can’t. I care too much about my eligibility.”

“Then give it to your girlfriend,” the man suggested.

Cassidy had no such qualms and snatched the hundred-dollar bill out of my hand. It was probably a good thing her dad wasn’t paying attention. I think Chip was listening because there were no more offers of money made the rest of the day. Cassidy, on the other hand, admitted she made over $500. I wondered if the other guys had been offered money.

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We finally met up with the rest of the guys. I could tell my teammates liked Michigan State so far. When we walked into the stadium, it was almost twice as big as Northwestern’s. Spartan Stadium held 75,000 people and was sold out because this was a clash of two top-ten teams. Last year, Oregon had won their game and established themselves as the legitimate number 1 team in the land. Of course, their star quarterback had departed as the second one taken in the NFL Draft. This year, with home-field advantage, Michigan State was a four-and-a-half point favorite. They featured what many thought was the number 1 quarterback prospect in college football. I expected a good game.

While the teams were warming up, Brandon got a text.

“Come on, we need to take a walk,” he told me.

I was curious because I had no idea what Brandon was up to. I followed him through the stadium, and we were met by a guy in an Oregon polo shirt who must have been one of their student support staff. He got us on the field and, we wandered over to the Oregon side and ‘bumped’ into Coach Malinowski, their quarterback coach.

“I heard a rumor that you were here. I saw you had a heck of a game last night,” he said in greeting.

Brandon had told me Oregon had sent a coach to watch the game last night.

“Thanks. We did okay, but we have a bunch of stuff we need to work on,” I said.

“While you’re here, would you like to meet a few people?”

“I really shouldn’t. I don’t want to mess up my visit with Michigan State. Good luck today,” I offered, and we started back to our seats.

“Why’d we do that?” I asked Brandon.

“Because they need to know you’re serious about possibly going there. There are also only a few schools that have turned out first-round quarterback prospects in the last few years. I’m just keeping your options open.”

I wasn’t sure if deliberately bumping into them was a sound plan. Brandon and I would need to talk about that when we got home.

◊◊◊

The Oregon/Michigan State game was everything it had been built up to be. Oregon’s new quarterback stepped into his first game and performed well. He threw two early interceptions, but then seemed to settle into the job. Michigan State’s quarterback could have been better, in my opinion. His footwork was lousy on a few plays, especially when he was flushed from the pocket, but he led them to a 31–28 victory.

After the game, we received a tour of the athletic facilities and met with our potential position coaches. Then we took a tour of the campus. Alan, the Wesleyan girls, and I met with representatives of their Honors College. You had to be in the top five percent of your high school class and receive at least a 30 on your ACT or a 1360 on your SAT critical reading and math sections to even qualify. I wasn’t really interested until they explained the benefits: you didn’t have to take the standard curricular requirements, and you had smaller-sized classes that went into more depth. The courses were also all taught by professors so I wouldn’t get stuck with a grad student teaching my classes. I would receive comprehensive advisor services from both faculty in my major and Honors College staff. I would also get priority registration. There were other perks, but I would at least consider the Honors College.

Chip wanted to take me to a party at his fraternity, but I begged off. I ended up spending the evening with all the parents and Cassidy. We went to a nice dinner and then to a concert the Michigan State Jazz Band put on.

◊◊◊

When we got back to the hotel, I saw my cell phone had received several calls over the last half hour. I’d left it on the charger. I listened to the first message from Harper and went searching for Cassidy and Coach Hope. I found them in their hotel room.