The Good Years Ch. 03

"Jeremy wake up it's that coach from Duke on the phone," she said trying to wake me up. Today was the first day that colleges could offer scholarships to high school players. So from today until the national signing day in February was a crazy time for guys who wanted to go to college with all the recruiting.

I woke up quickly and took the phone from her and she left me to talk to him alone. "Hello," I said trying not to sound half asleep.

"Jeremy how you doing today, this is Tom Garrett quarterbacks coach here at Duke," he said.

"Hi Coach Garrett I'm doing alright, what can I help you with?" I said.

"Well I just wanted to let you know that we've been looking at you for awhile and we like what we see in you."

"Thanks coach, are you looking at me as a QB or a Safety. I think I know the answer since you're the QB coach but I thought I'd ask," I laughing a little.

He laughed and said, "uh yea we like you as a QB but if it didn't work out you could always move to Safety. I know a lot of other schools think that you're a little short to be a QB especially in the ACC but we think you'd be ok."

"Yea I have heard that and I had pretty much given up on the idea of being a QB and tried to get better as a Safety. As you probably heard our other QB Brent Robinson got hurt so I moved to QB full time and haven't played much Safety."

"Yea I know but since he's gotten hurt we've been able to watch you more closely as a QB and it only convinced us further that you could a be a successful QB at this level," he replied.

"Thanks again Coach."

"Now I'm sure as you know that today is the first day that schools can offer kids a scholarship."

"Yea I know that Coach," I said.

"Good, now earlier this morning we already talked with Brent and we did offer him a scholarship. But we told him we wanted him to be a Safety primarily. We wanted to bring in two QB's with the class and you're our first choice. So we like to officially offer you a scholarship to the University of Duke."

"Thanks Coach I really appreciate it. I'm not anywhere ready to make a commit yet but thanks for the offer," I said.

"I understand and I didn't expect one but we just hope you think seriously about playing for us next fall."

"I will Coach but I'm going to be honest with you. I've been a Maryland fan all my life so it be hard for me to be a Blue Devil."

He laughed loudly and said, "I understand completely, I grew up in Chapel Hill. My family won't talk to me since I took the job here. It's been good talking to you Jeremy, you'll be hearing from us soon."

I laughed and replied, "you too Coach thanks again." He was right that must've been tough. He grew up in the same town as where the North Carolina campus was and he was working at Duke. I got dressed and headed down stairs to get some breakfast.

"So what did he have to say?" my dad asked me as I walked into the kitchen.

"Uh not much just that he offered me a scholarship," I tried to say calmly like it was no big deal.

"What he did? Oh honey I'm so happy for you," my mom said as she hugged me.

"Congratulations son you did well," my dad said clapping me on my back.

"Thanks dad," I replied.

"Did he say if you would have to redshirt or could get immediate playing time at Safety next year?" my dad asked me.

Redshirting was sitting out a year but not losing a year of eligibility. So I'd be a freshman then redshirt freshman and so on instead of going from freshman right to sophomore. "Umm actually they want me to play quarterback," I said.

"Really, everything we heard before from scouts was that you would be better at Safety in college than at QB," my dad said.

"Yea I know but he said him and the other coaches think that I could be a QB. And that they wanted to bring in two QB's this year and I was their first choice. I know they say that to everyone but still."

"Still I'm happy for you. I'm sure you'll get a couple more calls today form coaches."

"Yea maybe, ok I'm going to go over to Tim's so if anyone call's for me just give them my cell number."

"Ok will have fun," my mom said as I got up and left.

"Hey guy's," I said to Tim and Brent as I walked into his basement.

"Hey man what's up," Brent said as I walked in, Tim just nodding.

"Not much. You guys hear from any colleges yet?" I asked them.

"Yea I had a bunch of coaches calling asking about my knee, most of them didn't offer me a scholarship though," Brent said.

"Did you get any offers yet though?" I asked him.

"Yea I got a couple, Duke, Syracuse and Marshall. Most of the big time schools are going to wait and see how my knee heals."

"Oh yea you'll definitely get more offers. What about you Tim you get any?"

"I got one from Towson and Temple so far," he said.

"That reminds me the Coach from Duke said they were going to give you a call, did you talk to them?" Brent asked turning to me.

"Yea I got an offer from them, to play QB too not Safety," I replied.

"Really I thought most were saying you couldn't play QB in college," Tim added.

"I know but they said they wanted me to play QB. We'll I'm sure we'll get more offers, probably some before today is even over." Just then Tim's phone rang and by how this end of the conversation was going it was obviously a Coach. "See told you," I said to Brent.

He just laughed it off. "So you work things out with Mary?"

I sighed and said, "I think so but she doesn't want me to be around Sam until she thinks I don't have feelings for her."

"Well then I guess you won't be talking to Sam ever again," he said sarcastically. Before I could respond my phone rang. And since I didn't recognize the number I figured it was another coach.

"Hello."

"Hi Jeremy?"

"Yes this is him."

"Good this is Adam Davis, offensive coordinator from the Naval Academy."

The Navel Academy! I didn't even know they were interested in me. "Hi how you doing," I responded.

"I'm doing well. I was wondering, have you ever run the triple option offensive?"

The triple option was a type of offensive where the quarterback ran the ball as much as the running back did and rarely threw it. "No coach I haven't, but I don't think it would take me long to learn."

"That's ok that you haven't but its good that you think that you could pick it up fast. As you know we don't throw the ball that much so you would be running a lot, and we think that you could come right in and challenge for the starting job with your athletic ability. So we're going to go ahead and make a formal offer."

"Thanks Coach for the offer but really I didn't even know that you were interested in me," I said.

"That's ok but I can assure you that we are."

"Oh ok well thanks Coach I will have to think about it for awhile though," I replied.

"That's quite alright. You'll be hearing from us later, nice talking to you."

"You too Coach thanks again," I said then hanging up.

"Get another offer?" Brent asked.

"Yea from Navy."

"Navy? I didn't even think they were interested in you," Tim added.

"I didn't either but they offered me anyway. Who were you on the phone with?" I asked Tim.

"Marshall."

"You get an offer?"

"Yep," he said like he couldn't care less.

"You seem to be in a happy mood what's up," Brent asked.

"Nothing, I know it's early but I thought I'd have better offers by now."

"Hey you said it, it's early you'll get more offers," I said.

"But I haven't even really gotten any calls from coaches saying they were looking at me."

"You know you'll get at least a couple more offers and if you still don't get any you like you could always walk-on somewhere," Brent added.

"Brent's right just focus on playing hard and you'll get some more offers. I mean look at me, my best offers were going to come from schools that wanted me as a Safety but with Brent hurt I've been at QB full time. And only smaller schools are going to offer me a spot as a QB. I have to wait until Brent comes back before I can go back to Safety and impress the scouts."

"Plus it's a long time from now until signing day, there's plenty of time until you have to make a decision," Brent added.

"Yea you guys are right, thanks," Tim said to us. We hung out there for the rest of the day. We got a few more calls from coaches. Brent got offers to Rutgers, Central Florida and Connecticut. Tim got one from Tulane and North Texas. I got a couple offers from Buffalo to be a QB and East Carolina, Tulsa and Towson to be a Safety.

Things were quiet on Sunday no coaches calling me and again on Monday during school. Sam still avoided me during the week and even though I told Mary I wouldn't talk to her I wished we had been able to. The day of the game came after a rather uneventful week.

I hadn't gotten any more offers other than a couple coaches calling and saying they were interested in me and some just checking in seeing how I was doing. Brent got a couple more from some small schools.

They knew he was going to get some bigger schools to offer him a scholarship but I guess they hoped he would make an early decision and choose them. Tim got a couple offers from some "mid-major" schools which seemed to brighten his mood.

Mary came up to me on my way out to the parking lot after school was over. "Hey baby. Do you want to come over after the game tonight?"

"I would but I'm supposed to meet with a couple coaches after the game tonight, sorry. I could come over tomorrow if you want."

"I have to do stuff with my family tomorrow. What about Sunday? You could come over and watch the Raven's game with me and my family."

I hadn't met her family yet so that made me a little nervous. "Umm yea ok I guess I could do that."

"Ok," she said as she pulled me down to kiss her. "See ya tonight," she said walking away.

That night I was nervous because Coach Garrett from Duke was going to be there as well as a coach from Navy and even a couple coaches from Maryland although they were there to look at a player from the other school.

"Forget about those scouts and coaches that are here tonight and just focus the game. We need to bounce back from that loss last week. After tonight we're at the half way point of the season and I would feel a hell of a lot better if we were 4-1 and not 3-2," Coach said in his usual pregame speech.

Tonight was a home game so it wouldn't be as tough against the opposing school. The 1st quarter opened with us getting the ball first and marching right down the field for a touchdown when I connected with Tim for a 32 yard touchdown pass.

Then it fell apart. They scored on the next drive to tie the score 7-7. When we got the ball back we went right down the field again but fumbled on the 22 yard line going in for a score. They promptly went down the field for another touchdown.

Pretty much the exact same thing happened when we got the ball again. We went straight down the field until I threw a pas to our tight end. He caught the ball but their linebacker hit him hard and the ball popped up in the air and they intercepted it and had a clear path to the end zone and ran it all the way back for another touchdown. 21-7.

We did shut them down for the rest of the half but they did they same to us, and we went into halftime with the score at 24-7 after they kicked a very long field goal right before the time ran out.

"We are not playing the way we should men. I'm going to make a few changes. Tim you're going to play corner in the second half and Jeremy you're going to go back to Safety as well. Tim I'm going to give you some plays off on offense so you have time to rest. And Jeremy every second offensive drive your going to come off and Joel you'll go in for that drive. Ok now let's go back out there and play the way we're capable of playing," Coach said to us all.

The second half started with us on defense and it ended quickly when Tim knocked down a 3rd down pass to force them to punt. After the punt return we were on the 35 yard line. We had a couple runs plays that got us the first down up to the 48 yard line. Then I got the play call that I wasn't expecting. It was a trick play that we had only practiced a couple times and never tried it in a game. But I called the play in the huddle anyway.

We lined up at the line of scrimmage with Tim directly behind me. We had done that a couple times but we never actually had Tim run it. I hiked the ball and tossed it to the left to Tim. He caught the ball and ran towards the left side of the field.

While the whole defense turned to chase after him I turned towards the right and started running down the field. Tim stopped running turned to look where I was and chucked the ball down the field. There wasn't a defender anywhere close to me and once I caught the ball ran in easily for the touchdown. It was now 24-14 with 7:16 left in the 3rd quarter.

After the kickoff they started at the 23 yard line. We had trouble stopping them on this drive making it all the way down to our own 31 yard line. After a run play that gained only 2 yards and an incomplete pass it was 3rd and 8 on the 29 yard line. They tried a quick slant which I read the whole way and just absolutely knocked the shit out of the receiver.

He had no chance to hold on to the ball making it 4th down. They made the easy field goal making the score 27-14. We were just happy to not give up another TD.

We got a good kick return up to the 41 yard line. We called all pass plays on the drive and they couldn't do anything to stop us and on the 6th play a saw Tim wide open in the end zone and easily tossed him the ball for another touchdown for the two of us. 27-21.

The 3rd quarter had ended during the drive and there was 11 minutes left when we kicked the ball off. They decided that they would run the ball to try and eat up some time. It was working too, they got a couple first downs and they took over 4 minutes off the clock.

With 7:18 left they were on the 37 yard line going in, almost in field goal range. They stuck to their strategy to run the ball but we stopped them to little or no gains. It was 3rd and 9 and we knew they had to throw the ball to have a chance for the first down.

They hiked the ball and I recognized that it was the same play as before, the quick slant pass. I broke on it and instead of knocking the receiver out I stepped in front of him to pick it off. There was no one in front of me and the only on who could catch me was their QB. Once I pasted mid field and then the 40 yard line there was no way he would catch me. I ran in untouched to take the lead 28-27.

"Yea boy give those scouts something to think about," Brent said as I came over to the sideline.

"Nice break on the ball Jeremy. I should have put you back on defense and awhile ago," Coach said with a smile.

"Just as long as we win," I said back to him. We kicked off and they started at the 20 yard line. They got a few first downs but then had to punt hoping they could stop us and get the ball back. But that never happened.

After getting the ball back with 4:31 left we ran the ball the whole time picking up a couple first downs before the time ran out. We came back to win 28-27, we were now 4-1.

"Good job out there tonight guys, nice way to fight your way back into the game. Enjoy the win," Coach said to us. "Jeremy can I see you in my office after you get cleaned up?"

"Sure thing Coach."

I got cleaned up then headed into his office, "you wanted to see me Coach," I said walking in.

"Yes I did, you played a good game tonight," he said motioning for me to sit down.

"Thanks Coach I'm just glad we won," I said sitting down.

"Well you made a good impression on the coaches and scouts here tonight."

"Yea I wanted to play well for them tonight, there was a coach from Duke and Navy here."

"There was also a couple coaches from Maryland here tonight and they were impressed with you," he added.

"Yea I knew that but I thought they were looking at a guy from the other school?" I asked.

"That's why they came here but they liked what they saw from you. They told me you could be getting a call from them."

"Really! That's always been one of my top choices if they wanted me."

"Yea they really liked you so you could be getting a call. Now go on I'm sure you want to go out and have fun tonight," he said. I walked out of his office and through the locker room back towards where I parked my car.

Brent was standing in the hallway, "hey man great game tonight," he said as I was walking by.

"Yea I'm just glad we could come back and win."

"What coach have to say?"

"Just that I played well and the scouts and coaches here were impressed. He said the coaches from Maryland were really impressed and might be giving me a call."

"Hey that's great, you always wanted to go to Maryland," he replied.

"I know, hey I gotta go meet with the coach with Duke so I'll see ya later."

"Ok cya."

I walked out to the parking lot and saw the coach standing there.

"Hey Jeremy great game tonight," he said as I walked up to him.

"Thanks Coach," I said shaking his hand.

"You want to go grab something to eat and then we can talk?"

"Sure that good."

"Ok a saw a diner on the way here you want to go there?" he asked.

"Ah yea I know which one your talking about its pretty good."

"Ok I'll let you lead the way since you know your way around here better," he said.

We got in our cars and he followed me to the diner. We were there about 10 minutes later and we both got a burger.

"So how are things going with you and this whole recruiting process, it getting crazy yet?"

"Not too much yet I guess. Most coaches are leaving me alone during school hours only calling at night or on weekends so that's good."

"How many offers do you have so far?" he asked.

"Well including yours 6. But there split 3 and 3 on if they want me as a QB or Safety," I said.

"Yea that number is going to go up. You're probably going to get a couple bigger football schools to offer you a scholarship. Maryland I wouldn't be surprised if they gave you a scholarship offer. And then closer you get to signing day and some schools lose their top guy will probably give you an offer."

"That's what I figured."

"If you don't mind me asking, who are the other schools that gave you offers?" he asked.

"No I don't mind. For QB primarily you guys, Navy and Buffalo. For Safety I have offers from East Carolina, Tulsa and Towson."

"Really you got a Division II school to offer you a scholarship already, normally they wait awhile," he said surprised when I mentioned Towson.

"I guess because I'm right here in the area they would give me an offer early," I replied.

We talked for a little while longer before we parted ways and I went home, I was beat.

I walked in the house and straight up to my room and just crashed on my bed I was so tired. I woke up and thought it was still the night before but with the sun shining through the window I figured that I must have slept straight through the night. I couldn't get back to sleep so I headed down stairs to get something to eat.

After I ate a small breakfast I told my mom I was going to go over to Brent's. I grabbed my keys and headed out the door.

I pulled up to his house a little while later. His sister answered the door and told me she thought he was still up in his room. She said I should take a cup of water to dump over his head to wake him up. I declined thinking that would be a little harsh but after I walked into his room I thought a whole bucket would have been good.

There he was still a sleep in his bed but the girl next to him wasn't and she was looking straight at me. "Hi Jeremy," she said quietly.

"What the fuck are you doing Mary?"

To be continued...