Guts vs Glory (22 page)

I really wasn’t surprised that I
made the first cut.  Not only was I used to making the 75-man roster, but I
knew that my impressive amount of tackles during the exhibition games were
enough for me not to be the first lineman cut.  My time on the practice squad,
as well as my time in the weight room, allowed me to get back into my comfort
zone with defense.  During the exhibition games, I felt like I was back in high
school again and was riding a huge wave of momentum.  I knew I would be able to
get impressive numbers once I got my comfort level back up.  If it weren’t for
the new defensive coach, though, I wouldn’t have had a shot at playing as much
as I did during exhibition games.  Even though I was looking good out there,
however, I was still competing against guys who had always looked good on the
field and had been playing defense a lot longer than me.  So I knew my
rejuvenation on defense would be enough to make the first cut, but I wasn’t as
sure about the second.

Days later, I experienced something
that I never had before.  My name was announced as a regular roster player. 
Finally!  I didn’t have to awkwardly leave the room as a cut player.  The
defensive line coach had been very impressed with my performance during the
exhibition games, and was excited about my constant progress.  He said I wasn’t
quite ready to be a starter, but I definitely had the potential to start the
following season as long as I kept improving.  The other three backup players
were new to the team.  As it turned out, the defensive coach wanted all of his
young players to start as backups, and slowly work their way into starting
roles as they became more comfortable playing at the professional level.

As a backup in the pros, I knew my
life was going to change.  First of all, I would be able to reap the benefits
of being on the roster team.  I would be able to watch the games from the sideline
and travel with the team, my name would be in the program sold to fans at
games, and my family would receive free tickets to all of our home games.  Also,
I would be receiving a significant pay increase.  My $6,000 a week would turn
into a $500,000 for one season.  I had never had that kind of money in my life,
let alone in one year.  Finally, Mike and I were one week away from our
achieving our high school goal; after seven years, we would finally be playing
together in the pros.

In the first week of regular-season
practice, our head coach spent a lot of time walking us through plays.  The
team wanted to use that season as a rebuilding year, so the coach didn’t feel
like he was wasting practice time by helping out the young talent.  He was more
concerned about the long-term value of the team, and less concerned about the
current season.  I loved it because we were able to use the time in practice as
more of a learning process.  I was already used to the team’s plays, but I
wasn’t used to being in them.  Walking through the plays allowed me to get used
to my role as a defensive end without worrying about someone trying to hit me. 
I knew if I appreciated it, the rest of the young guys did too.  Even the
veterans were treated like they were new to the team.  They didn’t mind because,
over the course of many years, they too were tired of getting beaten up.

Our last day of practice was by no
means a walk-through, though.  The head coach retained the tradition of using
the last day of the week as a scrimmage day.  We were all expected to hit as
hard as we could, while flawlessly executing plays at full-speed.  It took a
while, but eventually we were all running at full speed, hitting at full
strength, and executing plays without error.  Finally, after a long summer, and
a long week of walk-throughs during practice, we were starting to look like a
solid team.

I felt my heart race as Mike and I
walked onto that field together.  We had finally accomplished a dream that took
so long, and so much work, to achieve.  It wasn’t long before I had my first opportunity
to play during the first game of the season.  The defensive coach, as part of
his new plan, wanted his backups to play as often as possible.  He wanted to
keep his starters fresh while allowing the backups to get plenty of exposure to
real games.  Because of this, I was able to play nearly half of the game and
was responsible for 4 of our defensive tackles.  The rest of the defenders also
had great numbers but, unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to stop our opponent
from scoring more than us.

Mike also had a great game.  For
him to achieve his goal of rushing for over 1,500 yards, he had to average just
under 100 yards per game.  He came close to that number, but their defense was too
much for him.  The wide receiver we picked up in the Selection Showcase was a
young player, so he was still adjusting to the professional level.  He caught a
few catches, but not enough for the other team to divide their coverage between
the receiver and the running back.  Even though it wasn’t Mike’s  best game as
a running back, it was still a game that we would never forget; our first
professional football game playing together.

The following two games were even
more successful for us.  I totaled 6 tackles in those games, while Mike
averaged 100 yards and 2 touchdowns.  The receiver was starting to get better,
so the defenders had to protect both Mike and the receiver at the same time.  Additionally,
our defense was getting better, and we even managed to win one of those two
games.

On September 29th, our little baby
boy, James, was born.  I’ve had many proud moments as a player, but that was my
proudest moment ever as a father.  There were so many people in the hospital
room visiting him that the hospital wanted to start selling tickets to get in. 
Sadly, the next day, I had to board the team plane for our October 1st game.  I
hated to leave because I wanted to spend the rest of my life holding that child
and his mother, but there I was away from them after James’ first day of life. 
I was so distracted that it affected my game.  The offensive tackle held me up
so much at the beginning of the game that I eventually had to sit the bench for
most of the remainder.

Losing that game gave our team had
a record of 2-2.  The coaches liked our progress on defense, however, and even
felt that we were progressing faster than expected.  The defensive coach felt
his players were adapting well to the changes and wouldn’t need to be replaced
during the game as often.  With the horrible timing of my poorly played game, I
was no longer seen as a starting contender and any chance I had at starting was
gone.  I would still be able to play as a backup, but I would spend most of the
game watching from the sidelines.  My performance during that game may have
been the reason why I wasn’t promoted, but being there for my son’s birth was
worth giving up some playing time.

I continued to watch the game from
the sidelines and eventually my playing time gradually increased.  I made the
most of small amount of playing time I got and was able to record the 3rd most
tackles on the defensive line.  Meanwhile, Mike was just over 100 rushing yards
shy of achieving his 1,500 yard goal.  The last game of that season would end
up making an impact on both of our careers.

In the professional football league,
32 teams are divided into two conferences.  Each conference is divided by four
divisions and each division consists of four teams.  At the end of the regular
season, only six teams from each conference are allowed to play in the
playoffs.  Four of those spots are reserved for the team with the best record
in each division.  The other two spots are left for the two teams with the best
record that didn’t win their division.  After three elimination rounds of
inter-conference play, the two teams left from either conference play each
other in the Professional Football League’s Showdown Game.

We had a mediocre year, so we
clearly weren’t the best team in our division.  However, with an impressive win
streak in the middle of the season, accompanied by some timely loses by other
teams in our conference, we were playing for one of the two spots left for
non-division winners in our conference.  All we had to do was win our last game
and we would be sent to the playoffs.  Our team had a lot on the line.

Going into halftime, the game was
tied.  Mike had rushed for only 53 yards and had yet to cross the goal line. 
Surprisingly enough, it was our defense that kept us in the game, as both teams
only had one touchdown each.  After a long season of ironing out wrinkles, our
defense was finally solid enough to compete against any team in the league.  As
long as we could continue to hold those guys for one more half, all we needed
was one more score to go to the playoffs.

In the 4th quarter, we got the
score we were looking for.  The score came from Mike’s 80-yard touchdown
scamper, putting him well over 1,500 yards.  All we had to do was keep them
from scoring to win the game.  With our much-improved defense, we knew it was a
task we could easily handle.  The defensive coach went back to his plan of
keeping the defensive line fresh, so he continued to rotate us through on a
more regular basis.  With less than a minute to play, it was my turn.

The other team was 60 yards away
from tying up the game.  When their quarterback called for the ball, we saw the
center snap it, but we never saw the quarterback move.  As I was trying to get
past the offensive line, I saw the football lying at my feet.  I was no longer
worried about getting past the offensive line; my instinct again kicked in and
I jumped on the ball.  As soon as I landed on it, I had an entire field of football
players on me.  As more opponents jumped on, I could feel my arms getting
pinched by other players.  I felt their punches to my kidneys.  They were
trying to inflict so much pain on me that I would focus more on
self-preservation and less on the ball.  What they didn’t know was I had been
through enough pain during my career that I wasn’t going to let a pinched arm
or a body punch get in the way of keeping that ball safe.  With the ball back
in our possession, we were able to run the clock down to finish the game.  And
suddenly, our rebuilding year turned into a playoff run.

Being 1 of 12 teams in the playoffs
was an honor; being 1 of 53 players to play for our team was a dream come
true.  I retained my role as a backup defensive end, and was able to contribute
2 tackles in the game.  Mike continued to run the ball well, and scored 2
touchdowns.  Unfortunately, those 2 touchdowns weren’t enough as we lost to the
team that would go on to win the Showdown Game.  Even though we lost the game,
it was still one of my favorite games and I enjoyed every part of it.

During the off-season, I was able
to spend plenty of time with my family.  With the money I earned as a
professional football player, I no longer needed a second job during the
off-season.  I was able to play the game I loved so much, and was paid more
money than I knew what to do with.  I was too busy during the season to spend
any of it, so after paying off our house, we put the rest of the money away for
our future.  We had decided early that we weren’t going to blow it all because
we didn’t know if there would be more money coming the next year.  Christine
enjoyed her teaching job and still continued to work for the love of the job,
while I spent my down time keeping in shape.

A week into the off-season, I heard
some news that would no doubt impact my playing status on the team.  Right
after the season was over, two of our defensive ends decided to retire.  They
were getting older and weren’t enjoying the game as much as they used to.  They
had both planned on leaving a season earlier, but after only winning three
games that season, they decided to stay another year; not wanting to go out on
a bad note.  With those two players leaving, there would now be two openings on
the starting defensive line.

Months later, as I watched the
Selection Showcase Week on television, I wanted to see how the Knights were
going to fill the void left by those two defensive linemen.  During the 1st
round, we picked up a center.  In the 2nd and 3rd rounds, we picked up two wide
receivers, and in the 4th round, a kicker.  In the final three rounds, we
continued to pick up more offensive players.  At the conclusion of Selection
Showcase Week, our team had not picked up any additional defenders.

I continued to read the sports
section daily to see if the Knights would trade some of their players for
additional defensive ends.  After a month, however, they weren’t a part of any
trades.  It didn’t take a rocket scientist to do the math on this one.  The
Michigan Knights lost two starters on the defensive line.  They had seven
chances of picking up talented college athletes to fill the void, but went with
offensive players instead.  They then had two months to trade some of their
players in the hopes of getting defensive linemen to take the starting role,
but chose not to.  As a result, I would be walking into training camp with the
exact same group of defensive guys from the previous year.  With no additional
competition to worry about, and with two available spots on the defensive line,
I would no longer be fighting to make the team; I would be fighting for a
starting role.

Training camp certainly had a
different feel by my fourth year.  I was really starting to feel like a
veteran, even though it was just my second season off the practice squad.  I
was well aware of the camp schedule, and already knew what to expect.  The
meetings were more challenging for me since all of the plays presented were
identical to the ones used the previous years, making it a struggle to stay
awake.  Again, I knew my primary objective would have to be using the two hours
of hitting practice after lunch to prove my worth.

In those sessions, I knew I would
have to be the best one on the field.  I would have to use every minute I had
to earn one of the starting spots.  The defensive coach was left with a bunch
of young guys who all spent a year developing into the athletes he wanted. 
That put us all pretty much on the same page, and with the same opportunity to
become a star.  Fortunately, I was used to playing against starting offensive
linemen, I had my plays memorized and I was in great shape.  Unfortunately, so
was everybody else.

In college, I was able to use my
memorization skills as my biggest weapon to stand out from the guys who were
stronger than me.  During my first year on the practice squad, I was able to
use my strength as my best weapon to get past the offensive tackle.  With this
group of guys who were as strong, as mean, and who knew the plays as well as I
did, I didn’t know what my secret weapon would be.  Then, it dawned on me.  In
the pros, a defensive lineman wasn’t judged by how well he knew the plays, or
how strong he was; he was simply judged by how many tackles he contributed to
the team.  At the end of the previous season, I had the 3rd most tackles of any
defensive lineman on the team.  Additionally, I was smart enough to jump on a
fumble and took us to the playoffs.  I would have to ride out that momentum and
hope the coaches remembered my contributions to the previous season.

With my new thinking, I was able to
worry less about my competitors, and focus more on my individual work.  I began
the camp in the best shape of my life, yet I continued to get stronger in those
two weeks.  During the hitting sessions, I barely struggled against the
offensive tackle across from me, nor did I get winded during our speed and
conditioning drills.  I was having the best training camp of my life.

Mike, of course, had it a lot
easier than I did.  With his impressive run last season, he was guaranteed a spot
on the team for the next five seasons.  After his first season on the team, the
general manager was so impressed with his running ability, that he guaranteed
him a spot on the team for three seasons and would pay him a total of $12
million.  At the conclusion of the previous season, his three years had expired
so he was given a new contract which would keep him on the team for five years
and paid him $5 million a season.  Since the team was spending so much money on
him, he knew he would start no matter how poorly he performed during camp.