CHAPTER 119

I knew what was coming, I had been around this game long enough. You either played hurt, played in pain or you didn't last long. No one wanted to pay you big money to sit on the bench. I felt the needle in my lower back, then the second in my upper back. I could immediately feel my back becoming numb, medicine was a wonderful but dangerous thing. One of the other trainers came over with two pills and a cup of water. He handed both to me, I took the medication with no questions.

"You want me to add a back plate to your pads ?", he asked.

"Nah, they bother me. I'll be ok.", I replied, pulling my compression shirt back on. They helped me put my pads back on, then both of them stretched my jersey back over them and pulled it down. I was just about off the table when Coach Reed stuck his head in the training room.

"Can he play the second half ?", he asked Lee.

"It's not pretty Coach, but I guess he can go.,"he replied.

I got off the table and rejoined the team in the meeting area, the coordinators were going over final instructions for the second half. Josh quickly brought me up to speed on what was happening. By now the two injections and the pills had me numb, I was feeling great again.

They received the ball to start the second half and settled for a field goal cutting our lead to 17-10. They kicked off , we started our first possession of the second half on our own twenty. After a quick run off tackle in which I wound up at the bottom of the pile, one of the defenders told me as we were getting up, I wouldn't make the end of the game.

I paid no mind to him returning to the huddle, but made a mental note to keep an eye out for anyone trying to take a free shot at me. Two plays later Josh threw a sixty six yard touchdown to one of our wideouts, the score was now 24-10. That was the one thing about this offense, we could strike at any time, not needing a lot of time to do it. Our entire last drive took a little over two minutes. The third quarter ended 24-16, but we were driving again. We stalled out at their twenty and had to settle for a field goal, it was 27-16. Our defense held, they punted the ball pinning us deep at our own nine yard line. Josh completed two quick passes, for fifteen yards giving us a bit of breathing room. Then on first down he was sacked for a nine yard loss, it was second and nineteen.

"Quad balance, wiggle, x slant, jet motion right, power slot on three.", shouted Josh in the huddle.

This was a formation we rarely used, it was an all or nothing formation. By the time the ball was snapped we showed five receivers, then swung the sixth out of the backfield. If you caught the defense in a nickel package, they were one defender short, someone would be open. As we went to the line, we showed two receivers on each side, I was lined up right next to the left tackle, Scott Douglas was the lone back. On the first verbage of the cadence, I would shift left a few steps in the slot, the running back would go in motion to the left. The defense suddenly had to contend with six receivers. The danger was Josh has only five blockers in front of him, if they had a blitz called he could be sacked.

On the first count, I shifted two steps to the left making sure I was still covering up the left tackle, then looking to the sidelines to make sure both receivers were one step off the line. I then scanned the defense, they were in a dime package with six defensive backs, four lineman and one linebacker in the Mike position. Apparently they had planned to double both sides of the field in a zone, with a safety on each side. We called this our Route 66 package. Everyone on the defense was pointing to their assignments during the shift but something was wrong. I saw no one point to me, the lane in front of me was clear. We were running double hooks on the outside, Scott was running a wheel route down the left sideline. I knew there was going to be no one in the middle of the field, I wondered, did they really miss me ? Josh and I had developed a few hand signals to let each other know when we had noticed something in a formation. If I thought I was going to be in a mismatch or get clear, I would put both of my hands over the ear holes on my helmet, acting like I was adjusting it. Josh constantly scanned both sides of the line looking for these signals. As the ball was snapped, I came off the line a bit tentative, checking to see if anyone indeed had me covered up. I saw the middle linebacker take a few steps back then sit down in a zone, I knew then no one had the middle. I accelerated hard straight up the field then started a slow drift to the middle. Josh read it right away, but held the ball until the last possible moment, letting me get maximum depth. When he let it go, I knew I was going to have to run it down, it was going to be long. The ball traveled roughly fifty yards in the air, I had to slow down just a step to make the catch which I juggled a bit before pulling it in firmly. I turned and looked over my shoulder, no one was within twenty five yards of me, it was a huge blown coverage. I coasted into the end zone with my tenth touchdown of the year, the longest of my career at seventy four yards. Once again I accelerated to the goal post, dunking the ball over the crossbar. I then retrieved the ball and headed off the field. I tossed the ball to one of our equipment guys who tagged it with the score and yardage. There were only three minutes left in the game, we had secured the win. Josh had thrown for four hundred and twenty eight yards and four touchdowns, again keeping pace with his record breaking season. By the time I had showered and dressed, the medication was wearing off, my back was beginning to throb with a dull pain. I took two more painkillers before I got on the plane, I slept through the entire flight home. We arrived back at the practice facility around two o'clock Monday morning, we were due back there in just seven hours.

I drove straight home and fell into bed, my clothes still on. The alarm went off at eight o'clock, I went to reach over to shut it off, then felt a searing pain across my back and shoulders. I laid there for a few minutes, barely able to move. It took all my strength to be able to sit up in the bed, my back was one huge knot of pain. It hurts to move, turn, it even hurts to breathe. Never before in my career had I felt this bad after a game. I finally was able to get out of bed, then slowly dress, making my way to my car.

I felt excruciating pain just trying to get behind the wheel of my car. I finally managed to situate myself so I could drive. I pulled into the team lot and parked, grateful to see the rookie, Scott Douglas had just pulled in next to me. I lowered the window calling out to him.

"Scott, I need a hand buddy, I'm hurting.", I called out to him.

He ran over to my car, opened the door and slowly helped me out of the seat. He got me to my feet and grabbed the bag out of the trunk for me. He walked with me into the locker room, I headed straight to the trainer. He motioned me to sit on the table, he helped me lift my shirt over my head.

"Man this looks bad Brian, I don't like the look of your back.", he said seriously, "I'll be right back."

He left the room but quickly returned, handing me some mild pain killer with a glass of water. Right behind him was another trainer who had a wheelchair.

"Let's take you to the hospital, get an MRI and some X-Rays just to be sure, I've already cleared it with the coaches. They wheeled me out to one of the team vans, helped me into the back seat, then drove a few miles to Our Lady of Mercy Hospital's emergency room. They wheeled me into the ER, I was taken to one of the rooms immediately. Several minutes later, two nurses and a doctor were removing my clothing. The trainer explained in detail what had happened, then what he had given me during the game, then again this morning. I was wheeled immediately into X-ray, then up two floors to have an MRI done. I was back in the ER room on the gurney about two hours later, and the doctor walked in with my file.

"Good news and bad news Brian. The good news is nothing is broken, no serious damage, but the bruising is deep and severe. I'm afraid you're going to be in pain for a few days. I'm going to give you some pain killers, you need to rest for at least a week.", he told me.

He relayed all of the same information to our head trainer, handed him the prescriptions, then left. They helped me dress, then got me back to the van, driving me back to training camp. I was back just about the same time everyone was wrapping up the position meetings. The trainers relayed the findings to the coaching staff, who then excused me from practices until Friday morning. While I was getting ready to go home, someone ran down the road and filled the prescriptions for me, the trainer again going over the directions for the medication with me. One of the staff drove me home, another followed in my car, parking it in the lot for me. I was helped upstairs and inside, deciding to lay on the sofa. I thanked them for their help and they left. I took my medication as directed, then laid on the sofa falling asleep. I woke to a dull thumping sound, it took a second for me to realize someone was at the door. I got up slowly, my back one solid knot of pain, slowly getting to my feet. I walked slowly toward the door, yelling out as the knocking continued.

"One minute," I shouted.

I unlocked the door, opening it slowly to find Alexis standing there. I motioned her to come in, closing the door behind her.

"Where have you been, I have been calling you all afternoon ?", she asked.

"What time is it ?", I asked, rubbing my eyes.

"It's six thirty.", she replied.

"Oh sorry, I guess I never heard the phone, I've been sleeping all day. Took a few shots in my back yesterday, it's a bit sore.", I told her.

"Oh, I didn't know, is there something I can do for you ?", she asked, showing concern in her voice.

"Not really, it will be ok in a few days.", I answered.

"Let me see.", she urged, moving around behind me.

"Really it's ok Alexis.", I responded.

"Let me see.", she insisted, raising my shirt up to my shoulders.

"Oh my God Brian.", she shrieked, pulling my shirt back down, "Here lay back down."

She lifted my legs back to the sofa helping me to lay back down flat on my back. She fixed the pillow under my head, then asked me when did I last take medication. I told her sometime around noon, I thought.

"Ok you're due again, let me get you some water.", she said, going to the kitchen.

She came back and handed me the three pills and a glass of water, watching me take the pills. She set the glass of water down on the coffee table, then stood back up.

"I'm going to my place, change into something comfortable, I'll be back to make you dinner.", she told me.

"Alexis, thank you, but I'll be ok.", I smiled at her.

"Don't argue with me, I'll be right back. Leave the door open, "she replied.

True to her word, she was back in less than thirty minutes, then began to scurry around the kitchen. She made two large mugs of chicken soup and two sandwiches, which I realized had been the first thing I had eaten all day. Alexis cleaned up the dishes, then came back and sat down on the sofa, putting my feet in her lap. As she watched TV, she gently massaged my feet, every once in a while looking down at me. Thankfully the medication was working, the pain had eased up a bit, even though I was a bit light headed.

"I'm going to stay here tonight, be sure you're ok.", Alexis told me.

"I'll be fine Alexis, it's just a bruise or two. You obviously haven't seen your back if you call that a bruise or two. You're black and blue everywhere. I'm staying here, period, so drop it.", she shot back.

I knew better than to argue with her, so I dropped it. About ten that night, she helped me back to bed, getting me comfortable. Even though it was about an hour too early, I took another dose of medicine, then laid flat on my back. Alexis went into the master bathroom, then returned a few minutes later. She stood at the end of the bed, unbuttoned her jeans, dropping them to the floor. She was wearing a sexy pair of black laced panties which looked fabulous on her ass. She reached under her tee shirt and unhooked her bra, pulling it through the arm hole of her shirt, tossing it on the end of the bed. It was black laced as well, matching her panties. As bad as I felt, she was turning me on.

"Can I get you anything before I get into bed ?", she asked.

"No, I'm fine. But thank you.", I replied.

She pulled back the covers and slid into the bed next to me, her body brushing against mine for a second. As bad as I felt, I wanted to reach out and pull her to me, but I fought the urge. I woke up to the room still dark, I glanced at the clock, it was four thirty in the morning. I looked over to my right, Alexis was sound asleep, her back to me. I got up as quietly as I could, went to the bathroom, then made my way to the kitchen. I was still really sore, but the dull throbbing had eased up a bit. I took my medication again, then went back to the bedroom, getting back into bed. Alexis must have felt me moving around, she rolled over to me.

"You ok ? You need something ?", she asked, her voice sleepy.

"No, I'm ok. I just took some more pain pills. I'm sorry I woke you up.", I replied.

"It's ok," she said, rolling back over.