Josh called me about a week later, mentioning he would be able to start throwing the ball in about two weeks. He asked me if I would be willing to workout with him privately, away from prying eyes. I told him I would be more than happy to do anything I could to help him, Josh made us a much better ball club.
The free agency period had just started and our team wasted no time in making a huge splash in the market. We immediately signed two top flight wide receivers with great speed. We signed a veteran linebacker and cornerback to bolster our defense. We had lost three players to other teams, but all in all, we definitely got better. Then in a surprise move, Coach Stanton resigned as head coach, a week before our first off season practice would be held. The team immediately named Coach Reed as the new head coach, then hired a new young offensive coordinator from Dallas to handle Coach Reed's former duties.
The following week we held the first of our OTA's, most of the club participated, though quite a few were really out of shape. The OTA lasted about a week, then we were given three weeks off, until the second session would be held. Our new offensive coordinator , Chase Cullen was a dynamic, brilliant offensive mind. He believed in throwing first, throwing second, throwing third, then maybe running once. He employed a multitude of offense sets using three to five receivers in different packages. His terminology was extreme, each play called having four variations depending on how the defense would react. We had basically become a pass first, run later offense with the five to twenty yard pass becoming our staple. The new playbook was unreal, much more difficult than what we had used previously. I was in my second year and once again, I had to learn another offense.
It was during that following week that I met Josh for the first time to begin his workouts. The first few days, we simply played pitch and catch, gradually increasing the number of throws he would make each day. Although he did tell me several times, he felt a little soreness, overall there was no major pain. By the start of the third week, he was beginning to throw me short out routes, some easy fades and a few narrow post routes. One thing had not changed was the accuracy of his throw's. Although the ball didn't have the velocity it normally had, it was where you wanted it to be. Even though it was not his throwing shoulder, the upper body rotation was still something that he had to be careful of.
Josh and I dove head first into the new playbook, spending hours learning the new formations. What was a bit easier is that the receivers had to know what package they were in, you were not in on every play. Receivers were constantly shuttled in and out on every play, never letting the defense know what was coming. The drawback was if someone got hurt, you might have to play in multiple packages.
We had drafted a running back in the first round out of Ohio, he was too small to be an every down back, but he had explosive speed being a former track and field athlete as well as a football player in college. In fact from what I had heard, he barely missed making the Olympic team the year before. We also picked up two more offensive linemen, one defensive end and another tight end. We were six weeks away from training camp, Josh and I were working out every other day at a nearby high school. Josh was back to his normal self, his throws tight and on target. Although he still lacked some strength in the weight room, the trainers were being careful to bring him along slowly.
Two weeks prior to training camp, I had pretty much mastered the new terminology, I now had to apply it to practical use. Josh and I would meet every other day or so, trying to work the details down to perfection. Training camp would start on Monday, we had three days left to feel normal. One thing for sure about this game, the best your body felt was the first day of training camp. From that point on, it was downhill until well after the season ended for you to feel anywhere near normal again. I decided to take the weekend off, relax for one last time.
I was out by the pool Friday night, when my cell phone rang, I didn't recognize the number.
"Hello.", I answered.
"Brian, this is Jenny, can I talk to you for a few minutes ?", came the reply.
My initial response was to hang up immediately, I was still reeling from what had happened. I guess she noticed the long pause with no response because she quickly followed up on her request.
"Please Brian, let me just try to explain, if after I explain, you still feel the same way, I will never speak to you again, I promise.", she added.
"Ok Jenny, I'm listening.", I replied softly.
"Thank you….. Ok, let me start….. I… Uh, we got married very young. We were both under twenty at the time. Kevin treated me like I meant the world to him, I adored him. But slowly things changed, he got the job he has now, he spends a lot of time on the road away from home. I noticed things when he returned from long trips, nothing concrete, just small subtle changes.", she started.
"He wasn't dying to climb into bed with me as soon as he walked in the door. He always seemed preoccupied with work, always on the cell phone or computer. We grew further and further apart. I confronted him several times about it, every time it ended up causing a very bad argument.", she continued.
"Then one night after, he had just returned from a two week trip, he was in the shower. His cell phone rang on the kitchen table, it went to voicemail, I just ignored it. But it kept ringing over and over so finally I picked it up and saw it was several text messages from someone named Shelley.", she went on.
"When I opened up the messages, they were explicit pictures of a young red headed woman, with the caption "Momentos of our trip".
When he got out of the shower, I threw the phone at him and everything exploded. He tried to deny it at first, but it was useless. The quarrel got more and more intense, until he finally slapped me, knocking me down. We split up for a while, then reconciled a few months later, but I am sure he hasn't changed.", she added.
"Anyway I met you, you made me feel special again, really important. I guess in my mind, I wasn't doing anything he hadn't done to me so I justified what I did that night. The next morning I woke up feeling horrible about what I had done, how I had lied to you. I was trying to think of a way to tell you, but the dedication ruined all of that. Please believe me Brian, I feel awful about what I did to you. I just hope that you can one day forgive me.", she ended.
I sat there for a moment taking it all in, not quite knowing how to reply to what I had heard. I could tell she was very emotional, she sounded sincere in her words to me.
"Jenny, really I don't know what to say. I am so grateful to you for all of the hard work you put in with the foundation. Without you, I know it would have been much more difficult. But I just can't continue a relationship with a married woman, it would be suicide for me. I want you to continue working with me on the foundation, I want to stay your friend, but that's all I can be.", I replied.
"That's all I want Brian, I promise I will never hurt you again.", she sobbed.
"Let's just forget what happened, start over again Jenny.", I asked.
"That would be great," she replied.