Junior Year Box Set

At the camp, he found out about Elite 11. It’s a quarterback competition designed to find the best quarterback in the country. I purposefully hadn’t told David about it. My take is that many times these camps aren’t good for kids. They tend to turn them all into the same thing: they’re taught to throw the same and react the same way. In short, they become little quarterback robots. I didn’t want that for him. The kid was too much of a free spirit to try to shove into a predictable box.

I was torn when he found out about Elite 11 and then stayed over to compete at their regional camp held at Ohio State. In retrospect, I should have had more faith in David. He flourished in the competition. In Elite 11, they tell you that you aren’t competing against each other, you’re competing against yourself, and the goal is to become the best version of you. David took that to heart. He watched the other quarterbacks and incorporated the best in each of them into his game. It was fun to watch the light bulb go on when he figured something out.

I’m not saying this because I’m his coach, but he was the best quarterback there for the Elite 11 tryout. I was surprised that he wasn’t a shoo-in. The selection committee struggled to accept him because they’d traditionally only had seniors make the finals. David forced the issue, though, and they picked him to be one of the quarterbacks invited to the Nike campus to compete in the finals.

In between the regional camp and the finals, we attended Alabama’s football camp. David again set himself apart, so much so that they offered me a job as their quarterback coach. I explained that I had a duty to finish with David. He’d hired me for the summer to go to the various camps and coach him. They agreed I should honor my commitments, which made me happy.

When we went to Elite 11, David finally believed that he was the best quarterback in high school, regardless of class. All the work came together at the right time. He was clearly the best. To this day I can’t believe they only named him Co-MVP. That’s another reason I hated these types of camps and had steered David away from them.

The next camp we went to proved to be another life-changing event for me. Once again, it was due to David. For the second year in a row, we attended the invitation-only Elite Camp in Houston, TX.

Last year at the camp, I paired David up with Bud Mason, perhaps the best quarterback coach I’ve ever met. Bud is a crusty old guy who may have coached in the NFL longer than I’ve been alive. This year, Bud surprisingly wanted to have David again, something I’d never, ever, seen him do. David confounded Bud with his ‘controlled chaos’ approach to football.

I wanted David to work with Bud because Bud would teach him when to cut loose and when to rein it in. The mental control and the knowledge David gained took his whole game up yet another notch. It just seemed that every time I thought David might be hitting the ceiling, he’d open the door to a new higher floor.

I think I got distracted and forgot to tell you how David affected my life a second time. The little shit strolled into our apartment in Houston and said, “Hurry up and take a shower. I got us dates.” He’d gone to the pool to relax and swim some laps and met a mother/daughter combo. I didn’t believe him at first, but he seemed so confident about it I decided to see what he’d gotten himself into. Turns out it was me that got into something. That was the night I met Tanya Masters, who I hope someday will be my wife. She was in Houston on business and with her daughter Jordan.

It’s funny (and somewhat ironic) that David and Jordan didn’t get along, and for good reason: Jordan’s a brat. Before I go, I should fill you in on what happened after David left camp and I took the job at Alabama. David had spent the summer with Tami, who I assumed to be his girlfriend. You could just look at them and see they had a special connection. He was just better when she was around. I heard they had decided that they weren’t really going to try and make a go of it. I heard later that she broke his heart.

That wasn’t the only emotional hit that he took that summer. His best friend was killed when he tried to rescue a fellow student in a swimming accident, and they both drowned. Knowing the kind of person David is, I’m sure he was devastated. I’m equally sure that with his family around him, he’ll get through it just fine.

David’s a special kid. As far as football goes, he’s in a class by himself. If David continues to develop and doesn’t get hurt, he has a real shot at being a top collegiate quarterback and then going on to a long career in the NFL. I personally think that he can do almost anything he puts his mind to. I can’t wait to see how his life unfolds. I hope that you’ll see him in an Alabama uniform soon. Roll Tide!

Chapter 1 – My New Reality Sunday August 23