Guts vs Glory (21 page)

That year, the team did a complete
turn-around from the previous season.  The year before, the team was only two
wins away from making it to the playoffs.  This year, the team only had two
wins going into the last game of the regular season.  The coaches never told us
why we were doing so poorly, but the media certainly had their opinions.  In the
evenings, I would read the newspaper in an effort to understand what was
happening to our team.

The sports reporters believed that
we were so dedicated to the run, that we forgot to work on our other weapons
(like defense).  Mike got the ball a lot, but he was the only one getting the
ball, according to the newspaper.  It made it really easy for the teams playing
us because all they had to do was put a little more attention on him, and less
attention on the rest of our offensive.  Unfortunately, no matter how much he
scored, with a bad defense, the other teams had no problems scoring
touchdowns.  Finally, after much speculation in the papers, the coaches spoke
out about the team’s hardships.

After 14 regular season games, the head
coach brought us together for a team meeting.  He finally admitted that the
papers were right in calling our defense horrible and the reason for us not
winning games.  Even though there were only two games left in the season, the
coach was going to make a drastic change right away.  He then introduced us to
the new defensive coach.  The new coach announced that he would spend the week
observing our defense and take notes as he drew up a better attack plan for
us.  The next week, we would put that plan into action and use it during the
last game of the season.  Before we left the room, he made it clear that the
defense was in for a shakeup.

A week later, our new defensive
coach followed through with his plan.  In the beginning of the season, teams
were able to trade their players for players from other teams.  Unfortunately,
that process was only available during the first half of the season, so teams
were unable to trade during the second half.  Instead, the new defensive coach
simply traded players on the defense with players from the practice squad.  Not
everyone from our squad got the promotion, so I knew my hard work on the team
was finally paying off when I got called up to the regular roster team.

The coach wanted me as a defensive
lineman.  He was impressed with how well I had progressed during practices and
how well I was able to keep up with the starters on the team.  He didn’t want
me as a starter, though, because the starting defensive linemen were going to
stay where they were.  Instead, he wanted me as a backup because the backup
defensive end was about to find his way off the team.  I spent the rest of the
week practicing with the real team.  Thanks to my time working with this
defensive line, I was already familiar with the plays and the players, and I
already had experience in working against the starting offensive linemen.  The
practices that week simply gave me extended time on the field to get used to
working with the roster team, instead of working against them.

After watching 31 games from home,
I was finally able to watch a Michigan Knights’ regular season game from the
sideline.  The game was a home game, so I was used to the atmosphere of our
home stadium.  It was even less intimidating than the exhibition games I was
used to because the stands were even less full during that game.  I guess fans
had stopped showing up when their team had only won two games.  With plenty of
room in the stadium, I had no problem getting tickets for my wife and parents.

As a backup lineman in college, I
was used to watching the game from the sideline because backups weren’t used
very often there.  At the professional level, however, backup players were used
all the time on defense.  In the pros, coaches wanted the linemen to play as
hard as they could for every play, but knew that would cause exhaustion.  To
alleviate the tiredness, defensive players were allowed to rest for a few
plays, so that they could come back into the game fresh.  As a spectator at
home, I knew that backups were used often, but I was still surprised when the
defensive coach called me in.

We were playing against the Florida
Pythons in the last game of the season.  They already had a spot in the
playoffs, so they were benching their star players.  Even though I would be
trying to take down a second-string running back and quarterback, I would still
have to get through their first-string offense line because they didn’t get the
game off.  Out of the huddle, I stood in my new defensive end position.  Once
the ball was snapped, I was ready for the offensive tackle coming at me. 
Thanks to two years of hard work in practice against our starting offensive
tackles, I was ready for him.  There was a little struggle, but I got by him. 
Once I did, I found the running back and took him down.  After that play, the
defender I relieved was ready to come back in.  On my way back to the
sidelines, the new coach came over to me and shook my hand.  He knew how hard I
had been working at practice and was excited to see that his new attack plan
was really working.

As the game went on, our defense
was able to keep the Pythons from scoring, and I was able to take down the
running back two more times.  Towards the end of the game, as our defense was
getting ready for yet another drive, I got called back in.  The time was running
down, so we knew they would be trying hard to score as quickly as possible. 
Because they didn’t have much time, we were expecting their quarterback to
throw the ball as far as he could down the field.  That meant the quarterback
would be the only one behind the offensive line, as he would send everyone else
out to catch the ball.  As defensive linemen, our only objective for that play
was to tackle the quarterback as hard and as fast as we could.

There were five offensive linemen
blocking our four defensive linemen, yet somehow three of us were able to break
through the line.  With three big guys coming at him, the quarterback
panicked.  He was already facing my direction, so I was able to lock eyes with
him as I came solidly at him.  With the quarterback locked on me, he had no
idea that there was another defender coming from behind him.  The quarterback
knew he couldn’t afford to get sacked, so as he was being thrown down to the
ground, he quickly got rid of the ball.  Unfortunately for him, he threw the
ball too late and it didn’t quite make it past my outstretched hands.  Instinct
took over as I grabbed the ball out of the air and ran the other direction for
a touchdown.

It was only our third win of the
season, but the team was still excited.  After 15 struggling games, our team
finally had a solid defense again.  Our head coach did the right thing by
getting a new defensive coach during the season, and the new coach did the
right thing by trusting in me.  After two hours of celebrating with our families
and teammates outside of the stadium, Mike, Christine and I went home to
celebrate on our own.  That day, I played my first game as a Michigan Knight,
and scored my first touchdown as a professional football player.  Even though
it was one of the greatest days of my playing career, Christine had news that
made that day 10 times better.  Nine months later, our family would be growing
by one.

Once the season was over, I went
right back to my temporary job as a security guard.  I knew it would be my last
year on the force because, after training camp, I would either be on the
regular roster, or looking for a real job.  Christine and I also started
looking for a house of our own.  Even though Mike’s house was big enough for
all of us, we wanted to raise a child in our own home.  After a few months of
looking, we finally found a modest house within our price range.  The house was
a few miles away from Mike’s, so we would still be able to spend plenty of time
together.

With the team’s horrible season,
Mike worked out harder than usual during the off-season.  We both wanted to
contribute to the team, but we had different ideas of how to do so.  He made it
his goal to rush for over 1,500 yards, while carrying the team back into
playoff contention.  My goal was to make a considerable impression during
training camp and make it to the regular roster because I would not be eligible
to play on the practice squad for a third year.  I knew the new defensive coach
had been impressed by my performance that season, but I also knew that he was
planning on making more big changes.

The team never communicated to its
players what changes they made during the off-season, so it was up to us to
find out on our own.  Just like I did during the previous season, I got most of
my information from the newspaper.  Apparently, as soon as the season was over,
the team got rid of more than half of their starting defensive players.  Most
of those guys were traded to other teams for picks in the Selection Showcase.

During Selection Showcase Week,
teams were given one pick per round, for a total of seven picks.  Teams were
allowed, however, to use any of their picks to barter with other teams.  Teams
would generally trade their picks for one or more players from another team. 
The traded player’s value usually correlated with which round the pick came
from.  So if a team was willing to trade a high-caliber athlete, they would
expect to receive a pick from the first round in return.  If, however, the
player wasn’t as talented, they would expect to receive a pick from the sixth
or seventh round.  After trading some of their players to other teams, the
Knights were able to score additional picks in the first, third, and fourth
round.

In addition to those multiple
picks, the Knights also earned the first pick due to their poor record.  With
their second overall pick, the team chose a very talented wide receiver.  They
then used the rest of their picks to build up their defense.   By the end of
the selection process, most of the players who had been cut by the team at the
end of the season had been replaced by younger players who had the potential to
develop into high-caliber athletes.

After Selection Showcase Week, the
Knights continued to trade more of their players to other teams.  They traded
some of their high-priced athletes for multiple athletes from other teams.  
For the price of one defender, the Knights were able to receive two or three
affordable defenders who hadn’t quite developed yet, but still had potential
for growth.  So when it was all said and done, the Knights had gotten rid of
most of their veterans for a bunch of young defenders who would be competing
with me for a spot on the regular roster.

Going into training camp my third
year, I was left with one final chance to make the team.  My only chance of
making the roster team would be to have the best training camp of my life.  My
advantage was my experience with the team, and my touchdown during the previous
season didn’t hurt.  My disadvantage was the many new faces on the team and the
experiences they’d had playing for other teams. 

After our first big team meeting,
we met in our positional groups.  That year, rather than working out with the
offense, I worked with the defense.  The group wasn’t any different than the
offensive line group, but the numbers were a little different.  During the
regular season, the team would have eight defensive linemen on the roster.  In
the room that day were 14 players fighting it out to make the team.  That meant
six players would have to be cut at the end of summer.  When I was in the
offensive line group, the coach had already made up his mind for starters, so
there were less of us fighting for fewer backup spots.  With the new defensive
coach and his new action plan, though, nobody was guaranteed a starting spot so
all 14 of us were fighting for a starting job.

During the full-contact practice, I
was able to use my strength and speed against the new guys on the team.  I felt
confident as I was able to keep up with all of them.  Because there were very
few veterans in our group, our whole group worked to their full potential for
the entire two weeks.  Most of us received at least one injury, but we all
bounced back and survived the full-contact practices.  By the end of the
training camp, all 14 of us were still on the team, and still itching for a position.

We waited anxiously as the
defensive line coach announced who would be starting during our first
exhibition game.  Everybody had the same chance of playing, so nobody was sure
of their place on the team.  We were waiting like lottery ticket holders waiting
for their numbers to be drawn, as the coach began his announcements.  After the
first, second, and third-string players had been announced, there were only two
of us left; a player from last years practice squad and me.

After the first exhibition game,
the new defensive line coach decided to switch up our lines again.  The coach
put me on the second-string with three other players from last season’s team. 
The mix-up confused all of us as we couldn’t understand what happened in the
game to create such drastic changes.  The coach explained to us that he had
only four games to figure out who his starting defensive line was going to be. 
Since nobody was guaranteed a spot, everybody would have to rotate through the
lines so that we would all have a fair opportunity to try out.

By the end of the four games, I was
able to play in each group.  After not playing at all during the first game, I
was able to record 3 tackles in the second game while on the third-string.  As
a second-stringer, I added another 2 tackles.  When I finally got my chance to
start in the 4
^th
game, I had an outstanding 4 tackles; 1 of those
being a sack.  I don’t know if it was the excitement of finally being a
starter, or if my hard work was paying off, but that last game as a starter was
my best game ever.  After four exhibition games, I even had the most tackles
among defensive linemen.