Fourth and Forever

by Bert Carson

  “I’m about talked out for the night, but before I turn you loose on the world, let me ask you for your comments and questions.”

  Meg was the first to raise her hand, “Josh, excuse me but I can’t call you Daddy.” That got a huge laugh.

  I said, “Meg, you’re excused from calling me Daddy”

  “Seriously, I just want to say, this is my third Vietnam meeting and I can’t thank you enough for inviting me.” She leaned forward, looked at the visiting professors, and said, “If you gentlemen are considering opening this forum up on a larger scale I’d suggest you open it to the community. I lost my brother and my fiancée in Vietnam. The time that I’ve spent at these meetings has helped me understand and accept that more than anything else that I’ve ever done.”

  Professor Wilson raised his hand and I recognized him. “Mr. Edwards, like Ms. McKinney, we are pleased to have sat in on this meeting. We intend to set up similar learning experiences for our students and, as Meg suggested, possibly for the community. To help us in our planning, I’d like to have some comments on what the players think of these discussions.”

  What followed was an hour of testimonials about the Vietnam conversations from the players and from Coach Jenkins. Finally, I stopped the discussion, pointing out that curfew wasn’t far away.

  ********

  Meg left after breakfast the next morning. A few minutes after we said goodbye, Bobby and I were walking across the footbridge, headed for our first class. He hadn’t said anything since we’d left the house. I could feel that he had something on his mind so I honored the silence. Finally he said, “Daddy, I know that you and Meg have an agreement to be friends and I think that’s wonderful, for both of you, and for me too.” He hesitated then said, “I just want you to know that if the two of you ever decide to make a different deal, a deal to be, you know, more than friends, it’s all right with me.”

  That took me by surprise and it was awhile before I could respond. “Finally I managed to say. Thanks, Bobby, I appreciate that, and it means more to me than you can imagine.”

  “Good,” he said. “Does it mean enough for you to cook tonight?”

  I laughed, “Yep, it does. It means so much I might even cook tonight and tomorrow night.”

  Chapter 30

  “Fans, it’s been a long season and it all comes down to sixty minutes of football,” Jim said, as he opened the pre-game show. Everyone is excited except the weather-forecaster. He’s predicting a heavy snowfall before the game is over, and judging from the looks of the sky he’s probably right. Both teams have finished their pregame warm up and are back in their locker rooms. They will be back on the field in two minutes. In the meantime, we’re going to take a commercial break and then we’ll be back with you for the last game of the season, the Division 1 National Championship Game from Washington Grizzly stadium.”

  *********

  In the locker room two minutes before game time, the excitement was at its peak. Underlying it was a feeling of unease, the possibility that we might have come this far only to lose. It crossed my mind that the scene in the Northeast Louisiana locker room was identical. After all, they were a team, just like us, young men, and maybe even some not so young, like me. Coaches, assistant coaches, trainers, student mangers, who had worked to get to this place just the way we had worked. Why would they feel any different? In Vietnam, I sometimes had those same thoughts about the Viet Cong.

  With little fanfare, Coach Jenkins signaled for Jimbo to open the door and we found ourselves heading down the tunnel for the last game of the season. The fans went even crazier than usual when they saw us and, if it was possible, Flexible was more excited than usual.

  We had decided at our team meeting, earlier in the week, that all the seniors on the squad would serve as game captains. Northeast had obviously reached the same decision. Thirty young men met at the center of the field and listened to the referee’s instructions about the coin toss, and then the silver dollar spun high toward the heavily overcast sky. Denby called heads and the referee ran to the fallen coin, examined it and announced, “It is heads.” Then he turned to Denby and asked, “Captain, do you want to kick or receive?”

  “We’ll receive.”

  The referee then turned to the Northeast spokesman and asked, “Captain, which goal will you defend?”

  The Northeast captain pointed to the west goal, which gave his team a slight wind advantage.

  The referee had the Northeast team turn their backs to the west goal and the Grizzlies turn their backs to the east goal, then he announced to the fans, “Montana has won the toss and elected to receive. Louisiana has elected to defend the west goal. Gentlemen, let’s play ball.”

  The game captains ran off the field and were quickly replaced by our kick return team and the kicking team for Northeast. A minute later, the referee blew his whistle, the Northeast kicker advanced and the game we had waited for all season began.

  Powers took the kick at our five-yard line and made a great return to the thirty-five. Samuelson led the starting offense team on to the field and Northeast sent in their starting defensive team. Jeff opened with a run through the middle that was good for eight yards, followed by a pass to Bobby in the flat that took the ball to Northeast’s forty-five yard line. Three plays later, we scored and I trotted on to kick the extra point, wondering as I went if it was going to be this easy all day.

  I need not have concerned myself. On defense, we immediately discovered that we couldn’t stop them any easier than they had stopped us. In a relentless drive down the field, that was almost identical to the one we had just completed, they scored, quickly tying the score at seven all. The game continued that way for the entire first half and at halftime, the score was tied at twenty-four; three touchdowns and a field goal for each team.

  After moving the ball easily in the first half, neither team could move in the second. The opening kickoff of the third quarter brought the snow, renewed defensive play on both sides, and mistakes that could have been game winners but weren’t.

  Two minutes into the third quarter, we had possession of the ball at midfield. Jeff called for a quick, straight handoff to Barron who was to go up the middle. Just as he turned to give the ball to the halfback, Denby, stepping back to block, stumbled into them. Jeff dropped the ball and Northeast recovered.

  Coach Jenkins quickly called the defensive team over and said, “You have to stop those guys. You can’t give up a single first down or we’ll be in big trouble. Now go!” As they ran onto the field, they passed the offensive team walking toward the sidelines. A dejected Jeff Samuelson came to Coach Jenkins. Brent put his arm around the boy’s shoulders and said, “Shake it off, Jeff. It’s one of those things, but if you don’t shake it off, it can cost us the game.”

  Our defense stopped them cold on their first play. Coach Jenkins signaled for Young, our all-conference linebacker and defensive captain to call a time-out. He did and came running off the field directly to Brent. Samuelson moved away so the two of them could talk. I motioned for him to move up to sideline beside me. “We’ll stop them, Jeff. Just remember, you’re the leader out there. You set the attitude of the team. Do you remember our Monday night Vietnam conversation about being in the moment?”

  He looked up and I said, “Now is the time to practice it. There won’t be another moment. You’ve got to be totally present. What happened is over. Get it out of your mind, and get it out now.” I saw him take a deep breath and stand straight. “That’s good,” I said.

  Coach Jenkins had spotted a weakness at their guard position and he told Young to blitz on the next play. It was a perfect call. Young charged between the guard and the tackle without a hand being laid on him. The Northeast quarterback had turned his back to the line and run three steps, planning a long pass. He was not aware that Young had broken through the line and was only two steps away. He stopped, turned back toward the line and Young crashed into him. The ball jumped out of his hands and began rolling away. You
ng jumped to his feet, chased it and recovered at the exact spot of Jeff’s fumble sixty seconds earlier.

  Coach Jenkins turned to Jeff, “See, nothing lost but time and we still have plenty of that. Now, go get things started.” With that, he slapped Jeff on the back and the lanky quarterback and the rest of the offensive team started back on the field. I heard Brent take a deep breath.

  The third quarter ended with the score still twenty-four all and the snow falling heavier every minute.

  ESPN was televising the game nationally. After the game, I discovered that because of poor visibility, early in the fourth quarter, they had to cut away from our game and go to a back-up program, only returning to live coverage for the last two minutes.

  In the fourth quarter, there was another exchange of fumbles and an exchange of interceptions. Neither team was able to capitalize on the other’s mistakes.

  With less than three minutes left in the fourth quarter, we stopped Northeast and they kicked. Powers, who later said he had no idea where the ball was until it landed five yards in front of him, returned the kick to the Northeast forty-yard line. The snowfall slacked off and Jeff managed to complete a short pass to Wright then another to Bobby. The completions took the pressure off the running game and we ran two quick straight-ahead plays that were good for seven and six yards respectively. Then the snow began to come down heavier, all but eliminating the passing game and with less than sixty seconds left on the clock, the Indian defense stopped us on their thirty-yard line.

  Coach Jenkins signaled for Samuelson to call our last time-out. With the clock stopped, Jeff came trotting to the sidelines. Brent pulled us both to him. Listen guys, there’s a minute left in regulation play. We have to score now because time is going to run out before we get the ball back. If we go into overtime, I’m afraid that fatigue and mistakes will decide the game and I don’t want that to happen. He turned to me and said, “Daddy, I know the conditions are bad, but I don’t think they are going to get any better. I’ve seen you kick fifty-five yard field goals. Can you kick a fifty-two yarder in these conditions?”

  I looked at him and I looked at Jeff. Jeff grinned and said, “Daddy, if you get in the moment, you can do.”

  I laughed, turned to Brent and said, “I can do it Coach.”

  He said, “Then go do it, Daddy.”

  *******

  “Fans, the snow is really coming down now. Coach Jenkins just called his last time-out and Samuelson is coming over to the sidelines to get the play. We have to get closer to be in field-goal range, so it looks like we have to go for the first down here on fourth and five.”

  Charlie interrupted, “Hold it, Jim; we aren’t going to go for a first down. Daddy is going into the game to try a fifty-two yard field goal in the driving snow. I don’t believe this.”

  ********

  In the huddle, ten faces turned toward me. “Listen to me, guys. Keep them out long enough for Sammy to give me a good spot and I’ll kick the field goal,” I said, then added, “I’m going to need all the time I can get though and I need something else.” I felt the intensity level go even higher, “What do you need, Daddy?”

  “If I’m going to make it, we all have to be totally in this moment. Can you do that?”

  “YES!” they roared, as they broke the huddle. The sound of their hand-slaps was lost in the hiss of the heavy snowfall.

  In that instant, against all reason, I knew that I would make the kick. There wasn’t any doubt in my mind.

  Two officials ran to the goalpost, followed closely by an ESPN cameraman. I knew all three were hoping they’d be able to see the ball in the driving snow, if it made it that far.

  ********

  Jim said, “I hope Daddy’s radar is working because there is no way he is going to be able to see the goal from where he’s kicking.”

  ********

  Sammy stepped off the distance from the line of scrimmage to the place where he intended to spot the ball. With a towel I’d brought in for that purpose, I carefully brushed the snow from the ground where I would plant my left foot, and then I backed up three steps and took a deep breath. I nodded to Sammy. The referee blew his whistle and I lowered my head, focusing on the spot where the football would be spotted.

  Sammy began calling the signals. Seconds later the ball sailed out of the snow into his hands. When I heard it hit Sammy’s hands time slipped into slow motion. The snap was perfect as was the spot. I began moving toward the ball, planted my left foot in the area I had cleared and swung though the ball stronger than I’d ever kicked a field goal before. I knew the instant that my foot touched the ball that it would have the distance. I silently prayed that it was on target then I lifted my head and looked along the path of the ball, it was gone, swallowed by the snow.

  A hush held the crowd. Then, through a break in the snow, the public address announcer caught sight of an official standing under the goalpost, both hands raised in the air, and shouted, “IT’S GOOD! IT’S GOOD!..”

  We kicked to them with nine seconds left on the clock. Their kick return specialist managed to return the ball to the thirty-five where Barron tackled him the instant the gun sounded ending the game.

  With the sound of the gun, the snow stopped and not another flake fell for two days. The timing shocked the crowd into momentary silence but it was only momentary. All the players and coaches from both teams ran onto the field. There we shook hands and congratulated one another. I overheard the Northeast coach tell Brent, “You know, I’d like to play you again sometime, without your weatherman figuring into the game.” They both laughed.

  ********

  A TV crew in the locker room was a new experience for us, an experience that could have been embarrassing a couple of times except for the quick reactions of the cameraman. I asked Coach Jenkins to announce that I was buying pizza for everyone who wanted to come by the house. We survived the camera crew and managed to shower and change. Thirty minutes later we left the locker room and joined waiting fans. It didn’t appear that anyone had left the stadium except the Northeast Louisiana fans. We took our time, signing autographs and talking to everyone who wanted to talk. Brent told me later that he even kissed a baby. He said that made him feel more like a politician than a football coach. I told him that if he ever intended to go into politics there wouldn’t be a better time than now.

  I found Bobby, Janet, Flexible and Meg and we slowly began to make our way out of the stadium. Almost a half hour later Flex led us up the walk and into the house. I told Janet and Meg about my promise to host the pizza party and we began to prepare for it. I called two pizza delivery restaurants, told them what was going to happen and ordered twenty extra-large pizzas and two cases of cokes from each one.

  The guys, never late for pizza, began arriving fifteen minutes early. Many of them had their girlfriends. All the coaches and their wives and Jimbo were there. Noting the unexpected guests, I called the pizza companies and added five more pizzas and another case of cokes to each order. The house was jammed when the pizza’s arrived. I asked Bobby to get the bills from each of the drivers and bring them to me. He returned with two bills, both marked, NO CHARGE.

  There were several parties on campus that night so the players and their dates began to drift away immediately after the pizza was consumed. As the first wave headed for the door, one of the players called out, “We’ll see you Monday, Daddy.” A chorus of agreement quickly followed.

  Brent was standing beside me. I turned to him and said, “Coach, I figured that when the season ended the Monday night Vietnam conversations would also end.”

  He laughed. “Daddy, that’s one of the few times all season that I can remember you figuring something wrong.” Then he added, “It may be the only time all season that you’ve been wrong, but you sure missed that one. I ought to write it down. And, by the way, I’ll see you Monday night too.” He was still laughing when he walked out the door.

  Chapter 31

  Everyone did a decent job of cleanin
g up after themselves but there was plenty of work still to be done. Bobby and I, with a little help from Flexible, gathered all the empty pizza boxes and empty coke cans, put them in garbage can liners and stacked them on the porch temporarily. While we did that, Janet and Meg vacuumed, washed the few dishes that we had used and cleaned the kitchen. I noted that Bobby and I had come out on the good end of that deal.

  We moved to the living room, where Meg and I sat on the sofa and Bobby and Janet shared the oversized recliner. We rehashed the season, the game and the party for a few minutes, and then Flexible brought his leash into the middle of the room, dropped it and barked.

  Bobby laughed, looked at Janet. She nodded and Bobby said that they would take him for a walk.

  Flexible immediately picked up the leash, carried it across the room and dropped it at Bobby’s feet.

  I noted the dogs bulging stomach, and suggested that they make it a long walk.

  Bobby looked at me knowingly and said, “Are you two planning on doing something that calls for privacy.”

  I looked at Meg. She was pointedly staring out the window. I said, “That hadn’t crossed my mind when I said take him for a long walk. I was thinking about all the pizza he ate. However, now that you mention it…”

  Everyone laughed, and then Bobby, Janet and Flexible were out the door.

  We sat in silence for a few minutes before Meg turned to me, looked in my eyes and said, “Josh, what are you thinking right now?”

  I’ve heard it jokingly said the worst question a woman can ask a man is, “What are you thinking?” In this case, that wasn’t true. I’d been looking for a way to bring up the subject.

  I slid nearer to her, took her hand, and said, “I was thinking that I’d like to take another look at our agreement to be friends.”