C.: d.c., what is going on? d.: I’m a little busy right now.
C.: Doing what? Did Eudora ask you to mow the “back forty” on your day off? d.: No, Cal.E. That is taken care of. C.: Why do you not have time to talk to your best friend, then, may I ask? d.: I am trying to compose an email to an agent. I am trying to answer her questions about one of my books. C.: I see. Maybe you could just email me some excerpts from one of your books, then. That will keep my mind occupied until I need to get ready for work tomorrow. d.: Where are your kittens? C.: They are all working on their days off! My “special formula’ beet juice has motivated them all to be more productive! d.: Okay, Cal. E. I will email you an excerpt from one of my books. Tell me what you think of it. It is a chapter out of “The Magruder Mysteries “Reports From South America and The Legend of the Island of Pishon.” CHAPTER THIRTEEN: THE TWO TALENTED “MR. IRRELEVANTS” AS J.R. tried to distract himself from the turbulence the plane was experiencing, he decided he needed something else to think about. Despite being a word traveler and having traveled in chartered flights for away games during his one year in the NFL, J.R. was a nervous flier. A nice distraction, he decided, would be to think about the two trophies he had acquired recently. So J.R. took out his phone to admire the pictures of his two most prized trophies, MVP of the most recent Super Bowl and the Lombardi trophy, indicating his team was the world champions. As he thought about how he had earned both of his trophies, he began to reminisce about how it all began. He first looked at the Lombardi trophy that his team had won, signifying that the third year expansion team, the Austin X-Men, was the best team in the NFL. J.R. then looked at his trophy for being selected the MVP of the Super Bowl. As he did this, he remembered the man who had been the first to coach him on a high school level. He and his freshman coach shared a common designation. Both had been deemed “Mr. Irrelevant” because each had been the last player selected in the year they were drafted by their respective NFL teams. J.R remembered the details of the story he had read about the coach who had influenced his decision to forgo being a multi-sport star and concentrate on playing only football. It may or may not have been the best decision of his life. ********************************************************************** Cody Locksmith had been a stand-out defensive back when he played at a small college in Mississippi. It was the same college that had been attended by two future NFL hall of fame athletes. One is regarded by some as the greatest to ever play the game, although his outstanding career only garnered one Super Bowl ring. Any knowledgeable football fan would agree that he was certainly the most versatile player of his era. He was the starting running back, the backup punter and kicker for his professional team. He was also a “wildcat quarterback” before such a term existed in the NFL. If he was playing for successful coach in this era, his coach would have him play defensive back at the end of a game. He was, at one time, the all- time leading rusher in NFL history. He currently ranks second in that category. Unfortunately for his many avid fans, the man known as “Sweetness” would pass away before his time. This college, along with the conference it played in, got the NFL’s attention by recruiting players with speed. That had been Cody Locksmith’s ticket to the small college, as well as his reason for being drafted into the NFL. Cody Locksmith had outstanding speed. Not just ordinary speed. He possessed the type of speed that got people’s attention, even playing at a small college. He also possessed size. Cody was tall for a defensive back. He measured over six feet tall on his sixteenth birthday. He grew another inch before entering college. Locksmith weighed almost two-hundred pounds. With his blazing speed, it would seem that he would have been a good prospect for a tier-one college football program. It was not for lack of talent that he did not get to play at a large college. It had been his grades that kept him out of these schools. Cody refused to go to a junior college first, as was requested by big-name college coaches that had recruited him to play at large schools in the SEC, the pinnacle of college football. They wanted him to have passing grades before he played at their institutions. Cody wanted to go to a four- year college and start his college career. His hope was that he would be drafted into the NFL after his junior year. Going to a junior college first may delay that process, he feared. Being drafted after three years in college, though, was an impossibility. A failed drug test kept him out of the draft after his junior year. During his senior year, Cody Locksmith avoided many of his old friends His former posse, he was told, was irresponsible and would get him into trouble. This would lead to him being drafted lower than expected, or not at all. Locksmith decided that it was not worth taking a chance of not fulfilling his life-long dream of playing professional football. However, he almost did not get drafted into the NFL at all. Cody Locksmith was drafted in the seventh round by the Super Bowl champions. He was the last player selected in the draft, earning him the nickname “Mr. Irrelevant.” This team had a need at his position that year. The coaching staff decided that it was worth taking a chance on the speed burner in case one of their veteran defensive backs sustained an injury. Through training camp and the first eight games, none of them had. Cody earned a Super Bowl ring when his team won their first Super Bowl, despite this fact. Cody Locksmith had not made his team’s roster after the final cut. He was placed on the practice squad when he was not picked up by another team after being placed on waivers. No other team wanted to take a chance on a player who had been termed a “troublemaker” while in college. his opponent. He was not a mean person by nature. This technique usually worked. It was to his detriment, though, when it came to being evaluated by NFL scouts. No team wanted a player with a bad temper to be the last line of defense in the pass-happy twenty-first century NFL. Cody Locksmith returned to his team’s active roster when his team lost three defensive backs for the year to injury. Locksmith was then selected to play on the kickoff team for the Super Bowl. He made one tackle. It was the highlight of his career. After the trio of defensive backs recovered from their injuries, Cody was placed back onto the practice squad. Unfortunately, he suffered a knee injury in a practice and never fully recovered his incredible speed. By this time, his wife was pregnant with the couple’s first child. Cody knew that it was a pipe dream to keep playing in the NFL. He used his status as a Super Bowl player to garner a high school coaching job at his high school alma mater. That job let him be close to his growing family. Locksmith then worked his way up from assistant coach in charge of defensive backs to defensive coordinator. He eventually was named the head coach at his old high school. He led the Chaparrals to the state championship game twice, winning the game and the state championship once. After his retirement from coaching football, “Mr. Irrelevant” was asked, by his best friend, to return to coaching. He would only coach the freshman receivers and tight ends in football and the freshman boys’ basketball team, he was told. That is where he encountered the man that was equal to any of the players he had ever coached, even as a freshman. A 6’5’’ freshman tight end who could catch the football with one hand while running full-stride captured the veteran coach's attention. He was the star of Coach Locksmith’s freshman football team. Honestly, it almost seemed unfair that this young phenom was playing against other freshmen. He was clearly the best player on the field in any game in which he played. He may have been the best football player in the state of Texas, which has some of the best high school football talent in the country. The gifted freshman made a mockery of his competition. The young man tried out for the freshman basketball team, much to Coach Locksmith’s dismay. Although he could not, in good conscience, cut the young man from the team, he was tempted to do so. The very tall young man was clearly the best player on the court. When his star athlete twisted his ankle in the first half of the first basketball game in which he played, the veteran coach saw his opportunity. Remembering what had happened to his star player over twenty years before, the coach sat his star player at the end of his bench. The young man never played in another organized basketball game. That may or may not have been a mistake. The young man was as talented at basketball as he was at football, the sport at which he excelled. He was so adept at this brutal sport that he was elected the MVP of the only Super Bowl in which he played. The talented young man only played for one year in the NFL. He was suspended for using an illegal substance to help him recover from “minor” knee surgery. His astounding record was erased. The young man was so discouraged by this turn of events that he retired from professional football, never to play again. The reason that the young tight end had been elected the MVP of the Super Bowl was that, even though he did not start the game, he was one of only two players to catch three touchdown passes in a Super Bowl game. The other player is in the NFL Hall of Fame. That player is regarded by some as the greatest player ever to grace the gridiron in an NFL uniform. Coach Cody Locksmith may have created a legend on the football field with his decision to bench his star freshman basketball player.
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