QB1 (10 page)

So along with a constant stream of derision
directed at his mother, Clarence Pierce was being beaten on every
play. DD was being double teamed with a full back. This tactic
worked for the first few sets of downs in which San Francisco went
nowhere. They punted on their first three possessions and had a
total of minus 26 yards. Clarence had been caught holding twice
already and the first quarter wasn’t over. DD was schooling
him.

On their fourth possession, San Francisco
tried a screen play, to DD’s side. DD figured this was probably
coming, when he felt the boy’s lack of effort against him, thought
screen, retreated a few steps and jumped up, tipping the pass up
into the air and then down into his hands. He ran the ball back 20
yards and three plays later, Baltimore found the end zone.

As the second quarter began, San Francisco
still had no answer for DD. He was in the backfield on every
running play and had pressure on the quarterback on every pass
attempt. At one point, Clarence Pierce blocked out DD long enough
for the team to complete a crossing route for a first down, their
first of the day. DD congratulated Clarence. That was excellent
footwork Clarence. “Your mother is going to be very pleased and
believe me Clarence, I know when your mother is pleased. It takes
work. Just like you showed me there. You used leverage and
technique. You know what? That’s what I used when I was fucking
your Mama’s ass, leverage and technique.”

On the next play, DD used a swimming move to
flow by Clarence Pierce. The San Francisco full back was just able
to nudge DD enough on the double team for DD’s helmet to hit the
quarterback in the lower leg. Paul Isackson’s tibia snapped like a
match stick. A pin would have to be inserted to hold the bone
together. The next day Isackson would be put on Injured Reserve
which officially put him out for the season. It had been a clean
hit. DD had actually been blocked into the lower leg. A cart hauled
Isackson off the field. He was writhing in pain. DD Daniels stood
impassionately with his hands on his hips staring at the scene of
medical people around the injured quarterback. The crowd was
hushed. This looked like the end of the season for San
Francisco.

DD Daniels had two sacks, four tackles,
intercepted a pass, pressured the quarterback half a dozen times
and had now taken out the QB for the season and there was still
eight minutes to play in the second quarter. Daniels was having a
career game but he wasn’t done yet. The veteran Kyle Schular came
out to replace Isackson. He was a ten year veteran who had played
with five teams. He had once led Buffalo to the playoffs where they
had been eliminated in the first round. He had a strong arm but was
slow and in his first year with the San Francisco.

On Schular’s first play, DD Brown hit him as
he was throwing. The interception was run back for a touchdown.
Baltimore up 14. On third and 14 on the next possession, San
Francisco went with a screen pass to the right side. DD Daniels had
come up the middle on a switch and untouched, he charged into
Schular, picking him up and driving him into the turf, breaking his
collar bone and leaving him unconscious. Roughing the passer and
unsportsmanlike conduct got an outraged DD Daniels thrown out of
the game. The following fight on the field between the two teams
resulted in offsetting unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. You don’t
often see the benches empty in a full out brawl in football.
Including Daniels, five players were thrown out of the game, two
from each team. The normally well behaved crowd was in a frenzy.
They began throwing everything not tied down onto the Baltimore
bench. Almost 20 minutes went by before things were sorted out and
the final five minutes of the first half could be played.

The third string San Francisco quarterback
had begun to warm up on the sideline as soon as Schuler went down.
He hadn’t taken part in the brawl. He just calmly started throwing
the ball on the side lines. For the first time in his three year
NFL career, Tony Reilly stepped on to the field in a real game. His
team was down 14 against the best defensive team in football, at
the time. He was ready.

First and 10 at his 46 yard line with 4
minutes to go in the half. The San Francisco went off tackle for a
couple. Reilly then hit his tight end for 17 yards and a first
down. He then sent his receivers long and took off when they were
covered, picking up 12. Having Reilly run was pretty risky
considering his backup at this point was a wide receiver who had
last played QB in high school. The Team were out of quarterbacks.
First and 10, 20 yard line San Francisco had two running plays for
five yards. Reilly found an open wide receiver in the end zone, who
dropped the ball. They kicked a field goal and that’s how the half
ended.

Both injured quarterbacks were on the way to
the hospital. Emotions were high in the locker room. Tony Reilly
met with the offensive coordinator and the coach. The plan for the
second half was to play conservative and pass when they had to and
try and grind out a respectable game. Reilly wasn’t having any of
that. He adamantly insisted they had to go no huddle with a spread
offense to have any chance. No huddle keeps the defense in their
defensive look longer, allowing the QB to get a better look at what
they’re doing. The defensive players also have to stay in their
stance longer tiring them out. The defense can still change at the
last second, but it’s harder. The quarterback is often calling
plays at the line at the last minute. The play is often a run or
pass option with the quarterback having the authority to change the
play after reading the defense. The quarterback has to be a great
decision maker and be able to read the defense to make it work.

San Francisco rarely ran no-huddle, but Tony
Reilly had often ran no- huddle in practice simulating other team
offenses for the Team defense to practice against. The coaching
staff reluctantly agreed to come out in the no-huddle and see what
happens. Reilly also made a request for Terrence Brown to play in
the slot receiver position. Reilly and Brown had spent a lot of
time together in practice and Reilly felt comfortable throwing to
him. The short meeting broke and the Coach Charlie Warren went out
to address the team. He gave a simple speech to his team. No
clichés; no win one for the Gipper; “We’re down to a team that has
beaten us up in the first half. I need professionals with pride out
there in the second half. Play with passion but play the way I know
each and every one of you can. Defense, I need you to hold this
team because Offense, Tony Reilly is going to win this one for
us.”

Baltimore took the opening kickoff and with
the help of a holding call and a questionable pass interference
call, managed to get a long field goal. San Francisco got the ball
back in the second half down 17-3. They came out in a spread, no
huddle, shotgun formation which they hadn’t shown all year and
really hadn’t practiced much. Reilly walked up and down the line
shouting signals and at the last second snapped the ball and hit a
wide receiver on a crossing route. They stayed in the no huddle and
used a sweep for 7 yards. On second and three, he hit Terrence
Brown for 27. They pounded the middle when the linebackers backed
off and on 3rd and 3 on his 41, hit wideout Jimmy Oliva for a
touchdown when he saw him in single coverage. Back in the game.

The Team Defense intercepted a pass for their
first turnover of the game and the offense again came out in the no
huddle. Reading the defense, shouting Kill Kill to change the play
at the line to take whatever the Baltimore was showing them. On a
2nd and eight with his receivers covered, Reilly took off for 26
yards, showing his speed. The Baltimore defense were on their heels
when he hit his Tight End in the end zone to tie the score. Tied up
and the stadium was rocking.

Baltimore went three and out and punted.
Reilly marched the Team down field and just before the end of the
quarter, Reilly went in on a keeper and stuffed the football over
the crossbar at the end of the run and was mobbed by teammates. 21
points in the third quarter. Baltimore hadn’t allowed 21 total
points to an opponent in their four games. The fourth quarter was
more of the same. The San Francisco defense dug in. The offense
putting up ten more points by the time the game ended 34-20. This
was against a team without their best player in DD Daniels, but
this was done with the third string quarterback. Reilly had no
interceptions, 270 yards passing, three touchdown passes and had
scored one himself. In the locker room, the coach told his team,
“Goddamn it, I told you Tony Reilly was going to win this one for
us,” and handed him the game ball.”

Reilly said holding up the ball, “This isn’t
mine, this is ours.” Tony Reilly had won his first game.

Chapter 16

“Well?” I said to Liz. Roger and I were both
staring at her.

“Well is a deep subject,” she said.

“Who killed Tony, Liz?”

“I don’t want to say,” she said.

“Why not?”

“Because,” she said. I looked at Roger.

“Why won’t she tell us,” I asked him.

“She’s afraid,” said Roger. “You know what,
Liz? Mr. Mullins is almost always wrong when he makes guesses.

“I’m never wrong,” I said.

“I’d say he’s right about….2% of the
time.”

“I’m right about 85% of the time,” I
said.

We rolled to a stop in front of what I
assumed was Matt Benson’s house and sat there looking at each
other. “Are you afraid of something, Liz?” I asked. She didn’t say
anything. She just looked at me.

Finally she said, “It’s bad. It’s very
bad.”

“Bad,” I said. She nodded her head and looked
out the window.

“And I haven’t finished thinking about it.” I
looked at Roger and shrugged my shoulders.

“Let’s go see Matt,” she said. “I love that
guy.”

I shrugged my shoulders again and said,
“Let’s go see Matt.” We got out and went to the door. I didn’t see
any security around. Benson answered the door himself and
immediately took Liz into his massive arms. Up close, these
football players were big. Matt was a first round draft pick out of
Texas. As a middle linebacker, he anchored and led the defensive
team. The Team defense had become dominant last year and he was
definitely the star.

“I’m so sorry about Tony, Liz,” Benson said.
Roger and I shook hands with him and he led us into his living
room. A beautiful woman stood there to meet us. Holy shit, these
football players get the women! Matt introduced her as his friend
Keisha. She offered her condolences to Liz and offered to get
refreshments. We declined and we all sat down as Keisha left
us.

“What happened to Jade?” Liz asked Matt.

“I upgraded,” he said.

“You do a lot of upgrading,” she said.

“Elizabeth, I’m so bummed about Tony,”
obviously wanting to get out of that discussion. “He was more than
just a friend. I would have done anything for that guy.”

“He thought the world of you, Matt.”

Benson looked at us, “I know about you guys.
Saw you on Leno young man,” he said to Roger.

“I’ve seen you on TV too, Mr. Benson,” said
Roger.

“Matt, Oscar Tierney suggested I speak with
you as one of the leaders of the team. He’s hired me to look after
the team’s interests, be a liaison for the investigation with the
authorities and the team and NFL. We were wondering if you could
share anything about what Tony may have been up to the last month.
He seems to have fallen off everyone’s radar.”

Benson stretched in his chair. “A liaison,
huh?” he said. “How long have you known Tierney?”

“Met him today,” I said.

“Here is a tip in dealing with Tierney. If
his lips are moving, he’s lying. He is a two-faced
motherfucker.”

“I’ve heard that before,” said Liz.

Benson continued, “For all the love he
professes for his players, he makes decisions for one reason and
one reason only. How will this benefit me? He is the most soulless
person I have ever met.”

Shrugging my shoulders, “It’s a business,” I
said.

“It is, Tom,” said Benson, “and we’re all
just cattle to him. Just make sure your agreement is set in stone
because he’ll find some way to fuck you. He’s very consistent.”

A thought struck me, “You think he had
something to do with Tony’s death?” I asked.

Benson looked at me with no expression on his
face. “If it benefited him in some way.”

“You’re a little bitter, I take it.”

“I’ve just seen the shit he’s pulled. I got
no use for him as a human being.”

I could see this was going nowhere so I
changed the subject. “You and Tony were close?”

“Tony and I were close. I respected him more
than any player on the team. Tony Reilly had a great head for
football. He knew more about football than anyone on the field. I
would have been very surprised if he didn’t end up as a head coach
someday.” Benson stretched and put his hands behind his head. “We
both came in as rookies together. I was a number one draft pick. I
was the anointed one, the middle linebacker that was going to run
the defense. Tony was undrafted and if he hadn’t gone to Cal, he
probably wouldn’t have been playing. Tony’s job was to run the
scout team against the defense. Since he saw so much of the
defense, he became a student of it. He was a very positive guy and
he worked both sides of the ball in practice, encouraging the
defensive and the offensive players. Pointing out mistakes and
telling someone how to improve but never in a critical manner.
That’s a unique talent and soon everyone knew that Tony was someone
special. He would often go through me to relay a message to a
player. This was supposed to be the job of the defensive coaches
and they started out telling Tony to mind his own business, just
run the offense, but he kept doing it and after awhile they just
left him alone because it was a positive influence. It was on me,
anyway. Here was this rookie QB telling me what to do, but I could
see that he was right most of the time. So, I listened to him.
During games, he’d speak to me a few times with pointers and
encouragement. I got so I needed to hear what he had to say. That
is a unique relationship because half the time I know the coaches
are full of shit.”