QB1 (12 page)

“I’ll see what I can do,” Tonelli says. “If
she’s involved then maybe her husband is in it too. Fuck me, this
could get messy.”

“Exactly!”

“Hey, I want to talk to this Padilla.”

“He’s elusive. He’s out crewing on boats and
doesn’t carry a cell phone but I’ll make sure we can find him
again. I’ll have Roger write up the interview and email it to you
in a few hours. Eddie, please, discretion on Lydia Isackson?”

I checked in with Velma at the office.
Listened for a few minutes as she read me the riot act. Cut her off
and tried to listen to a few voice mails. Deleting most of them
after I heard who they were from.

I walked back in and sat down. The
conversation continued in Spanish among the three of them. Finally,
all of them looked at me. “Well, we know where Tony Reilly has been
for the last month,” said Roger.

Chapter 20

Tony Reilly showed up at the dock in San
Diego late in the evening a month ago. He found the Benson’s boat
and Jose while drinking a beer, watching a soccer game on a flat
panel TV screen in the wheelhouse. Jose had finished provisioning
the boat for a week’s cruise. Tony got a tour of the boat. A
49-foot Hunter complete with Corian countertops and a large galley
complete with stove and microwave. The boat’s interior was
outfitted with light colored teak woodwork, lots of upholstery, and
plenty of headroom. A navigation table and captain’s chart with GPS
and radar. Flat panel screen in the saloon bulkhead and a smaller
one between the two helm stations. They all tied into the
entertainment center. Tony took the spacious owner’s cabin. That
left Jose with three others to choose from. The boat’s exterior and
deck were all white. It was a long distance cruiser and a
magnificent boat.

The men talked of where they might go and do.
Tony told Jose that he would like to learn how to sail the boat; he
had some skills with smaller boats but didn’t have a clue about
something this big. He said he didn’t want to go to tourists spots.
He told him he was an American football player like Matt Benson and
was lying low during contract negotiations. Jose knew little about
American football and had never heard of Tony. Jose asked him if he
knew how to surf. Tony said he’d been surfing a few times and
enjoyed it but wasn’t very good at it.

“I have two boards on board. I can teach you
to sail and surf,” Jose said. “I know some of the best places in
the world to go.”

“Sounds good to me,” said Tony. They decided
to head down the Baja coast and hit smaller villages and the prime
surfing spots, bypassing bigger ports like Roserita Beach and
Ensenda. They could always go anchor somewhere and stay at a hotel
if that’s the way he wanted to roll.

“Up to you,” Jose told Tony.

The next morning they motored out of San
Diego and headed south. After they cleared land, Jose started
working with Tony. The two men were quickly working as a team.
Favorable winds and calm sea made for ideal sailing conditions.
Tony was exhilarated. “I’m getting me one of these, Jose.”

“You like, Tony?”

“I love, Jose.”

They went over all the safety rules of
boating. Jose put the boat on auto-pilot and went through every
detail of the boat. Showed Tony how to raise and lower sails and
where problems were likely to occur. Jose was a pro when it came to
teaching boating. Tony was a good student. Jose made some fish
tacos for lunch while Tony took the wheel and then Jose gave the
boat to Tony while he took a siesta. They arrived in Puerto
Balandra later in the afternoon. This was an isolated, unpopulated
coastal area with beaches, an interior salt lagoon and a rock
formation called “El Hongo”, the mushroom. They took the dingy into
shore. Tony went for a five mile run and swim along the eight
beaches. Jose found a little shack and settled in for a few
beers.

The pattern was established. A day cruising
at sea followed by Tony running on shore and long swims. The two
men worked their way down the coast. Jose started calling Tony
“Captain” after three days. Jose would pick a spot on the map and
tell Tony, “Get us there,” and Tony would do it using the
sophisticated navigation systems.

They hit Isla Natividad, a small, desolate
island, on a perfect day for surfing one of the best beach break
barrels in the world. Tony wasn’t a match for Jose, but he got
better throughout the day. It was so good, they decided to do it
again the next day and then a third day. At the end of the third
day, with Tony’s athleticism, he was earning his chops as a surfer
with Jose’s encouragement. This island was only accessible by
airplane or boat, making it usually uncrowded. There was nothing to
do on Isla Natividad, but Tony said he could have stayed a month.
It was unusual to hit surf that good so early in the season. Jose
convinced him to move on. He needed a little night life.

Punta Abreojos was a legendary right reef
break surfing spot. Offshore winds hold up the waves and the water
is warm. Local fisherman supplied the fresh fish and lobsters. They
would surf the day, cook dinner on the boat and drink beer on the
beach at a little bar on the beach at night. They were few people
that early in the season and no one recognized Tony. There were a
number of senoritas around that Jose fell in love with and he would
take for the night. Tony would paddle back to the boat alone. He
would be back on the beach in the morning for his usual long run
and meet up with Jose for surfing in the afternoon. One morning,
Jose was waiting on the beach for Tony. “No run today, we go.”

“What’s going on, Jose?”

“Her Papa want I marry Maria.”

“Yea,” said Tony, “we go.”

They headed off to the very secluded, Isla
Magdalena. Mag Bay is the place to go if you want perfect waves and
absolutely no crowds. You can only access Magdalena Bay by boat or
by plane, no stores on Mag Bay. They found challenging surf, but
with the exception of a few shacks, not much else. The next day,
they were off to Costa Azul, the bay that holds the best and most
famous surf spots in all of Baja Sur: Playa Acapulquito, The Rock
and Zippers. The Rock is the outside break between Playa
Acapulquito and Zippers. The Rock is a crowded right reef break.
The water can get shallow and there are very sharp coral. The Rock
was Jose’s surfing home. His surfing buddies were there. Locals
have been known to group up on tourists, but not on Tony with Jose
along. If you’re good enough, The Rock is the surfing spot on Baja.
After two weeks, Tony was good enough and he got better in the
challenging waves with pointers from the locals. He also earned
their devotion buying cases of beer and Tequila every night. No one
recognized him. They thought he was a just another rich American
with a boat. The night life was at a locals bar or around a bonfire
with Tony often helping a drunk Jose back to the boat. He was out
on the beach every morning for long runs followed by a day of
surfing.

It wasn’t till almost three weeks since
leaving home that a tourist walked up one night at the bar and
asked Tony for his autograph. All his new buddies were sitting
around. Tony just smiled and signed. The whole group was
dumbfounded. Tony and Jose had never mentioned football. The two
Aussies still didn’t know who he was, but the half dozen Americans
did now. He asked them not to say anything. He was down here on the
QT. The next day, someone found a football and Tony was chucking
passes on the beach to wide receiver wannabes for hours.

Chapter 21

Following the Baltimore game, the Team had a
bye. They had two weeks to prepare for their next opponent,
Houston. The team needed to sign a couple of quarterbacks, but with
Reilly’s performance, they weren’t looking for a starter. They
thought they had their man. Tony’s performance was the talk of
football. Is this guy for real? Usually a team is given at least a
few days off with an upcoming bye week but with the quarterback
changes, that was cut short. Tony was in on Monday morning working
with the offensive coordinator. The film from the game showcased
his skills. They reworked the offense to take advantage of the
skills he had shown during the game. The coaching staff quickly
recognized that they may have found that elusive diamond in the
rough.

Playing it by the book, when you have a new
quarterback on the field, you blitz him. You never let him get
comfortable. You show him every kind of defensive trick you have
and keep unrelenting pressure on him and that’s what Baltimore had
done. But, when you blitz, you take defensive players out of their
regular positions and charge the quarterback, leaving players in
single coverage often mismatched. Reilly had been running the taxi
squad against one of the best defenses in football for the last two
seasons. He knew what Baltimore was going to throw at him. Now, he
had the first team offense to react against it. He was uniquely
prepared to step in and run one of the best offenses in football.
By the time the first practice rolled around on Thursday, the team
was ready to change its offense, making it more flexible and taking
advantage of Reilly’s decision making skills.

Before that first practice, Tony asked for a
team meeting without coaches present. With just the players
gathered around and Tony began, “I asked for this meeting this
morning because I have something to say. Sunday was the most fun
I’ve ever had playing football. I didn’t have a great game. You had
a great game and I want to thank you for letting me be a part of
it. When I walked off that field, I thought of something that I
needed to share. Like most of you, I’ve been blessed with some
talent that has allowed me to play the game at this level. In Pop
Warner, in High School and in College, I was the best player on the
team, but I wasn’t always on the best team, go Bruins.” Everyone
laughed.

“For the first time in my life, I’m on the
best team. Tony paused for a few whoops. “Let me say that again,
this is the best team in football. He paused again and this time no
one said anything. The best team in football is now 2 and 2. This
was a team that was going to be 1 and 3 through the first half of
that game, Sunday. We’ve got a lot of work to do. We’ve got the
best defense in football and we’re going to work our asses off to
be the best offense in football. We are not going to lose another
football game. We’ll take one game at a time, but we are not going
to lose another football game. We’re not going to do that by not
losing football games. We’re going to win football games. We’re
going to win games because we’re a better team and we will execute.
We execute by being better prepared than the other team. Pushing
the guy next to you to be the best player he can be. Dedicating
yourself and everyone around you to be the best. Gentleman, you
play for the best team in football. Let’s prove it next week. And
then we’ll prove it the next week. And then we’ll continue to prove
it every week.”

He continues, “We lost two games already this
year and I think I know why. We were not prepared. Let me say that
again, we were not prepared to win those games. Part of that reason
is coaching. We were not prepared to win those games. We were
out-coached. It’s easy to assign blame here but, it can’t be put
entirely on the backs of the coaching staff. We have players on
this team who are showing up to practice, going through the motions
but really, they don’t give a shit. We’ve got players that are
phoning it in. When was the last time you looked at film of what
other teams are doing? When was the last time you suggested a
different way of doing things because of what you saw on film from
a team we’re not playing next week? Who is taking the extra effort
it takes to win? Who is spending extra time in the film room? Who
is doing more than required in the weight room? Who is here just
collecting a pay check? You can point to the coaching staff and say
it’s their responsibility to prepare us, but that isn’t going to
help us win ball games. Ultimately, it’s our own individual
responsibility to prepare this team to win. We do that by doubling
our own prep time to take on next week’s opponent. Make our
coaching staff better by being prepared yourself. You have families
and girlfriends and drinking buddies and other shit that you’re
doing that’s taking away from your prep time. That has to change. I
want each and every one of you to make the commitment to do
everything that’s necessary to be the best team in football every
game. It means getting here early and staying late. It means
focusing, prioritizing everything in your life to be part of the
best team in football.”

No one said a word. Tony continued, “I’m the
weak link here. I know that. But I am the man today, and that is
subject to change (a few laughs). My promise to you today is that I
will be prepared every game to get us the W. We’re a different team
than we were four days ago. I desperately need your help. The help
of each and every one of you to be successful and to prove to
everyone in the world, we are the best team in football. Will you
help me?”

Matt Benson stood up and slowly looked around
the room. “Anyone here surprised with Tony’s performance
yesterday?” A few hands came up and then Reilly raised his hand,
everyone laughed. It became silent again and Benson continued,
“Because if you were surprised then you don’t know Tony. He’s been
riding me for two seasons. I know Tony. He has the best head for
football of any man I’ve ever met. His performance Sunday proved
what I already knew, Coaches don’t know shit. They coach scared.
Scared to fuck up. Scared to lose the game and lose their job.
Tony’s been given an opportunity to run this offense. He will be
successful. He has the brains and heart to take this team all the
way. I believe you, Tony. This is the best team in football today.
You want my help, my man? You didn’t even have to ask. We have
something to prove. You’re the guy who is going to prove it to
them. Speaking for the rest of the team, we’ll help you, every step
of the way.”