Page 4 of Personal Foul

Kaiden straightened his tie as he paused outside the conference door. The opaque glass prevented him from seeing who was already there, and it made him a little nervous. He had to ace this interview, otherwise he was out of the NFL, and he had no fucking clue what he’d do with the rest of his life. He glanced at his agent, Bobby, who gave him an encouraging nod. Taking a deep, steadying breath, he entered and saw a plethora of people waiting. It was a carbon copy of the last meeting he sat in, where he was basically fired. Except this time, he was stone-cold sober and didn’t stink. His nerves just about hit the roof and he wished he was able to take a drink to steady them. Then he realized what he was thinking and gave himself a mental slap.

No more drinking.

No hiding in the bottom of a bottle.

No more sleeping with the fucking daughter of the team owner.

On one side of the long table sat the two owners of new team, the general manager and the head coach, Joe Sigworth. A few lawyers sat like bookends on each side of the assembly, as well as another man he didn’t know. It scared him that all of them held his future in their hands.

“Have a seat, Kaiden,” Coach Sigworth said, gesturing to the numerous chairs in front of the firing line.

As he sat, he looked at each person. “Thank you for agreeing to see me.”

“Well, we know how good a player you are,” Coach Sigworth replied, apparently speaking for the lot of them. “When you’re in the zone you’re unstoppable. However, due to your recent problems, we’ve all agreed this is not an automatic acquirement.”

Confusion filled him. “What does that mean?”

“You’ll be given a tryout,” the general manager interjected.

“A tryout.” Kaiden didn’t know how to feel about that. Elated because he knew he could ace anything they threw at him, but also sad that he let himself fall so far. “Okay. What do you want me to do?”

“Even though training camp isn’t for another couple of weeks, I want to see you on the field,” Coach Sigworth said. “We’ve put together a mini-camp filled with a lot of undrafted free agents and a few rookies. We’re going to whittle that down to the required ninety for the grind. Now, the only person that’s a definite on the roster is the quarterback, Crew Kiles. You’ll be one of the tight ends working with him to see who meshes.”

“I’m a friend of your father,” one of the owners said. Kaiden tensed. “It’s because of him that I agreed to this. But there are conditions. You reflect on all of us. Not only do you have to become the best tight end out there, you also have to polish your reputation.”

Kaiden knew this was coming, and his knee bounced as he nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“No drinking, no drugs, no arrests,” the other owner added. “You made an ass out of yourself in the media and we will not stand for that here. We’ve fought tooth and nail getting this team off the ground after Kroenke uprooted the Rams back to California, and I won’t let any player trash this organization.”

“I understand, sir.”

“I take it you want the clean-cut, wholesome, all-American boy,” said the man he didn’t know.

The other owner snapped his finger and pointed. “That’s exactly who we want, Pace.”

In other words, not him. Kaiden made a point of looking each man in the eye. “I understand your hesitancy. I’ve beendoing a lot of self-sabotage and I’ve let it go on for far too long. I have no excuse, at least none that doesn’t sound idiotic, so I thank you for at least giving me a chance to keep playing the sport I love.”

“That’s good to know.” Coach Sigworth leaned forward to rest on his forearms. “I believe in second chances, and I believe you’re going to get along well with Crew.”

“I don’t think I know him,” Kaiden said, trying to sift through his memories to put a face to the name.

“He wasn’t selected in the draft,” Coach said. “Let me be honest here. When I’m looking for talent, I usually get a gut feeling when I’ve found the right person. I knew Crew would be the right quarterback for this new team, and right now I’m getting that feeling with you.”

The words sent a pulse of excitement in Kaiden’s soul. Maybe he still had a shot to play ball.

“We all know of your prowess on the field,” the second owner added. “I’ve been a fan. Not sure what’s happened in the past year, but whatever it is, you need to get past it. I, too, believe in second chances.”

His agent opened a binder, ready to explain the plan he and Kaiden had come up with to fix the image his behavior almost destroyed.

“Instead of hiding, we’ve come up with several ideas to get public opinion turned around,” Bobby said, flipping open a binder filled with papers. “Charity work. Perhaps serving in a soup kitchen or visiting sick children in the hospital—”

“Which I would’ve done regardless,” Kaiden interjected.

“Yes, well.” Bobby cleared his throat and continued to read from a complied list. “Posting positive online content and responding to haters in a humble way.”

Kaiden nodded at him encouragingly.

“People appreciate honesty,” Pace interjected. “You needto acknowledge your fall from grace and apologize to your fans and supporters. Embrace St. Louis as your new home. Get the local population on your side.”

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