Page 129 of Keeper
She’s my good luck charm and I’m not letting her go.
“On behalf of everyone in the Dallas Devils organization,” Mr. Bowfield said as he laid the stack of papers flat on his desk, “we are extremely excited to offer you this contract.”
My eyes stayed on the prize as Mr. Bowfield slowly pushed the contract across his desk.
I picked up the pen and stared at the contract that would make me a Dallas Devil for the next eight years. Before I signed, I glanced at the chair next to me, where Petewouldbe sitting if I hadn’t fired him. So who was the agent I’d hired to take his place? Nobody. The chair was unoccupied. Yep—that’s right, I’d done the one thing that makes sports agents gnash their teeth: I’d cut out the middle man and represented myself in contract negotiations.
Sure, there’s risks involved to representing yourself, and it’s not a path I’d recommend for every other player out there. But the Devils and I had a lot of common ground: I wanted to play in Dallas more than anywhere else, and the Devils wanted me in Dallas, too.
Yeah, I wanted a big contract that would set me up for life … but I didn’t want my contract to hamstring my team. I wanted towin. Sometimes, winning meant taking a little bit less money so the team could afford to keep the band together. We have so many great players—Dane, Hath, Reavo, Niko, Big Rig, Parisi, Vedros, Matchbox, the Rivers twins … the list goes on and on. The room is filled with the kind of guys you need to win; a mix of great veteran leadership and talented young players. We’ve got a real shot at the Cup if we keep this squad together. But we can’t keep all those guys around if everyone’s looking to sign the big ticket contract.
So I did what I wanted to do all along, what Icouldn’tdo with Pete as my agent: I told Mr. Bowfield how much money I wanted to make. He told me how much he could afford to pay me and still keep everyone else. We took those two numbers and met somewhere in the middle. Boom. Done. Just like that—easy.
No, it wasn’t the biggest contract I could’ve signed if I’d waited to hit the open market. Then again, itwasmore money than Pete told me the Devils were willing to spend.
But I was in a good place: I was playing well, for a good team, and with a good girl by my side.
So I put pen to paper and signed my name on the dotted line.
With the contract finally out of the way, we both stood and shook hands.
“Congratulations, Tanner,” he said. “We’ve got a very bright future with you in net.”
“Thank you, sir. That means a lot to me.”
“You’ve earned it,” he said, clapping me on the back.
“So what are you doing with the rest of your off-day?” he asked as he walked me to the door. “I take it you’re going to celebrate?”
“Well, yeah,” I said, still smiling from ear to ear after inking a multi-million dollar contract. “Ihaveto, don’t I?”
“Just don’t go too wild,” he said with a wink. “Remember, we’ve got a flight at noon tomorrow.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t. I’m actually celebrating with my girl tonight. She heads back home tomorrow, so we’ll probably have a quiet night.”
“Good to hear,” he said. We stopped in the doorway of his office to chat. “Where’d you say she goes to school again?”
“Kansas.”
“Kansas. Huh.” His eyes searched upward. “Can’t say I’ve ever been.”
“Me neither,” I said, “but I’ll be heading up there over our next break to meet her parents.”
The general manager broke into a big grin. “No kidding? You two are that serious?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Well, I can’t blame you,” he said. “I know she’s a good one because of what happened with your game the past week—behind every great man is a great woman, after all.”
I smiled. “She is.”
“Enjoy yourself tonight, okay, Tanner?”
We shook hands one last time and said our goodbyes. Once I heard his door shut behind me, I knew I was alone in the hallway.
I pumped my fist. “Yesss.”
***
