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* Crushin' It - JKortesi81 - 10-12-2017
It was late in 1996 when Brutus Crush, the #3 ranked heavyweight wrestler in the world, traveled to the Dominican Republic with the independent wrestling company “Caribbean Action Wrestling”, or CAW, for a week’s worth of shows. Brutus was the best wrestler that wasn’t in the WWE or WCW, but because of the internet not quite being what it is today, very few knew who he was outside of newsletters and dirt sheets. It was during this time that Brutus, all 6 feet 5, 270 pounds of him, went out to the local clubs and met many beautiful women. I won’t lie, the man was slaying it left and right. The average Dominican male is 5 feet 8, 125 pounds, so, Brutus stood out. Long story short, one of these girls may or may not have been on the birth control she said she was. You all can see where this is going.
When Brutus came back for another wrestling tour in November of 1997, he was presented with a darling, 4-month-old son. The boy was named Carlito, and while Brutus wanted to claim it wasn’t his (because who wouldn’t?) the boy had his unmistakable jawline and nose. To be sure, Brutus flew the mother and child to Miami, where they would have a DNA test. It didn’t take Maury Povich to tell him he was the father, and the results confirmed what he already knew.
Brutus took to being a father like a fish to water. He moved the girl, Izabella Martinez, and Carlito to live with him in Florida while he finished his wrestling career. Brutus was already 31, and didn’t have much time left in the circuit to ‘make it’. But he was very smart with his money, and he was already set for life thanks to a lifetime of saving and smart investments. Brutus retired from the ring at 35, and with Carlito only 4 years old (and growing leaps and bounds each day), the Crush family moved back to the Dominican Republic and settled down in beautiful Santo Domingo, where it all began for them. Brutus and Izabella married, and the family bought a lovely house near the beach to begin their lives as the Crush family. (Note: Brutus Crush’s real name was Neal Jackson, but once he gained a certain amount of wrestling fame, he did indeed legally change his name to Brutus Crush.)
Carlito was definitely a big boy. Blessed with his father’s genetics, he was always found to be in the higher weight and height percentiles. Carlito adored Brutus, and would mimic anything his father did. Brutus, though retired, continued to work on his physique. Carlito would watch him in the gym, run with him on the beach, and try his best to eat as much food (though he never could keep up). From this, Carlito developed a love of fitness. He always had a burning desire to go faster, heavier, harder. His free time, when he wasn’t in school, was spent squatting, deadlifting, and bench pressing. The boy loved to lift. He loved to see his numbers go up. Brutus loved watching him. He was a proud father, to say the least. But Brutus knew that his boy shouldn’t be confined to just a gym. He had raw athletic talent, and the world should see Carlito in action.
But, the ring wasn’t the answer. Although Brutus knew he could teach Carlito to be a wonderful wrestler, he knew that it wasn’t the place for his son. Years of body slams, elbow drops, chair shots, and many other crazy moves have taken their toll on the elder Crush. While he stayed in great physical condition, he was hurting. Bones cracked, joints popped, muscles ached. Brutus would have to get hip replacement surgery in his elder years, though he didn’t know it at the time. So, he asked Carlito what he’d like to do. Carlito said he’d like to play football. But, not the football you and I know as Americans. A lot of Carlito’s school friends played “soccer”, and that’s what he wanted to do. Brutus just wanted his son to be happy, so that’s what he did. Carlito’s first year of high school saw him try out for the soccer team. The coach was ecstatic to have a 13 year old boy who was already 5’9, 180 pounds on his team. Carlito was very fast, and used his great footwork found on the beaches of Santo Domingo to really succeed. There was a bit of a problem though. Carlito may have been a bit too physical. He used his much bigger body to knock the other kids off of the ball a lot, and while this wasn’t too bad in practice (as the coach, Coach Luis, thought it’d help toughen up the other kids) it would lead to issues in games with Carlito getting fouls, yellow cards, and red cards many times for playing too rough. This was problematic, of course. Carlito’s mean streak didn’t help either, as he continued to play tough. This lead Coach Luis to put Carlito in a new position: Goaltender.
Using the biggest kid on your soccer team in goal should be a no brainer, and my oh my did this work out perfectly. Carlito was all over the place in goal, leaping from side to side, catching the ball out of midair, and still allowed Carlito to play a bit physically on corner kicks and breakaways. Carlito would help lead his team to the high school championship that year. But during the summer, Carlito told his dad he wouldn’t be playing again. Brutus, shocked to hear his son giving up on something, asked him why.
“It’s boring dad. These kids aren’t on my level and I don’t get to run around much. I just sit there for most of the games. The most fun I have is jumping over everyone and catching the ball, but those opportunities are rare. I feel like I’m wasting my time when I could be setting new personal records in weightlifting or something.”
Brutus knew he had to find something else for his child to do. Carlito showed little to no interest in basketball, so Brutus looked into the American School of Santo Domingo football team. The coaches knew him from the soccer club of course, and they were excited that Brutus was entertaining the thought of Carlito joining the squad. And that’s exactly what ended up happening. Carlito was a natural, obviously, or we wouldn’t be talking about him playing football in the NSFL one day.
He loved the physicality. He loved showing off his strength and his speed. He loved dominating on the field. Carlito sprouted up to 6’3 his junior year and set lots of league records with his ability to jump over just about everyone on the field. Carlito was a hell of a wide receiver and before you knew it, college scouts were all over the place, watching the “Crush kid’ do his thing. Of course, there were questions on if Carlito would be able to outperform the bigger competition in the USA, but Carlito didn’t care. He was invited to the U.S. Army All-American game and he told his father he didn’t want to go. He was happy in the Dominican Republic, and didn’t want to leave his family.
Brutus was upset, but he did what his son wanted. They turned the invitation down. Carlito was receiving a lot of negativity over the choice, but he did not mind one bit. He was very happy with his decision and he got to spend more time with his friends and family. He still read the articles. Finally, he came across an interesting headline “Like Father, Like Son: Crush to stay away from the big time.”
The writer of this article compared Carlito’s football life to his father’s wrestling career. “He’s happy being the biggest fish in a small pond, just like his father, who was too scared to go to the WWF and prove himself against the top wrestlers in the world.” This really set Carlito off. It was one thing to bash him for not going to America to play, but to say his father was afraid? Carlito knew Brutus never forced the big time because he wanted to be a good father. Brutus was always content to say he never needed it. Independent wrestling gave him all the money and fame he desired. Being a good father mattered to him. Even still, Carlito always felt a bit of guilt for his dad never “going for it”, as though it was his fault. And now news sites and media are going to say that his father is a failure and say that he will be too? “No.”, Carlito thought to himself. “That’s not going to be a thing here.” and with that Carlito told Brutus to call the recruits and say that he would be playing in that game. And when he’s done, people are going to ask him about his story. And when they do, he’s going to tell everyone just how great his father is.
Brutus and Carlito stepped off the plane at the San Antonio airport a week before the game. Carlito was a bit nervous about the whole situation. What if he was a “big fish in a little pond”? What if he didn’t measure up? While he acts much wiser beyond his years, Carlito was still just a teenager. Brutus kept telling him during the weeks leading to the game “Just play your game. Don’t think too much. Don’t try to do too much. Just play your game how you always have and you’ll do great. It’s when you try too hard that you’ll fail. You know how to play, so play.”. Those words rang in Carlito’s head the whole time. He was determined to just show up and do his job. Just play. He had his father with him, who had always been his rock. He was going to do just fine.
They were dropped off at the Alamo dome, and headed to security so they could go in and meet Carlito’s coaches. That was when it happened. “I’m sorry sir, no parents”, the security guard said. Brutus wasn’t angry, he understood. The teams wanted the players to be focused solely on football. They wanted to see how they’d overcome uncomfortable situations. Brutus looked at his son, smiled, and said “You’ve got this.”. And then he turned around and walked out of the building.
“You’ve got this.”
Carlito smiled. He knew he’d be okay. Now it was time to get to work. Once through security, Carlito found his way through to his team’s locker room. He was one of the last to arrive. He looked around the room and saw kids of all shapes, sizes, body types, colors, attitudes. In his league back at home, there were a few kids that you could tell right away didn’t quite belong. Carlito noticed that wasn’t the case here. Everyone he saw looked like they belonged. Carlito was a big kid. He belonged too, and he knew it.
One of the coaches noticed Carlito standing there and welcomed him. He showed him where his locker was, and told him to get ready for practice. Carlito tossed on his headphones and started settling in. He did manage to say hello to his locker neighbors, a 6’2 Cornerback from Florida named Rico and a massive offensive tackle from Texas, who only said his name was “Q”, after the amount of barbeque he could eat. That made Carlito laugh. He got his sweats and headed out to the field.
The field was set up kind of like the NFL combine. The coaches wanted to see how athletic these kids are. Carlito got to his first station, the 40 yard dash. He never timed himself, but all of that beach running with his father growing up sure was a big help. Carlito wanted to impress. He put his head down, and as soon as he heard the buzzer, he was off. He was trying to go so hard that his body was kind of all over the place and he only ended up running a 4.9. He was mad at himself. He already ignored his dad’s advice. He tried too hard and he knew it. So, on his second run, he relaxed. Carlito just did what he always does and ran normally. 4.68. That’s pretty good for a Tight End. A couple of his teammates hit in the lower 4 seconds. Carlito was impressed with them. He knew this was going to be a fun week.
Up next was the bench press, and yes, Carlito killed it. He volunteered to go first and threw up 22 reps at 225 pounds. He was proud of himself. He ended up 4th overall. Q would end up throwing up 36 reps. Carlito couldn’t understand how any Defensive player would be able to get by this guy. He was glad Q was on his team.
It was a long week of practice. Carlito hung out with his teammates in the dorms the coaches had set up for them. The guys really bonded about as much as a team can in a week. They implemented a pretty decent offensive system. It wasn’t too vanilla, and had some fun plays that could really spring Carlito. They didn’t really get to meet the players on the other team. The coaches do that on purpose so information can’t be swapped.
A lot of players on the team had multiple offers from Division 1 schools. One day, Rico asked Carlito which schools he was considering. When Carlito told him he didn’t have a single offer, Rico was shocked. “Man, that’s crazy. You’re out there killing it in practice man. Don’t you worry, you’re going to get noticed this game. There’s going to be a lot of scouts out there. Carlito never considered this. He knew his coaches were from various colleges, but he was so focused on this game that he didn’t think about what was next.
Game day. Carlito was nervous and excited at the same time. He just wanted to play. He woke up early, lifted some weights and went for a run. Before he knew it, it was time for the game to start. Carlito’s team lost the coin toss and they got the ball first. The first play of the game saw Carlito standing next to Q on the line, as the team was going to run a Toss Sweep to the Left. It didn’t go well. Carlito whiffed hard on a block on the outside linebacker and he took the running back down for a 7 yard loss. Carlito was immediately called off the field for second down.
Before his coach could yell at him, Carlito said “That’s my bad coach. I’m good now. Let me make it up to you.”. His team gained 6 yards to make it 3rd and 11. The coach called a TE Post. Carlito smiled. “You got this.”. Carlito chipped the backer on his route and ran down the hash marks. His Quarterback threw it a bit high but Crush leapt up and caught it, spinning to his left to avoid the safety and he takes off down the sidelines for another 35 yards before a very speedy cornerback pushed him out of bounds.
The game would be a bit of a back and forth affair after that. Carlito would have a few more catches where he’d just outjump the defensive players. He also had a big touchdown in the third quarter that saw him give his team a 26-20 lead. Although his team would go on to lose 37-33, Carlito wound up going 7 for 129 and a touchdown. He proved he belonged.
As soon as the game ended, Carlito went to find his dad. His dad was granted field access, and after some searching he found him, talking to a man he didn’t know. As he ran up, it turns out the man was a fan of Brutus, and was asking him about some of his best matches. Brutus introduced Carlito to “Kevin”, and then the Crush family excused themselves so they could catch up. Carlito told his dad how his “you got this” quote inspired him all week, including on his first big play of the day. He was so happy he proved those doubters wrong.
And that’s when the real fun started. The next day, Brutus’ phone kept ringing. Colleges were trying to get Carlito in for workouts and visits. ESPN U was showing film of “Carlito Crush, Dominican Sensation” and he was rocketing up the Scouts Inc. charts. He had offers from lots of schools, ranging from Nevada to LSU. Before you knew it, he was doing interviews, and Carlito was proud to attribute everything to his dad. Brutus kept telling him to cool it, but Carlito didn’t care. He was proud of his wrestler father, and he wanted everyone to know that he could’ve been bigger than Hulk Hogan if he wanted. But no, he stayed back and decided to be a great father instead. He put his biggest dreams on hold to raise Carlito, and now its Carlito’s turn to pay his father back by making him a bit of a star himself.
But in between all of that fun, Carlito had to choose a school. He had 8 full scholarship offers: Ohio State, Penn State, Nevada, LSU, Boston College, Miami, Arizona State, and Texas all had the scholarships remaining to really recruit Carlito, as he started so late in the process that a lot of schools couldn’t offer more. Whittling down that list proved to be difficult. Since ESPN U was going to televise him making his choice, they wanted him to at least be down to three teams. He eliminated Nevada and Boston College early, because the other schools would get him more exposure. Brutus and Carlito’s mother wanted him nowhere near Miami, because of the bad rep the school had. Carlito himself removed Penn State because fuck any school that turns a blind eye to their coaches fucking little kids. LSU was a great school, and Carlito wanted to play in the SEC, but they already had a stud tight end who was only a sophomore, so Carlito wouldn’t get the playing time he desired.
So, he had his three schools: Arizona State, Ohio State, and Texas. The Crush family went to Arizona State and loved what they saw. Good curriculum, nice weather, and a team that was talking a good game to make a big step up in the college football world. Then they stopped in Texas, and that campus put Arizona State to shame. Brutus had some concerns over the coaching though, as Texas football isn’t quite what it used to be. If Carlito is going to do this, he’s going to do it right. On the way to Ohio State, however, the family decided to stop in and visit Texas A&M anyway. It wasn’t too far off, and the program had been very good recently. Brutus seemed especially interested to go there, and Carlito didn’t know why, but away they went.
When they arrived at College Station, Carlito understood why. There was Kevin, the scout from the All American game that was talking wrestling with Brutus. He talked the elder Crush into stopping by and seeing how they liked the place even though A&M never offered Carlito anything. This was it. Carlito loved the campus. He loved the football facilities. It felt right. Just like home. Kevin talked with the Aggies’ Tight Ends coach who wasn’t quite expecting Carlito to be there, but scrambled and put together a nice game plan for how they’d use him in the offense. Before they left the campus, Kevin offered Carlito a full scholarship. The entire family: Carlito, Brutus, and Izabella were all beaming. They knew this is where they wanted Carlito to be, and it wasn’t too far from the Dominican Republic either. As they got lunch in the student union, word was spreading that Carlito was there and student were genuinely excited to see him there. He’s been on college football shows and recruiting articles have been written about him, so he’s been a bit of a celebrity, albeit very minor. Students took pictures with him and posted it to Facebook and Instagram. Carlito liked it there.
However, Brutus said it’s very important to honor your commitments, whether they’re wrestling shows you’re booked for, birthday parties, or in this case, a college visit to Ohio State. So off to Columbus they went. Ohio State was a gorgeous campus, and just like at A&M, students were thrilled to see Carlito walking around. They have top notch football facilities, and Carlito really liked watching the marching band practice “dotting the I”, as they do during football halftime here. Carlito knew he’d likely have gone here if they didn’t have that magical visit to the Aggies. He already made up his mind, but he couldn’t officially declare until the weekend, when he’d be on the recruiting show on ESPN U.
A few days passed and the Crush family found themselves in Connecticut, where they’re going to film the show at ESPN in a couple more days. The family was out enjoying some mini golf when Brutus’ phone rang. He smiled and said it was A&M and took the call. He stepped away, but you could tell something was up by his face. Carlito heard “you can tell him yourself then” and Brutus motioned for him to come over.
To make a long conversation story short, Texas A&M had to take back the offer. Kevin and the TE coach aren’t allowed to offer scholarships and on top of it, it the visit wasn’t even “official”, which is against regulations. The NCAA is investigating the Aggies to see how crooked their recruiting process is. The NCAA would find that recruiting Carlito was the doing of Kevin and the TE coach, Doug, and nobody knew about it. Because A&M pulled the scholarship as soon as the Head Coach found out, they showed not being a part of it. Kevin was let go, as was Doug. A&M did not receive further disciplinary action, but were place on a 5 year probation.
That was that. Carlito went on TV the next day, and put on the hat of the Buckeyes. He was going to Ohio State.
Ohio State wound up being the best thing for him. With his parents, back home in the Caribbean, all Carlito could focus on was football, and staying in awesome shape. While he made a few friends on the team, Carlito was all business for his time as a Buckeye. He didn’t do much his freshman year on the Buckeyes, as he was behind a senior, hauling in 31 Receptions for 372 yards and 5 touchdowns, most of those in garbage time against the Hawaiis of the college football world. Ohio State would go 10-2, and win the Rose Bowl over the USC Trojans, 31-13.
He became a starter for the Buckeyes in his second year, and that’s when he started to take off. In the opening game of the season against #8 Oklahoma State, Carlito Crush and the #3 Ohio State Buckeyes would storm out of the gate and go up 7-0 on a, you guessed it, Carlito Crush 5 yard touchdown reception. Carlito’s jumping ability would be a huge asset to his entire college career. The Buckeyes would go onto to win that early battle by a score of 38-28. Ohio State was cruising through the season, getting to 10-0 before disaster struck. Carlito, having a season of 63 receptions for 821 yards and 10 touchdowns, would wind up twisting his ankle really bad in the 10th game of the season over Northwestern. Without Carlito in the lineup, Ohio State would lose in a slightly shocking upset to #17 Michigan State, 20-14. While 10-1 is a record most teams dream of, having a late loss would most likely derail the hopes of a College Football Playoff berth. In the final week of the season, Ohio State went to Ann Arbor to play Michigan in another installment of “The Game”. Granted, Michigan was 8-3 at the time, and the only reason they’re ranked #23 is because they’re one of those shitty teams that always get ranked in the low twenties if they have 8 wins just due to their name, even if they’re not that great. (Here’s looking at you Notre Dame.) Carlito, fresh off his injury, and fueled by the feeling that he let his team down against Michigan State proceeded to torch the Wolverines for 10 receptions, 184 yards, and 3 touchdowns, his best game since his days in the Dominican Republic. Ohio State trounced Michigan 52-24 and would be left hoping it was enough to sneak into the playoffs. Alabama was 12-0 and so was North Carolina. Arizona State was 11-1, and were a lock to get in. That left the other two 11-1 teams, Oklahoma State and Ohio State. Even though the Buckeyes handed the Cowboys their only loss, in Oklahoma, the NCAA committee, as they so often do, did the stupid thing and put the Cowboys into the playoff, leaving Ohio State staring at another Rose Bowl appearance. Deflated by the result of that, the Buckeyes didn’t really seem that into the game, and would lose the Rose Bowl to Washington, 24-16.
Carlito’s junior season was really his coming of age year. With the bad taste of the last year still in his mouth, Crush lead the Buckeyes to a 12-0 record, as he would record 93 receptions, 1,424 yards, and an incredible 16 touchdowns. He became a giant part of the Ohio State offense, and had his best games in the biggest games of the year. In an early season meeting against Florida State, Crush had 8 catches for 130 yards and 2 touchdowns, including the winning score in the third overtime as the Buckeyes beat the Seminoles 41-38. With Michigan ranked #15, Crush did work on them again, this time at home, going for 10 receptions for 172 yards and a score. Ohio State made the playoff, along with Alabama (12-0), Washington State (11-1), and Notre Dame (10-2, but they’re Notre Dame, so again the committee turns a blind eye to a much better Florida team (11-1), who’s only loss was to Alabama, and we can’t possibly want to see that game again). Ohio State would mop the floor with the overmatched Irish, beating them 31-14. Crush would only have 6 catches for 114 and a TD, but the Buckeyes had a 21-0 lead at halftime, so they ran the ball a lot in the second half.
This was it. The National Championship Game. The game’s biggest stage. Alabama, fresh off of dumping the Cougars 28-7, came to town as 6 point favorites over Ohio State. Carlito was up to the challenge. His name had been mentioned for the Heisman this season, among other awards. He was there to prove everyone he belonged. Alabama got the ball first and had their drive stall around the Ohio State 30 yard line. They kicked a field goal to go up 3-0. Out came the Buckeyes. On the opening drive, walking down the field, Carlito was 3 for 33 when it happened. He was fighting for extra yardage instead of just doing the smart thing and protect the ball. An Alabama player knocked the ball loose before he was down, and the Tide returned the fumble 72 yards for a score. 10-0 Alabama. Ohio State would rally a bit and drive down the field again, scoring a touchdown to make it 10-7. The teams’ defenses would then step up as the jitters wore away, and the teams wouldn’t score again until 3:00 before halftime when Alabama would score on a ballsy fake punt from their own 35 yard line. It was 17-7 at the half in favor of the Crimson Tide. The third quarter would show both teams trying to open it up a bit more, Carlito was a beneficiary of that ideology. He would make two big catches on third down to continue a drive that would make the score 17-14. Alabama would strike back however, scoring on a 52 yard broken play that would give them a 24-14 lead going into the 4th quarter. Ohio State went back on the attack with a 5:30 minute, 83 yard touchdown drive to pull them within a field goal. Alabama would drive deep into Ohio State territory, calling a quick cross route play on 3rd and 4 from the Buckeye 17 yard line. The quarterback threw the ball a bit behind the receiver and it bounced off his hand into the waiting arms of a Buckeye cornerback. Interception. The Buckeyes had to go 74 yards with about 8 minutes left in the game, down 24-21. Carlito told the coach to just keep giving him the ball, and that’s just about what they did. Carlito had 4 catches on the drive, including the go ahead touchdown where Carlito leapt between two Crimson Tide defensive backs to pull down the ball as they all crashed towards the Earth. Carlito got the wind knocked out of him and came off the field. His replacement on the field goal unit blocking team made a mistake and with a safety flying off of the edge, the kicker missed the extra point. 27-24, 3:17 left to go. Carlito was not happy with himself, taking the blame, saying he “should’ve been out there”. Alabama had two timeouts left. The Tide walked down the field a bit but time was running out. They would get to the Ohio State 32 yard line to attempt a 49 yard field goal to send the game into overtime. The snap, kick is up, and its good. But wait! Ohio State froze the kicker! They called timeout. The kicking units line up again, and once again the kick is good! FLAG ON ALABAMA. False Start. 5 yards. The field goal to tie is now 54 yards. The teams line up, and it’s a fake! The holder throws the ball down the sideline and it’s caught at the 10 yard line! The receiver is going to be knocked out of bounds so he pitches the ball to his teammate, who wasn’t ready for it, it bounces off his shoulder, and it’s a fumble. Ohio State falls on top of the ball and they won the game in a crazy ending!
Carlito would go on to be a Heisman finalist before ultimately losing to some quarterback, because that’s how that always goes. He didn’t mind though, and he was proud of himself. He went on to win offensive player of the year, and the award for the best tight end as well. After all of the craziness that was this last season, and after talking to his parents, Carlito decided to forego his final season of eligibility and enter the NSFL. He knows that as a very late entry, he’ll have to spend a year in the DSFL, but that’s what’s preferred anyway. He knows that college football doesn’t have much left to offer him, so the DSFL is the next step, and that after that, hopefully, he’ll make the NSFL as a high draft pick. He knows that no matter what happens, he’s helped his dad’s legend live on, and now he gets to add to it himself. He’s proven his worth so far. So, while the proverbial pond cannot possibly get any bigger for Carlito Crush, it’s not going to matter. He’s still a big fish.
Word Count: 5302.
* Crushin' It - Daybe - 10-12-2017
wow.
Great read! Love players with deep backstories.
* Crushin' It - JKortesi81 - 10-12-2017
(10-12-2017, 12:58 AM)Daybe Wrote:wow.
Great read! Love players with deep backstories.
Thanks man. It was fun to write.
* Crushin' It - Bzerkap - 10-12-2017
Geez I'm gonna have to set aside my lunch time for this
* Crushin' It - PDXBaller - 10-16-2017
Finally had a chance to read this. Holy shit that's amazing! As a former WWE fan this was great!