04-06-2022, 09:56 PM
(This post was last modified: 04-11-2022, 09:42 AM by Crunk. Edited 1 time in total.)
Kevin McThumper was on top of the world, he had just proposed to his girlfriend of 5 years (who said yes) and was about to get started with the University of Houston's pro-day. He was confident and was ready to show off in front of the scouts from all the teams, and had dinners lined up for the next week with multiple GMs and the front office.
He gave his girlfriend a kiss on the lips and came out the tunnel and saw his family watching him in support. He was ready to show off the skills which he had spent years solidifying. He started off strong beating his personal records in all of the pro-bowl activities so far.
Then came the dreaded 40-yard sprint. His poor performance at the combine in the 40-yard dash still haunted him to this day. His coach had made it clear that he had to run the 40-yard sprint and make up for the poor performance in the combine. On the other hand, his mentor and agent had argued that it made no sense to do the 40-yard sprint. Kevin's speed had always been his weakness, but he made up for the lack of speed with his intelligence and football IQ. Against his mentor's advice, Kevin got ready to run the 40-yard dash. He started off with a dash and felt good. However, halfway through the dash, his whole world came crashing down.
In a blink of an eye, Kevin found himself sprawled across the turf holding his hamstrings. Yelling in pain, his mentor and coach came running to him. They got him up and took him to the back to run further tests. Initial imaging showed that he had a tear in his hamstrings, but the extent was unknown. Unfortunately, Kevin's pro-day came to a rapid end.
Kevin was heartbroken, he knew that this injury hurt his chances of being drafted. Initial rumors had his fall in the draft being drastic. Coming from an upcoming football program Kevin was already at a disadvantage and was projected to be drafted in the 2-3rd round. However, after this injury, his agent heard rumors of him falling to the 6th-7th round and maybe even undrafted.
Kevin pushed all these rumors to the back and went to get another opinion on his hamstrings. After flying to Dallas and seeing the specialist, Dr. Clearfield, DO, Kevin was told he had a grade three tear and was looking at a recovery time of 3 months. Disgruntled Kevin flew back home. For the next 2 weeks, Kevin ignored all phone calls and found himself at rock bottom. After an intervention from his family, his fiancee, and his mentor, Kevin found the courage to pick himself up and contact his coach and agent.
After multiple days of meetings, and thinking over his options Kevin decided to come back another year under Coach Hermann. Coach Hermann had promised him that after three months, he would reclaim his starting position and be assigned captain. Kevin had refound his love for football and went to rehabbing his hamstrings. During the first two months, Kevin was in constant contact with his coach and went to training camp to help his teammates grow. However, he needed to fly back to Dallas and rehab the last month with Dr. Clearfield.
During his last month of rehab, Kevin sent daily updates to his Coach but he heard nothing back. Not worried and attributing coach Hermann's lack of response to being busy, Kevin continued rehabbing. After finishing his rehab he flew back to Houston and tried to meet up with Coach Hermann to talk about getting back into the thick of it with practice. But once again he heard no response. He messaged his Defensive Coordinator and also heard nothing back. After a week of no response, Kevin went to practice to get a hold of coach.
To his shock, Kevin found another player wearing his number. After asking around, he learned that this player was a 5-star recruit who had recently transferred and was part of the coach's shift towards emphasizing speed. Dismayed, Kevin sought out the coach and was finally able to talk to him during lunch. "I'm sorry but we are focusing more on speed and that 5-star recruit has more speed than you and because of that we are planning on having you come second in the depth chart". Kevin retorted back "But you promised me I would start if I stayed back and rehabbed instead of going pro". However, this fell on deaf ears as the coach had already made his final decision.
Upset at fate and the rest of the world, Kevin was ready to quit the team and football for good. He went home to his fiancee to tell her the news but was instead greeted by confetti and balloons. Shocked Kevin asked his girlfriend what was going on. "Read my shirt dummy", she replied. Looking down at her shirt, Kevin read the words - World's Best Daddy. Forgetting about his day, Kevin cried with happiness, he was ecstatic. He called his family and shared the great news.
That night reality set in again. He could no longer quit playing as he had to support his fiancee and his newborn baby. He rolled and turned the entire night until his fiancee asked him what was bothering him. Heartbroken, Kevin broke down in front of his fiancee. Knowing the dread that would be on her face, Kevin dared not look up. But he was surprised when she responded in a slurry of cuss words cursing the coach and his family. "Why don't you quit and try to join the DSFL and then go pro the year after". This was something that Kevin never considered. After 2 weeks of consideration and re-connecting with a friend who was currently in the DSFL, Kevin put his name into the waivers and prayed that he would be picked.
"Ring-Ring". Kevin hurried up to pick up his phone. "This is the Bondi Beach Buccaneers, how would you like to come to play for us?" Kevin was ecstatic and was ready to start his career and achieve success. He was ready to take the league by surprise, but his first goal was to increase his speed before next years ISFL draft. Speed had already derailed his young career twice and he wasn't going to let that happen anymore.
He gave his girlfriend a kiss on the lips and came out the tunnel and saw his family watching him in support. He was ready to show off the skills which he had spent years solidifying. He started off strong beating his personal records in all of the pro-bowl activities so far.
Then came the dreaded 40-yard sprint. His poor performance at the combine in the 40-yard dash still haunted him to this day. His coach had made it clear that he had to run the 40-yard sprint and make up for the poor performance in the combine. On the other hand, his mentor and agent had argued that it made no sense to do the 40-yard sprint. Kevin's speed had always been his weakness, but he made up for the lack of speed with his intelligence and football IQ. Against his mentor's advice, Kevin got ready to run the 40-yard dash. He started off with a dash and felt good. However, halfway through the dash, his whole world came crashing down.
In a blink of an eye, Kevin found himself sprawled across the turf holding his hamstrings. Yelling in pain, his mentor and coach came running to him. They got him up and took him to the back to run further tests. Initial imaging showed that he had a tear in his hamstrings, but the extent was unknown. Unfortunately, Kevin's pro-day came to a rapid end.
Kevin was heartbroken, he knew that this injury hurt his chances of being drafted. Initial rumors had his fall in the draft being drastic. Coming from an upcoming football program Kevin was already at a disadvantage and was projected to be drafted in the 2-3rd round. However, after this injury, his agent heard rumors of him falling to the 6th-7th round and maybe even undrafted.
Kevin pushed all these rumors to the back and went to get another opinion on his hamstrings. After flying to Dallas and seeing the specialist, Dr. Clearfield, DO, Kevin was told he had a grade three tear and was looking at a recovery time of 3 months. Disgruntled Kevin flew back home. For the next 2 weeks, Kevin ignored all phone calls and found himself at rock bottom. After an intervention from his family, his fiancee, and his mentor, Kevin found the courage to pick himself up and contact his coach and agent.
After multiple days of meetings, and thinking over his options Kevin decided to come back another year under Coach Hermann. Coach Hermann had promised him that after three months, he would reclaim his starting position and be assigned captain. Kevin had refound his love for football and went to rehabbing his hamstrings. During the first two months, Kevin was in constant contact with his coach and went to training camp to help his teammates grow. However, he needed to fly back to Dallas and rehab the last month with Dr. Clearfield.
During his last month of rehab, Kevin sent daily updates to his Coach but he heard nothing back. Not worried and attributing coach Hermann's lack of response to being busy, Kevin continued rehabbing. After finishing his rehab he flew back to Houston and tried to meet up with Coach Hermann to talk about getting back into the thick of it with practice. But once again he heard no response. He messaged his Defensive Coordinator and also heard nothing back. After a week of no response, Kevin went to practice to get a hold of coach.
To his shock, Kevin found another player wearing his number. After asking around, he learned that this player was a 5-star recruit who had recently transferred and was part of the coach's shift towards emphasizing speed. Dismayed, Kevin sought out the coach and was finally able to talk to him during lunch. "I'm sorry but we are focusing more on speed and that 5-star recruit has more speed than you and because of that we are planning on having you come second in the depth chart". Kevin retorted back "But you promised me I would start if I stayed back and rehabbed instead of going pro". However, this fell on deaf ears as the coach had already made his final decision.
Upset at fate and the rest of the world, Kevin was ready to quit the team and football for good. He went home to his fiancee to tell her the news but was instead greeted by confetti and balloons. Shocked Kevin asked his girlfriend what was going on. "Read my shirt dummy", she replied. Looking down at her shirt, Kevin read the words - World's Best Daddy. Forgetting about his day, Kevin cried with happiness, he was ecstatic. He called his family and shared the great news.
That night reality set in again. He could no longer quit playing as he had to support his fiancee and his newborn baby. He rolled and turned the entire night until his fiancee asked him what was bothering him. Heartbroken, Kevin broke down in front of his fiancee. Knowing the dread that would be on her face, Kevin dared not look up. But he was surprised when she responded in a slurry of cuss words cursing the coach and his family. "Why don't you quit and try to join the DSFL and then go pro the year after". This was something that Kevin never considered. After 2 weeks of consideration and re-connecting with a friend who was currently in the DSFL, Kevin put his name into the waivers and prayed that he would be picked.
"Ring-Ring". Kevin hurried up to pick up his phone. "This is the Bondi Beach Buccaneers, how would you like to come to play for us?" Kevin was ecstatic and was ready to start his career and achieve success. He was ready to take the league by surprise, but his first goal was to increase his speed before next years ISFL draft. Speed had already derailed his young career twice and he wasn't going to let that happen anymore.