Thread: Stories from the field (Charliesweb7 & CntDestyr)

It was an honor to share the same aqua and coral colors that had been donned by amazing players by this amazing franchise since about 1970. The man was starstruck in the locker room, and the fact that he got to play in the same stadium that greats like Larry Csonka, Bob Griese, and who could forget the greatest Dolphin of all time, Dan Marino. He would also wear the number 22 that 11 players in the Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio had worn. The face made the 21 year old kid's head absolutely swim, and the best part was he was the projected started on the team! He hadn't even played a single snap of professional football, but all of the experts and scouts had projected him to beat out the incumbent running back, and start the season with the starters. That meant that he would be practicing with the starters, running with the starters, and playing with the starters of all of the other teams in the League. It was a mind - numbing experience. It really, really was. The man would have to fly cross country to his new home in Miami. Originally, he hailed from Fresno, California. This kid was a winner. He led his high school to three consecutive state titles, before getting a five star rating by most of the recruiting websites in America and being named Mr. Football of the state of California. At any given time, his phone was being blown up by representatives from Notre Dame, University of Southern California, THE Ohio State University, Penn State University, and a host of other representatives from major programs with long histories, trying to get him to go to their school and play football for them. Towards the end, he had almost sixty full-ride scholarships to play football for some of the biggest and most expensive schools in the country. In the end, he ended up committing to University of New Mexico, becoming one of the Lobo greats, and one of the best player to ever wear the cherry and silver jersey. At least that's what the major sports news networks were saying after he won his second Heisman trophy. Opting to stay for his senior season, the Lobos had a record of 44 - 4, playing some of the best teams as well as some of the weaker teams. On some Saturdays, people would turn on the New Mexico game just to watch him play, he was that dynamic of a running back. Onto draft day. The kid's draft didn't go exactly as planned. He was expected to be taken in the Top 3 picks, but that didn't pan out, as the first three picks consisted of 2 lineman and a quarterback. His family's heart dropped with every pick afterwards until the seventh pick of the draft, when the Miami Dolphins traded up in order to draft him. The time between the third pick and the seventh pick seemed like it took a decade at least, but in reality it was only twenty or so minutes. Andy was happy just to get drafted, but when he made his way up to the stage, he heard the Dolphins fans cheer the loudest, well not as loud as his family of course, but loud enough. From there, he was quick to negotiate his contract, not bothering to hold out for more money and telling his agent to sign the first contract that came his way. He wouldn't go into details, but the money was more than enough to buy a suave penthouse atop a skyscraper in Miami that had a view of the whole city, a brand new house for his parents in Florida, and two new cars with more than enough left over to fly them out and have a nice chunk of change in the bank. Andrew's highlights left most breathless. His head movement was phenominal, and he was fast. If he hit a seam, he hit it hard, and normally he would be gone. Even against some of the NFL talent in college, he would make most of them look silly. He had taken some big hits, and he missed a large portion of his sophomore season due to injury. Still, he didn't look fast on the tape, but he was a much different player on the field. Even at practice, he had made some of the more crafty and better NFL veterans on the defense miss. As upset as that made them, they were sure to vocalize it to him after he ran safely out of bounds and while he was trotting back to the huddle. Andy stood at 6'4, and he filled out the jersey quite nicely. He wore gloves, for when they needed to pass it to him out of the backfield, tall socks, and a dark visor on his helmet. Andy wasn't a shit talker, but he was far more humble than most of the people in the locker room, or so it seemed. It didn't matter, Andrew kept to himself for the most part. Every now and then he would have to talk to reporters, but he was still humble in those interviews. He knew hard work got him here, not talking trash. Towards the end of the practice, the team had a full contact scrimmage in preparation for their first pre-season game. Andrew didn't get to touch the ball much, but on the last play, they finally gave it to him. Taking the ball from the quarterback, he ran to the left, behind the guy who was supposed to be blocking for him. Something had happened, a miscommunication or something, and one of the defenders was able to get through. He was holding onto Andy's leg, and Andy tried to get away. That was when the big middle linebacker came through and absolutely blew Andrew up. As the guys celebrated, he could hear the coach yelling all kinds of expletives and curse words at his defense. Andrew seemed super human at times, but he was very much a human. Dropping his mouth guard from his mouth, Andrew stayed down for just a moment trying to catch his breath. He didn't get up until the quarterback trotted over and gave him a hand. That hit had hurt. It must have made the defense upset with how much he was gashing them earlier. It didn't matter, Andrew didn't really care. You alright man? The quarterback called out to him as he picked Andy up and got him to his feet. Gotta watch out for that man. He said with a laugh, patting Andrew on the shoulder pads. Andy unfastened his chinstrap, taking his helmet off and walked alongside the quarterback. His head was still ringing from the hit, but he wasn't hurt. At least he didn't seem hurt, he was walking just fine and all of his extremities seemed okay. Still, he knew that the coach would likely baby him for a little bit after taking a hit like that. On the bright side, you are projected as like the ninth fantasy running back this year. He said with a laugh. That's the highest rated position on our team! The quarterback was clearly trying to cheer him up, but Andy's head still wasn't right. When his new friend had heard Amelia coming, he smiled. Looks like you are on, stud. Oh! You got a hot one. He said as he trotted off to join the rest of the guys going into the locker room. Turning to her, he smiled. Yeah, what can I do you for. He asked Amelia. He wanted to tell her to make it quick, he just couldn't. He liked all of his fans, and everyone who wanted to talk to him. Holding the helmet by the facemask, and glancing at her. He dwarfed her in his size, but it didn't matter, the soft spoken man looking down at her waiting for the question to come.