Two Minute Drill (Bases Loaded Jam Series #2)

Ch. 41: Inspirational (Gordon/Scout)

Scout

The trade for Robert Wilkins turned out to be the best thing this organization needed. It might've been seen as a bit of a gamble at first. But once Robert arrived, he became part of the team. He spent the entire week learning the defense and what he really needed to do on certain defensive schemes. However, he had a quote that still resonates with me as he was walking off of practice on a Wednesday afternoon once.

"Why do we need defensive schemes when our job is to stop them? People over complicate this game."

It was a laugh that still gets to me to this day. Yet, even though he didn't always see the point of what our coaches preached, he still delivered on Sundays.

In his first game with us, he sacked the Lions quarterback three-times as we would go on to win 37-22. The following week, he got to face off with his favorite team growing up in the Las Vegas Raiders. That game saw him pick up another two sacks and also a bone-crushing hit on the Raiders' running back that led to a fumble and a recovery. It also led to a game-winning touchdown run by Kwame Alexander as we hung on for an 18-12 win.

Then came the most surprising result of the season. Playing Aaron Rodgers and the Packers on Thanksgiving at chilly Lambeau Field, we surprised everyone in the nation by shutting out Green Bay 41-0. I'm not kidding. Our defense had a great day. Each of our defensive line members had a sack while Calvin Pitts had a pick-six for a touchdown. On offense, Gordon Henry threw for three touchdowns and also ran in for another. That game was the first time I think everyone started to see us as a potential championship team. We put the league on notice for our performance that we were coming for the trophy.

Not all was right that night. Although he recorded a sack and knocked down two passes, Troy Paulson was playing with some emotions. After the game, Troy didn't speak to anyone and boarded a private plan back to his home in San Antonio. We didn't know what was wrong until we found out the next day that Troy's aunt, who had been battling ALS for a while, was dying.

Troy was extremely close to his aunt as she was one of the few people that always kept his spirits up even when he was having his bad days. She was always at his games throughout high school, college and even some in the NFL. Every time his team won, he would always take a piece of the grass and give it to his aunt. I asked him why one time and he told me he always made sure it was evidence that the two of them were at the same venue together.

Now, Troy was someone that always spoke about things even in good fun, but he kept his emotions in check for this situation. He missed practice all of that week to deal with the final days before his aunt tragically passed away late Saturday night. All of us were saddened by the news and we vowed to win our next game in her honor.

What we didn't expect was for Troy to show up the next day and get dressed up. We didn't even have him on the active roster for that week and were assuming he wasn't going to play. I was in the locker room when he was there. No one was saying anything to him as I'm sure they didn't want to disturb him. I quietly walked to his locker room and sat down next to him.

"You okay?" I asked.

"I'm fine." he said. He had some red on his face and I could tell he had been crying.

"You don't have to play today." I was really sincere when I said that.

"I'm going to play. My aunt would've wanted me to play and that's what I'm going to do. Not only that, I plan on scoring three touchdowns in three different ways."

Gordon

I was nearby getting ready and looking over the game plan when I heard Troy say that. I turned and looked at him curious to what he said. He said he was going to do what now? Score three touchdowns in three different ways?