Weird

Thursdays were pretty intense at high school football practice. One day before the weekly game and players and coaches were ramping up into a frenzy. Thursdays were the days we had the most fights in practice. Thursdays were the days you could get a hard kick in the ass from a coach. Literally. Things were different then.

The blood was in the water and we smelled it. This is not a drill. The ears were laid back and the teeth were bared. Snap your chinstrap baby ‘cause I’m comin’ for ya.

So, it didn’t pass without notice when the head coach left the field about a half hour into practice one Thursday. But, notice was about all we gave it. There was work to be done.

Not long after he disappeared, an assistant coach looked toward the building, nodded and blew his whistle. He told us to double time it into the locker room. Someone asked why and he said because he said to and meant right now. No one was ever too happy after messing with coach Hart, so we ran in.

The head coach was waiting there with a weaselly looking guy with slicked back hair. He could’ve been a mob button man or maybe a repo guy. But, he wasn’t. “Guys, I want you to meet Al Davis. He runs the Oakland Raiders.”

Davis eyed us for a few seconds. “Youse guys are probably wondering what I’m doin’ here,” he said with a heavy Brooklyn accent. “You probably know we drafted Harry, who some of you probably watched play here. Maybe even knew ‘im. Anyway, the minute he put on his cleats, I knew he was Raider material. I asked ‘im where he got his attitude and he told me right here. I told myself the next time I got back east, I was gonna see dis place and here I am.”

There were a few moments of silence before Jerry said, “Forget this happy sh**. We got Wilson coming up tomorrow.”

The coach started forward but Davis held out his hand. He grinned. “That’s the attitude I’m talkin’ about.”

Jerry was a halfback and had all the flab and softness of a leaf spring off a Buick. He was as fit as they come and one of the toughest guys I’ve ever come across. At the end of that brief meeting, Davis told Jerry he’d be keeping an eye on him.

Starting that day, I kept an eye on Davis. I watched him build the winningest franchise in all of professional sports.

Yesterday, Davis died. So did Jerry. Weird.