[revrew]

My ninth season as manager of the Rebels began with a bang. Our draft class was raved about in media outlets, even given an A+ rating by ESPN the Magazine.

Rnd 1 - Bernie Hicks, DT, Vanderbilt
Rnd 2 - Tyrone Tyler, WR, Miami, Ohio
Rnd 3 - Korey Shannon, DT, Missouri
Rnd 4 - Levon Needham, C, Wisconsin
Rnd 5 - Stanley Wang, QB, Southern Methodist
Rnd 6 - Ross Emerson, CB, Alabama
Rnd 7 - Winfred Swift, K, Florida State

The biggest addition, however, was all-star LT Chad Clifton, who finally gave us a fomidable force at the blind corner. Birmingham fans were gearing up for a huge season. Then the preseason hit. Clifton blew out his knee. His career was over in a snap.

Nonetheless, a new hero emerged, new offensive coordinator Jessie Kubicz. Jessie decided--with the loss of Clifton and no solid option at LT--to switch up the offense and put more on Spencer Knowles and less on Marco Turtschin. Jessie wanted to free Turtschin to be efficient instead of pressuring him to be a playmaker. Jessie also did a good job of bringing the O-line together. The Rebs jumped out to 6-0, selling out our new stadium. By halfway through the season, we had sold out every season ticket package available. We were on a roll.

There can be, however, a measure of pain even in a season where you finish 13-3. Two of our losses were to Dallas and Minnesota, who therefore took the tiebreakers from us and robbed us of a bye in the first round. Thanks to Jessie Kubicz's revamped offense, Spencer Knowles had his best season to date: 1586 rushing yards and 8 TDs. Sophomore tight end Rusty Stockman continued the tradition of great Rebel tight ends, topping the league with 12 TD catches and 845 yards receiving.

In our first playoff game against Detroit, 4 sacks by LE Charles Grant led us to a 25-19 victory. But by the time we limped to our rematch against Dallas, 11 of our starters were on the injured inactive list, including our top 2 Quarterbacks. Without Turtschin and half the team, we fought valiantly, but lost 17-20.

In the postseason, our two previous first round picks, FB Chambliss and TE Stockman both won first team honors. RCB Toby Porter, a 5th round pick, won 2nd team honors. Spencer Knowles barely missed the rushing title (he was 2nd in the NFL) and was robbed of honors, as was punter Corey Wilkins, who led the league with a 44.8 punting average.

In terms of team management, however, I had run into a problem. A big problem. I had promised the family that Davis would not be able to repay them. With such a fantastic season in our new facility, the Rebels made 42 million in profits.

The profits were good news for my bank account: With the sale of part of the team and the year's profits, I was sitting with a pretty $67-million cushion. The bad news was Jeffrey Davis also made money, bringing his cash worth up to $52 million. I had promised certain individuals that by the end of our tenth year, Davis would not be able to repay his $75 million dollar debt.

If the Rebels continued their upward streak of earnings, Davis would make his money, and I wouldn't keep my promise. I wasn't exactly sure how the Family would feel about me not keeping my promise.