Daring to Dream - The Dash Davis Story

[footbrawl]

Quote: Originally Posted by beast10

Good luck getting back bro. One of my teammates messed up his knee in just a drill the other day

thanks man, hope your teammate heals up too

[footbrawl]

Got some pictures of the dislocation if you all wanna see it. Sort of gruesome to people who can't look at injuries easily so caution. It's not very graphic though in my opinion.

Spoiler

My forearm was two inches higher than my upper arm. Makes it look like I don't lift smh haha i do so

Spoiler

X-Ray - Full dislocation

[footbrawl]

Chapter Thirteen: A Semper Fi High

A blinding light began slipping beneath Dash’s eyelids. His pupils began to dilate even with his eyes tightly closed. His vision was blurry and stirred with the apparent light source. As the sleepiness quickly cleared up he saw a blue curtain several feet in front of him. He still had on his crimson football pants but was shirtless without socks as well.

Dash remembered the night before fairly well. The craziness of it all felt like a dream though. He wasn’t sure which part actually happened or which he, perhaps, imagined. He recalled the ambulance trip over to the hospital, and getting x-rays. He must have fallen asleep all the way into the next morning.

He assessed his body. White wrapping covered his body, compressing his torso. He felt pinches within his breaths, but it was bearable. Circular monitors stuck over his chest, which itched quite a bit. He pulled one off which set off a series of quick rings. A nurse quickly threw open the curtain.

“You should leave those on so we don’t think you’re dead,” the lady said whom looked like a kind middle aged woman.

“My bad, just went brain dead for a second,” Dash apologized.

The nurse looked over with a smile, “Was that an intentional pun?”

Dash laughed, “Not saying.”

She set the monitors back up and gave Dash the get up, “Well, here’s what we know since you were out pretty early. You do have two fractured ribs. No damage was done to the surrounding areas, but you cracked them quite nicely. We couldn’t get in contact of any of your family members, but your coach is eating breakfast down in the lobby, we’ll tell him you’re up.”

She left and within several minutes Coach Armstead was with Dash. He hadn’t changed from the game last night, which made him have a bit of odor. His eyes drooped as if he didn’t get much sleep.

“How you feeling?” he said with concerning smile.

“Eh, I’m alright. What the hell happened?”

Coach Armstead chuckled while wiping his face in his stress, “You’re asking the wrong man. You’re probably out for a week or two with this. Then there is the brawl we got into. We’ll know the base allegations on Monday, but I’m feeling like we’re looking at multiple suspensions.”

Dash shook his head, “****.”

Coach Armstead nodded, “Yep. At least we’re sitting at 4-1. If we can salvage the next few games we can keep our playoff hopes alive.”

Dash and Coach talked for a couple of hours as they had to wait for Dash’s grandfather to arrive and sign him out legally. Throughout this time, Dash and Coach bonded even more than they thought possible. Coach gave Dash his entire coaching career story. From his first gig as the head coach of a middle school in Louisiana in 1983 to when he was an assistant coach on a state championship Hoover team.

“You have a visitor,” the nurse finally spoke around one thirty.

Coach Armstead assumed the next interaction would be personal so he got up and walked into the hallway. Dash expected to see his bitter grandpa walk past the curtains. He was surprised to see a young, tall, and slim Caucasian man dressed extremely sharp enter his ‘room’. Basically, he was the opposite of Dodger Davis.

“Hello Dash,” the man greeted with a bright smile and took a seat on Dash’s bedside.

Dash was confused a bit, but replied, “How’s it going?”

“Doing great. You look like you could be doing better though,” he smiled.
Dash nodded, “True.”

The man reached in his jacket and withdrew several papers. He handed one to Dash.

“My name is Chad Sydney, and I’ m the new recruiting coordinator for the Marine Corps football program.”

“Football program?”

Chad nodded, “Yes, sir. It has been planned privately for years. We’re taking an entirely different approach to not only military schools but also new programs in general. You see, every school that tries to make itself into a division one program takes it slow. We’re not about that. We have the funding, support, and hopefully, interested players, who will make us not just D1, but a competitive D1 by 2016.”

Dash took several seconds to process the information given to him, “So, do you have a university or what? Where even is this place?”

“Yes, we have a university, but about thirty percent is still needed to be built. We are collaborating pretty heavily with San Diego State which is nearby. You’ll spend most of your time around the Camp Pendelton area, which is California as you know. Nothing has ever been done like this before.”

“This seems so, like, out of nowhere. And, no offense, unorganized,” Dash replied.

“I understand your viewpoint but I promise you, by the 2017 our school will be on the same level and standard as Navy and Army. That goes for academics and prestige as well as athletics. Also, you know Marines have the harshest training of any branch. We plan to follow the same training and standards as Navy, but we are taking a looser route on the strictness. Of course, the men won’t have the regular freedom like they would at another school, but it will be twice as open as the other branches. We are doing this to help expand quicker.”

“Sounds like you’re trading ethics and respect for popularity. You’re telling me, all the military guys are okay with the looseness?”

“Most of them. They love football.”

Dash nodded, “Okay. So are you building off recruiting or what?”

“We have handfuls of talent wanting to be a part of us. A lot of the Marines on Navy’s squad are also transferring next season. We can’t find a quarterback though. Our defensive coordinator, Coach McKovich, is actually the man who brought you to our attention. He said he knew your father. I’ve watched your last few games, I’m impressed. You throw great, have alright size, and a play making ability. We want you to be the first quarterback in our team’s history, Dash.”

[DrGravyBoat]

Quote: Originally Posted by footbrawl

Got some pictures of the dislocation if you all wanna see it. Sort of gruesome to people who can't look at injuries easily so caution. It's not very graphic though in my opinion. Spoiler My forearm was two inches higher than my upper arm. Makes it look like I don't lift smh haha i do so Spoiler X-Ray - Full dislocation

The X-ray view actually looks pretty sweet. Chicks dig war wounds

[footbrawl]

Quote: Originally Posted by DrGravyBoat

The X-ray view actually looks pretty sweet. Chicks dig war wounds

Haha true, but sadly I won't get any badass scars

[footbrawl]

Had two chapters written with two articles, both didn't save smh

[footbrawl]

Chapter Fourteen: Love and War

“I’ll be back around nine, if that’s good?” Darius said while Dash stepped out of his car.

“Yeah, that’s good.”

Darius broke into a cheesy grin, “Remember, use protection.”

Dash laughed and shook his head, “Shut up.”

Darius pulled away while Dash began walking on the sidewalk. Dash had delayed his night out with Amanda into Sunday. After speaking with Mr. Sydney, Dash took some information forms and told him he’d get back to him. Dash had been so engulfed in Columbia that college had been forgotten. He had given much more thought waiting for his grandfather to check him out. Dodger Davis did indeed check him out but didn’t even come to speak to Dash.

Dash wasn’t receiving a major amount of attention. He was mostly looked at as an athlete. The problem was though, Dash didn’t run a 4.4 forty, have a 35 inch vertical, or amazing size. He had already made up his mind he wouldn’t attend a school to be an athlete, as he knew that he wouldn’t blossom as one. This initially put the USMC at the top of his list instantly. Even though he felt uneasy about the path they were taking, he knew his father would enjoy seeing him there.

“How are you feeling?” a lovely voice spoke from the left.

He had been walking and not paying attention; it was Amanda, “Oh, I’m doing alright. Everything is healing good.”

She looked even nicer than before. Her hair fell the same and she made a casual shirt and jeans look like a four thousand dollar outfit. She stood up from the bench and began walking in front of Dash.
“Come look at this.”

Dash obliged and followed her further down the path. She took a quick left, off the sidewalk, and into the woods. The forest wasn’t very thick yet it still had an impressive amount of plant life growing considering fall had begun. Amanda kept hiking though as Dash grew short of breath from his wrappings. A large hill came up and both of them climbed towards the top on foot.

She pointed over to the scene which depicted an overview of the rest of the park, “Look.”

Dash didn’t quite understand what he was supposed to be looking at, “Oh yeah, cool.”

“What do you think?”

Dash scampered inside his mind trying to see what she meant, “Uh, it’s just, cool.”

She squinted and smiled, “You don’t even know what I’m looking at, do you?”

“Yeah, of course I do,” Dash lied.

“What color is it then?”

“Red?”

Amanda busted out laughing as she sat down on the peak, “I’m just messing with you, I just like the view.”

Dash felt slightly embarrassed but laughed along with her. He took a seat next to her, bringing his knees up under his elbows. Out of the corner of his eye he looked at her. She was transfixed on the world below. He knew he wasn’t worthy of this girl. Romantic feelings came over him, but he held them back knowing he’d mess up trying anything.

“So Mr. Dash Davis, what’s it like being in the newspaper almost every day?”

“At first the attention was nice, now it’s just getting old,” Dash shrugged.

“I couldn’t imagine having my daily life given out to the world like that. Even with all that people say, I still don’t think that’s who you really are.”

Dash nodded, “It’s not. They just talk about me on the field. But, I’m not sure I am who I thought I was off. So much has happened in the last month, I’ve really changed. I’ve had more drama in the last few weeks than three years at Johnson combined.”

She smiled and looked back over at the view.

“I don’t know much about you either.”

“Well, I’m a pretty simple girl with a complex mind. That’s what my dad says at least,” she laughed, “I’ll just try to put it in terms of your life and football. Like, I want to be a writer one day like I guess you wanna be a star football player, so I just practice writing all day like you practice football.”

Dash nodded, “You write? Like, like what about?”

Amanda shrugged as the sun had no dropped below the buildings at the horizon, “I like philosophy and dramas.”

“So you’re like a cross between Ghandi and General Hospital?”

They both erupted into laughter which actually made Dash’s ribs slightly sore. The two talked for almost another hour before making their descent back down to the park. Dash was falling hard for her and she acted so calmly in comparison. He wasn’t sure if he could handle another distraction or was in desperate need of one.
__________________________________________________ _____________

Dash and his teammates sat on several benches awaiting their fate. Across the room were several familiar faces from Butler’s squad. Sneers and gang signs were flashed while the suspense grew waiting for the door to swing open and the news announced.

Not much had been said about Dash’s weapon of choice during the brawl nor the consequences. Rumors said he had actually hit Hendricks, but many say it was just a random player. Either way, the player suffered a major concussion. Dash feared the worst about their decision.

“Someone gonna get you soon,” a player from Butler’s bench spit.

“Hey, no talk,” the guard said who stood in the middle of the two groups.

Dash knew the words were meant for him but he acted as if he didn’t hear anything. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the boy nodding his head furiously like he could see into the future and knew Dash would be hit.

“L is out for the year cause of you bitch. Little ***** mother****er, can’t even fight with your hands,” the boy continued to rant, hyping himself up.
The guard went over and made him stand up. He led him out as the boy still shouted out at Dash. Even when he was down the hallway, he could still be heard. Dash stared at the door, doing his best to ignore the scene.

“Don’t worry about that bitch, we got your back,” Kwame comforted.

Several more minutes passed before the door finally opened. A tall man with caramel skin and thin hair with gray strands randomly streaking walked out with a paper in his hand. Both coaches followed him as well as other team supporters. The look on Coach Armstead’s face made it look like the news would be for the worst.

“We’ll just get to the point since you all have been waiting her for awhile,” the man rang out with a fairly deep voice, “Butler High School’s football team will be forced to suspend nine players on behalf of the Huntsville Board of Education. Grant Martinez – one game, Marquise Collins- one game, Lonte Devron- one game, Japhern Joseph- one game, James Quesenberry- one game, Divontay Hancock- two games, Ronald Zenith Jr.- two games, and Lavario Hendricks- two games.”

A knot formed inside Dash’s stomachs. The Butler team looked distraught and they were probably receiving the lesser sentences of the two squads. Dash also knew he had done much worse and feared the fate of his season.

“As for Columbia High School’s football team, there are seven suspensions. Shawn Jackson- one game, Wesley Miles- one game, Darius Moore- two games, John Westover- two games, Kwame Smith- two games, William Jones- two games, and David Davis III- four games.”

[footbrawl]

I had the newspapers made, but as I said earlier, I didn't save them correctly. Will try to finish those up and I'm going to wrap up season one at chapter twenty.

Anyone wanna see anything in specific?