The Underdog: Kelton Herren's story

[thesportsguru11]

(August 29, 2015)

Gameday.

Need I say more?


I couldn’t sleep. I hadn’t slept in days. Unnatural amounts of coffee in my system, I seemed like a cloud full of rain all week, not only because I had to go to the bathroom constantly thanks to the coffee. I feel as if I had drifted aimlessly, and was full in thought about a few things (Holly mainly).

We had gone out for pizza last week, but she got busy and we hadn’t gone out since.

But it was weird. I wasn’t thinking about Holly in a totally in love way, I was trying to figure out if I did love her or not.

I mean, don’t get me wrong, I was having a great time with her on our dates, she was beautiful and we connected well, but I don’t know.. I guess I just didn’t feel anything.

Also, I was still concerned about A.J.’s comments on his twitter account. I had no clue what was going on, but I was still nervous regardless. I had been extra cautious around everyone, and I think no one took notice, which worked out well.

Alright, enough of my life for now. Let’s get into the important stuff. My first college game was today, noon eastern. The AAC’s Temple Owls were making their way up to State College, and it was supposed to be a blowout.

Was that last statement ever correct.

It was 28-21 us at the half, but we scorched the Owls’ D in the second half and cruised to a 61-28 win. Hack threw 25-39, with 377 yards and 3 scores. Tailback Akeel Lynch, taking over for the departed committee of Zach Zwinak and Bill Belton, put up 134 rushing yards and a gaudy 5 scores.

Yours truly?


He got his first catch in the first quarter, a slant from Hack out of the slot. Slants were my specialty in Canton. I ended with 4 catches for 58 yards and my first career score.

Not a lot else to report from that game.


----------------------------------------


Brian and I got back to the dorm around 6, changed, showered and went off to a party hosted by one of the seniors, tight end Kyle Carter at his apartment. We were told if we wanted a good time, and to get a little….er… sideways.. that was the place to be after every home game.

Holly and Brian’s girl, Zoe, tagged along with us.

When we got there, there were reserve freshmen and other student assistants on the team serving as bodyguards.

They cleared us to go in, and it was a cool scene. There were flashing lights, a DJ, lots of space for lots of people, tons of food, leather couches, several guys from the team already dancing, making out on those couches with their girls, etc.

I immediately spotted Hack, tight end Jesse James, Akeel, and some other defensive players. Hack walked up and greeted us.

“Frosh, other frosh, welcome. Hi Holly.”

“Hello.” She said somewhat shyly.

“Thanks.” I said. “Man, the place looks great.”

“Yeah, Kyle always does it up nice. Alright, have fun guys.”

“Thanks.”

Overall, it was a great party. Most of the guys from the team showed up. Holly and I danced, talked, kissed, but luckily nothing got too out of hand.

That was until the beer showed up.

Which was followed by shots of tequila, wine, vodka, etc.

And that was followed by cigarettes, pot, etc. (FYI, I don't think I did any of the drugs brought in that night, I think I just drank).

We’ll just say there were about 75 drunk, passed out football players and their girls in Kyle Carter’s apartment that night into the next morning.

I eventually woke up from the sunlight. My couch was right next to the window, and the sun had risen. My phone said 8:30.

I discovered I was on one of Kyle’s couches, my head pounding from the hangover. I had no clue what I drank but it must have been something bad and a lot of it.

I scanned the living room area and there were several other guys around, lying asleep on floors, draped in curtains. Most of their girlfriends were barely clothed, some fully naked around the house. The smell of alcohol and cigarette smoke radiated throughout the apartment.

I discovered I was shirtless, with Holly lying on top of me. She only had a pair of athletic shorts on.

My memory of the previous night wasn’t great, and I had no clue if we had sex.
I have no clue how we ended up that way. But what I found on the couch next to me, might have startled me even more.

A chiseled man with a beard, and a beer in his hand was on the other end of the futon. He had on a tank top and shorts. My dazed and confused look turned into a deathly stare. I realized exactly who it was.

A.J.

[thesportsguru11]

(August 30, 2015)

I panicked for a second. I couldn’t really move or do anything, remember Holly weighed about 15-20 pounds more than me and was about 2 or 3 inches taller. Her large chest and beautiful face were right up close to mine.

I tried to remain calm, I realized there wasn’t much that could be done at that point. It didn’t matter. I didn’t think for a minute, just stared at this gorgeous woman on top of me.

I think I loved her at that point.

After that revelation, I tried to figure out how in the hell A.J. got in. I figured once everyone got hammered around 11, A.J. snuck in and got drunk with us.

Idiot. If he had thought it out better, he could’ve killed me like he probably wanted to without getting drunk. F*cking Idiot.

I rolled my eyes for a second. Holly sheepishly woke up a minute later and realized what in the hell had happened. She also realized what she was wearing.

Or, perhaps more accurately, not wearing.

Embarrassed, she started fumbling around for her shirt, which was draped on the back of the couch. She put it on, sat up and sat down next to me on the couch. She laid her head down on my shoulder, and still looked beautiful.

“Do you have any clue what happened last night?” I whispered so not to wake anyone else.

“I’m not sure.” Holly replied. “The last I remember, everyone was drunk, and most of the guys were ripping off their clothes, so were the girls. Maybe we did it, I don’t know.”

“You sure you don’t remember after that?”

“Yeah.”

I sighed, then spoke again.

“I’m sorry. I can tell you are embarrassed by this, whatever it was…”

“Well, I am... It’s just that I’ve never had sex before, or had a relationship go to this level. My parents are overprotective, and I told you about my dating life. I had guys interested, but they were kind of turned off by the fact I wouldn’t get into bed with them. My parents would murder me if I got pregnant in high school.”

I didn’t know what to say, I just kept nodding through the whole thing.

We stayed on the couch for a minute, then decided to leave before everyone started waking up.

I drove Holly back to her dorm, and layed low most of the morning, watching SportsCenter and eventually some music video countdown, I was just trying to make sense of what happened between Holly and I.

I didn’t figure it out. Brian popped through the door at noon, he seemed fine. He must have recovered from his hangover.

He grabbed a root beer and plopped down on the couch next to me.

“So, what’d my white boy do last night after we all got hammered?”

“I don’t know. Holly and I have no clue. We both woke up shirtless, but we had no idea. I mean, we had shorts on..”

“Haha. Yeah, OK. No need to hide it dude, we’re bros here.”

“Dude, I’m not lying. We have no clue what happened. Maybe we did, maybe we didn’t. We will never know….or maybe we will.”

“Aight. But hey, there was a dude I didn’t recognize, he was looking for you. Said he was going to kill you or something.”

My eyes widened. I looked confused for a second, Brian seemed so nonchalant through that last sentence. But I had no time to think about that. There was a knock on the door. The voice spoke almost immediately after he finished knocking.

It was an ominous voice, and though I didn’t know him I knew who he was.

We remained quiet for a second, then the A.J. kicked down the door. He had a knife in his hand. He stood an imposing 6’3, 210 pounds, easily enough to crush me if he fell on top of me. Luckily I had Brian to help out just in case, he was a similar size as A.J.

The savage man spoke, fiercely.

“Herren, this is it. I already hurt you up here [pointing to his heart], and now I’ll hurt you physically. See you six feet under.”

Hang on.. how could he have hurt me before? I didn’t know him until just a few days ago… or did I?

It hit me.

“You. YOU KILLED MY PARENTS!”

He smiled viciously and he laughed as if he were an evil genius.

My fists clenched.

I wanted to kill him too.

A neighbor must have noticed the situation, I could see him calling 911 through the hole in the door.

Back in our room, A.J. pulled the knife back behind his head, and lunged at me. I dove out of the way, and the campus police came flying in not even seconds later.

Brian helped the guys pin A.J. and the cops cuffed him. A pair of officers dragged him away, and I could see him resist as they stuffed him in the car.

I could only shake my head as they drove away.

The passer-by, a grad student named David, checked on me and Brian, as did the nurse in our building. Brian and I weren’t hurt, and our fears were eased for the time being.

Holly never knew.

But I knew everything, including what I didn’t want to know.

[thesportsguru11]

(That night)

The local news played a story on A.J.’s arrest that night, or so I was told. I didn’t watch the news (who did?), but he was going on trial later in the week back in Canton, facing counts of attempted murder.

He had been released from the Nationals organization, and he had probably thrown away his chance at playing in the Show. All because of some college kid who messed around with his sister.

To be perfectly honest, I wasn’t scared or concerned all that much. I mean, after all the hardships I’ve gone through in my life, this was somewhat minor.

Or so I thought..

--------

(September 4, 2015)

I was able to remain focused on the game this week, we had #5 Alabama coming to town for a 4:00 meeting. We jumped into 25th in the rankings after our win over Temple last week. It was a huge “prove it” game for us this week, and coach Franklin pushed us all week.

Hack had a great week, he was really in sync with me and our other wideouts and tight ends. Akeel looked great again, he had really stepped up considering he only started for the first time last week at this level.

My only concern at this point was the D.

---------
(Later that night)

Friday afternoon, Holly had a volleyball game somewhere out of state, so Brian and I were at the dorm on our own. I figured it’d be a solid time to rest and relax on the eve of the biggest game of the season potentially.

We sat down with a pizza and watched ECU play UConn in American Conference play. Brian had a buddy commit to ECU, so he wanted to watch and see how he did. I couldn’t remember the name, I never heard from him again.

About midway through the second quarter, I was well into my 4th slice of pepperoni when my phone buzzed. It was a text from an unknown number.

The message simply said:

Quote: Originally Posted by Courtney

It’s Courtney. We need to talk.

I closed my eyes and sighed.

No, not again.

I played along. Our conversation went something like this.

Quote: Originally Posted by Courtney

Kelton, I need to talk you. It’s very important.

Quote: Originally Posted by Kelton

Fine. What is it.

Quote: Originally Posted by Courtney

Well, before I tell you, I just want to make sure you are sitting down.

Quote: Originally Posted by Kelton

Get on with it already…...

Quote: Originally Posted by Courtney

Kelt, I’m pregnant.

My eyes bulged out of my head and my root beer came out of my mouth.

WHAT!!??!?!?!?!?!

I stared at the message again, then collapsed on the couch, my phone fell on the floor.

Brian got up, scooped up my phone and read the conversation.

He nearly choked on his wings.

"WHAT THE HELL!!??!?!? YOUR EX-GIRLFRIEND IS PREGNANT? What’s your current girlfriend going to say?"

“I have no clue…I...……I……I..…...uh…........Hang on…………………..

"I couldn’t have gotten her pregnant.”

“How? Didn’t you date her until the spring or something?” Brian started his interrogation, he sounded just as confused as I did.

“Well, we only had sex twice that I knew of, once on homecoming night last September and the other late last October, nothing happened after those times. She was in jail from November until mid-December, and I broke up with her when she was in jail. Unless we got totally twisted last spring and had some crazy sex that I was completely oblivious to or something, I couldn’t have possibly done this.”

“Well, for your sake, you better hope that’s true. Your current girlfriend will flip out.”

“Uh.. yeah. Considering I technically slept with Holly at Kyle’s house party last week, she’ll be pissed.”

“Well, I’m prayin’ for ya bud.”

“Uh.. thanks.”

“But there’s one thing I need to know.”

“Yeah?”

“Just how many girls have you slept with?” He laughed loudly

“Not the time for jokes, a**hole."

"Sorry. But can I get an answer?"

"Just Courtney and Holly. All the girls at my old school in Vermont were either ugly or in other relationships.”

“You sure? You seem to know what you’re doing with the women…”

“Dude….”

He held up his hands.

“OK. I’m done.”

Courtney texted back.

“I’m finding out who the father is tomorrow. I got into bed with 2 guys in a 2 day span...The doctors are running some tests to confirm.”

I gave a weird look to the message.

Who hooks up with 2 guys in 2 days?

I snapped out of that thought.

Sh*t.

I didn’t sleep that night.

[DrGravyBoat]

All i can say is






Uh-oh...

[KingFry]

Screw her! She wants you dead! Go have kids with Holly and live happily ever after!

[thesportsguru11]

Quote: Originally Posted by KingFry

Screw her! She wants you dead! Go have kids with Holly and live happily ever after!

Quote: Originally Posted by DrGravyBoat

All i can say is Uh-oh...

Hahaha. You'll find out what happens soon.

[djp73]

Quote: Originally Posted by KingFry

Screw her!

that's what got him into this predicament in the first place...

[thesportsguru11]

(This is a long post, my apologies. But we got f*cking 'Bama, man!)



(September 5, 2015)

I was able to catch GameDay and planned out a trip back to Canton whenever we had our bye. I was finally able to stop thinking about “it” when Fowler and the crew started making predictions. Bama-PSU wasn’t quite the biggest game that weekend, they were out west for the Stanford game.

We were irked when everyone picked Bama, including the guest picker, Houston Astros pitcher Mark Appel, a former #1 pick out of Stanford who was called up after 2 starters for them went down in the spring. He was lighting up the league in his rookie year, 17-6 record or something.

Yeah, I know my baseball. I played in Vermont. F*ck you if you doubted me.

Outraged, Brian shut off the TV and spiked the remote on the ground. Frustrated, we made our way to the stadium, Brian slammed the door on the way out.

We played catch for a while and waited for the rest of the staff and players to show up for the final walkthrough. At 2:15 we dressed, and at 2:30 we ran through the tunnel to greet 100,000 rowdy fans.

With all sanctions from the Jerry Sandusky scandal removed and Joe Paterno’s wins officially back in the NCAA record book, the school honored him and his family before the game and unveiled the statue that was going to be put back where the old one was torn down.

I loved JoePa, he was an idol of mine ever since I’ve been following CFB in the early 2000’s. It was a surreal moment, for sure…

Finally, kick off came.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Bama held us on the first drive and jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead, Jake Coker hit Robert Foster for a TD. We went 3 and out again on our next possession, and Bama took over again.

Oh boy. This isn't going to end well.

Luckily, one of our corners, Grant Haley, picked off Coker, and Hack punched in the QB sneak a few plays later to tie the game at 7.

Bama punted again on their next drive. I dominated this possession, I caught a 22 yard out route, followed by a nasty one handed grab for a 6 yard gain.

But unfortunately, we had to punt again, setting off a string of several 3 and outs by both sides. The sequence ended when Coker threw a pick in Bama territory, closing out the first quarter at a 7-7 tie.

We have a shot…

I never lost confidence in us or doubted we could win, but I was still surprised we were tied.

After Coker’s 2nd pick, tight end Jesse James caught a 17 yard TD and we got up 14-7 early into the second.

We were excited on the sidelines, but Coach Franklin still didn’t look terribly happy despite the fact we were leading. He knew we couldn’t be happy until the scoreboard hit all zeros in the 4th.

2 drives later, Bama ended up with the ball again. Coker dropped to pass again, and looked for Foster short. But it never got to Foster.

Brian was right there to make the pick. The crowd erupted and cheered on my roommate as he continued his red-hot start to the season.

He came back to the bench and we chest-bumped.

So awesome.

However, we couldn’t capitalize again. A ‘Bama field goal put them within 4, 14-10.

DeAndre Thompkins found me on the sideline before he went out to return the ensuing kick, and he told me and Coach Franklin,

“I’m puttin’ this game away, boi. Just watch.”

I couldn’t help but laugh with Brian on the sideline. But sure enough, he returned it to the ‘Bama 22. We shared a laugh on the sideline after. DeAndre could only give us a cold stare, he knew he could do it. Akeel Lynch punched in the 3 yard TD a few plays later, 21-10.

And we’d end up with the ball again before half.

Hack hit Saeed Blacknall for 13, DeAndre for 30. 2 plays later, we found ourselves passing 21 yards from the end zone.

I sprinted past the safety, and was open on a post. Hack saw me, and I walked in for the 21 yard score.

28-10 Nittany Lions at the half.

The crowd erupted, we were fired up.

I stared at the 100,000 fans, all dressed in Penn State blue and white, and it hit me.

This is what I’m here to do. This is my job. Our job is to beat ‘Bama.

We had that mentality through the second half, which was good.

But we didn’t have that mentality the first 6 plays of the second half.

‘Bama tacked on another field goal, then a second when Akeel fumbled, as well as a safety after DeAndre muffed a kick return and stuffed Akeel.

28-21 Penn St. Our defense had stepped up a lot. That was good.

We would answer with a field goal of our own 2 drives later, then ‘Bama punted, and we tacked on another field goal.

Hack was motivated to put the game away in the huddle of the next drive. We had a minute to go in the third, and Hack was ready.

I had the first catch, a slant for 11 yards. DaeSean Hamilton had a 32 yard gain. However, we couldn’t finish the job, but we did get another field goal from fellow true freshman Cory Goss. 34-21.

Next ‘Bama possession, we forced Bama tailback Kenyan Drake to fumble. Brian was in on the play, and I think he recovered it. Akeel tacked on the 1 yard score shortly thereafter, and swelled the lead to 41-21 late in the 4th.

The crowd was jumping for joy. I couldn’t help but grin. I had played a lot, but I felt like I had been on the bench most of the game, watching the crowd movements and raucous cheering.

Drake had a 1 yard run of his own on the next ‘Bama possession, and Bama pushed it to 41-28.

We punted on our next drive.

Sh*t.

Hack and I talked on the sideline, and we were sure we knew what’d happen next.

And it did.
Coker hit Robert Foster, and pulled within 5. It didn’t matter much, but I would’ve loved to have seen them not convert the 2 point try.

They did.

41-36 Penn State. Only 15 seconds left, Bama with no timeouts, they had to recover the onside to have a chance to win.

All we could do on the sideline was pray at that point.

We looked on in discomfort from the sideline as Bama lined up for the onside.

Their kicker booted it short, and it bounced for a while around a slew of players. One of our linebackers snatched it out of the air and fell on it.

Exaltation on the sideline. Exaltation in the stands. Exaltation in JoePa Nation.

Hack kneed out the clock and iced arguably Penn State’s biggest win this decade. I ended up with 6 grabs for 84 yards and that score at the end of the first half. Hack threw for 300 yards, Akeel had 95 yards and 2 scores on the ground. Brian had 13 tackles, the pick, a forced fumble and a recovery. Jake Coker threw an amazing 479 yards and 3 scores for Bama, but also had 4 picks that likely cost the Tide.

We stormed the field, along with 100,000 of our best friends. Someone gave Franklin a gatorade bath, and in the mess of the camera crews, drunk and rowdy fans, I somehow managed to find Holly. She picked me up and hugged me in joy.

“You did it!!!” She squealed. We could barely hear each other in the crowd noise.

“Oh my god, this is f*cking surreal. I can not believe this.”

“I’ll text you. You pick the party we go to, we’ll be invited anywhere I’m sure.”

“Yeah, sounds good. See you later!”

It was the greatest feeling. I had completely forgotten about last night. I was running on fumes energy wise, but you couldn’t tell.

Because we continued surfing.

In a sea of white and blue.