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COACH WILLIAM JOHNSON had been the football coach for this team for over five years now and all had gone well for him. He was one of the top paid football coaches in the south, but he had been in deep with the bookies and the mob for the last four years.
When a bookie came to him four years ago requesting a game be rigged, he brushed him off until he saw the money that would come his way if his team lost. It took little convincing after that discovery. He had controlled the players with no problem, that was until this year. Their new quarterback didn’t care about the money he could earn by not passing the ball at the right time or getting sacked by opposing teams. No, all the quarterback cared about was beating a record and making this year a zero loss year. The bookies and the mob Boss didn’t want to hear how he couldn’t control one player.
This week’s game had a lot of money riding on it. If they won, the bookies would begrudgingly pay out a lot of money. If they did have to pay, he would be the one they came looking for, not the quarterback. No, he had to find a way to convince the quarterback it was in his best interest to make the plays his coach gave him. If convincing him didn’t work, he would be forced to make sure he didn’t play in the upcoming game, or next several games. An injury to his wrist would prevent him from playing.
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COACH JOHNSON LOOKED over at his team and explained the night’s plays to them. As quarterback Ben Anderson listened to Coach Johnson’s pep talk for tonight’s game, he suspected that the coach sent the henchmen to his house. They roughed him up until he agreed to throw tonight’s game, but he had no evidence to prove it. However, he had a plan, albeit a dangerous one, to find out if Coach Johnson was receiving bribes to lose and win certain games. Why else would the team play well one day and lousy the next? He had seen these men practice, and he knew they were good, or they wouldn’t be here, but he couldn’t prove that something underhanded was going on. Well, after tonight, he hoped to prove just that. He prayed that he was doing the right thing, though, because this plan could also land him six feet under the ground.
Anderson waited until the second half to put his plan into action. He started off small by changing the game plan just a little as to go easily unnoticed. When they made the touchdown, he noticed the Coach seething on the sidelines, but he couldn’t say anything or it would prove that Anderson was right about him. When the moment came for them to get control of the ball, he took it. The throw was perfect, and his teammate caught it masterfully and made another touchdown for the team. This play would be talked about for years to come. It was also the play that sealed Coach Johnson’s fate.
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COACH JOHNSON WAS FUMING. His quarterback had duped him, and now his team had won the game. It wouldn’t be long before the bookies came knocking on his door, wanting to know what happened. The Mafia Prince wouldn’t be happy about today either. Of all the damn things to happen to him. He should have pulled Anderson out of the game, especially after making the first touchdown. When they were two touchdowns ahead, he knew the other team wouldn’t pull it off; they just weren’t that good. Hell, they were basically handing them the game on a silver platter. He had to force the players to hold back, they wanted to open up a case of whoop ass after the bad mouthing the opposing team had done that week. Coach Johnson instructed them to save their strength for next week’s game, that game was more important. They all seemed to go for it except for Anderson. Somehow he convinced the other players to listen to him over the course of the day. He was certainly a sneaky little bastard! That was okay; he had some favors he could call in. If he was going to get a visit tonight, then so would the quarterback. He wouldn’t be the only one whose career ended today. No, Anderson would pay dearly for this treachery.