QB1 (14 page)

“Practice squad that’s tailing along at the
moment,” Liz said sarcastically.

“He laughed! It was a joke!”

“Did you like that joke Roger?” Liz
asked.

“I thought it was condescending.”

I went across to the back of the limo, “I’ll
condescend you, you little fucking…. Liz got between us defending
Roger and I sat back down.

My cell phone buzzed, Tonelli. “What do you
got?”

“Where are you?” he asked.

“Driving up on 280 out of San Jose. What
fucking difference does it make where I am? I’ve been waiting on
you, what do you got?”

Cell phone records for Lydia Isackson show no
calls to or from Tony Reilly’s cell. Lots of calls though, that
woman is on the phone most of every day.”

“Who is she talking to?”

“Lots of people, I guess, but that’s probably
irrelevant. I just got a call from the FBI. They’ve arrested four
men that they say are people of interest in the Tony Reilly case,
four Muslims from Union City.”

I pulled the phone away from my mouth and
said to Roger and Liz, “FBI has arrested four men of interest in
the Tony Reilly case.”

Roger looking at his computer, “Yeah, four
members of a mosque from Union City.”

“Where do you see that?”

“It’s on the AP wire from 5 minutes ago.”

I said to Tonnelli, “When did you get this
information, it’s on the AP wire?”

“About 5 minutes ago.”

“Oh, that’s cool. They released it to you at
the same time they released it to the press,” I said.

“Well, it explains why they’ve been so
quiet," Tonnelli said. "They may have this sewn up.”

"So, Liz didn’t do it, huh?” I looked over at
her. I said into the phone so everyone could hear, “Okay Roge, take
the cuffs off her.”

Chapter 28

San Francisco went to Seattle the following
week and beat the Division leaders in the rain. San Francisco
defense played possessed with four take-aways that the offense
turned into 18 points.

San Francisco had basically been a pass
oriented team during the last few years. They used that pass to set
up the run. They used a running back by committee approach, meaning
they had a veteran running back, Reggie Robinson, who received most
of the carries and a rookie fourth round draft choice named Keiland
Best who was carrying the ball less than half the time. Robinson
was a power runner who ran well straight ahead. Best was a better
receiver with good running skills. Keiland Best emerged in the
Seattle game. Taking dump off passes in the flat for long runs and
breaking tackles and running over smaller defensive backs, he had
six catches for 74 yards receiving with a score. In the fourth
quarter, he broke a 57 yard draw play for a touchdown and ended up
with 122 yards running. San Francisco cruised to a 38 to 13 victory
and now had a new weapon in their offensive arsenal.

The following week, in week eight of the
season, the Team again traveled. This time, it was to the
much-anticipated Monday Night matchup of last year’s divisional
championship game against an undefeated New York team. New York was
a seven point favorite going into the game. The pre-game show had
an interview with Reilly.

Host: Welcome Tony.

Tony Reilly: Thanks for having me.

Host: You’ve been an amazing story this year,
taking over the team when two players in front of you went down
with injuries, rallying your team in a big win over Baltimore, and
then masterfully taking apart two strong defenses in Houston and
Seattle. Where have you been?

TR: (Laughs) Stuck behind two good players on
the bench.

Host: Do you think the Team knew what they
had? You’ve certainly surprised a lot of people around the League
with your poise and passing skills.

TR: Well, they kept me around. I had two
seasons to learn how to be a quarterback in this league. I worked
hard to be ready to play. You have to remember, this was a very
good team, with lots of great players. The goal was to be Champion
this year from day one.

Host: Well they just might get there with you
showing what you have the last three games. Take me back to that
Baltimore game and watching the two guys in front of you go down
before the half. What was going through your head when you took the
field that afternoon?

TR: Fear? (Laughs) I think I was on
auto-pilot through the end of the half. I knew Baltimore was going
to come after me, so I knew there were going to be open receivers
if they did. I used to run the offense against our own defense
every day in practice. I knew what I was going to do.

Host: You came out in the hurry-up offense in
the second half and proceeded to take apart that defense. I heard
you asked at half time for that.

TR: I did. What we were doing wasn’t working
and I felt I could find receivers under pressure and the coaching
staff let me give it a try. Fortunately, it worked.

Host: You’re four and two coming into New
York against one of the premier undefeated teams in the NFL. What
are you expecting tonight?

TR: I expect they’re going to blitz all night
long against an inexperienced quarterback. That’s what I would
do.

Host: How do you think you match up?

TR: We’ve got what I consider the best
defense in the NFL. On offense, we’re going to take what they give
us and what I think they’re going to give us is single coverage on
our receivers. We are ready for this game.

Host: Good luck, Tony.

TR: Thank you.

New York took the opening kickoff and went 3
and out. San Francisco took the ball at their own 27 and ran the
ball for two downs. On third and five in the hurry up offense in a
spread formation, the New York showed blitz. At the last second,
Reilly hand signaled to his wide receiver a go route. Jimmy Oliva
hesitated for a moment on the line freezing the cornerback and then
took off. With a full blitz on, Reilly lofted the ball in his
direction before getting buried, delivering the ball perfectly in
stride to Oliva who shook off the defender and took the ball for a
68 yard touchdown. A hush fell on the stadium.

New York went three and out on their next
possession and again San Francisco spread the field in the hurry
up. Reilly hit his tight end for 26 yards. When New York again
showed blitz, Reilly dumped it out to Best in the flat for 17 more
yards. San Francisco then ran it twice with Best finding the first
down marker on a sweep. Reggie Robinson ran it eight yards up the
middle for second and two at the 14-yard line. Reilly then found
Oliva uncovered in the end zone.

“That’s just too easy, Tony Reilly and San
Francisco are carving up the New York tonight,” said the color
man.

On third and long the San Francisco defense
intercepted the ball and ran it back to the six yard line. Two
plays later, Reggie Robinson ran it in for 21 to 0 as the first
quarter ended. The rout was on.

New York never got anything going and the
best defense statistically in football could not stop the San
Francisco offense. They put up 10 more points for a 31-3 half time
lead. When New York came out throwing in the second half, San
Francisco sat back in a zone defense and picked off three passes
for a total of five interceptions in the game. Keiland Best had 134
yards and two touchdowns. Reilly had three touchdown passes and 320
yards passing. The final was 47-10 and by the fourth quarter, the
stadium was half empty. San Francisco would never again be a Vegas
underdog.

Chapter 29

The flight back from New York was a drunken
affair with Oscar Tierney bringing on five cases of Dom Perignon
before take off. The party was on. The flight got in to San Jose at
10 AM and the team had the day off. The normal practice schedule
was thrown off for the week. By game time Sunday at home against
Atlanta, the emotional high and confidence were there, but the same
team that had beaten New York wasn’t. San Francisco got the ball
and started driving, but after a holding and an offside call, they
kicked it away. Atlanta came back with a 10-play scoring drive and
went up 7-0.

San Francisco went 3 and out. Atlanta came
back with another scoring drive and went up 14-0 at the end of the
first quarter. Late in the 2nd quarter, a deflected pass resulted
in Reilly’s first interception in 5 games. The defense held them
and Atlanta kicked a field goal for a 17-0 lead.

With two minutes to go in the half, Keiland
Best fumbled and Atlanta was able to put up another field goal as
the half ended 20-0. At home, after a big win on Monday night, San
Francisco was in a deep hole.

Tony Reilly went in with the offensive
coordinator to look at defensive formations and discuss second half
strategy as they usually did. He was unusually quiet. He listened
to what his coach had to say, but didn’t offer any input. When he
left the meeting room to rejoin the team, the mood was pretty sour
in the room. As Coach Warren came into the center of the locker
room, Reilly asked him if he could say something. Reilly looked
around the room and you could see the anger in his face. “This is
what happens when we come into a game unprepared,” he said. “We
thought we could mail this one in because we beat the New York last
week. Well, guess what? No one told Atlanta that. Every week we
have to prove we’re the best team in football. We can’t just turn
it on. Now we’re going to have to climb back into this one. Atlanta
is going to sit back in zone and do what we did to New York last
week. Three touchdowns down, we’re fucked.” He looked around at
Keiland Best and said, “you drop the rock again and you’re going to
be teaching PE in middle school next semester.” Reilly looked over
at his tight end, “where do I have to put the ball Chester? Because
when I put it in your hands, you ain’t fucking catching it. Catch
the fucking ball!”

No one had ever heard Tony Reilly say
anything to anyone that wasn’t positive. The room was in stunned
silence. “I can’t tell you how much this horse shit effort pisses
me off,” he yelled at the room. He then took his helmet and threw
it as hard as he could at the water cooler where it bounced 20 feet
away. He then walked over and further demolished the cooler with
two kicks. He then walked into the trainer’s room and slammed the
door.

Coach Warren started to say something,
stopped, changed his mind. “Let’s go,” was all he ended up saying
as the team broke for the field. Reilly sat on a table in the
trainer’s room and one of the assistant trainers walked in and
said, “Can I get you anything, Tony?”

Reilly looked at him and smiled. “How’s it
going, Mikey?”

“Good, Tony.” He didn’t know what else to
say. He’d been sent in by the head trainer to see if Tony was
alright.

“How’s the wife?” Reilly asked him. “She went
to UCLA same as Elizabeth, right?”

“Yup, both Bruins. They were talking after
dinner the other night.”

“Yea, Liz told me.” Reilly just sat there
smiling, dangling his legs.”

“You going back out there, Tony?”

“My helmet okay?”

“Yea, its okay.”

He smiled. “Yea, I’m going back out
there.”

The on-field commentator for the network said
just before the kickoff, “Tony Reilly was the last man out of the
locker room jogging with a trainer. We haven’t had any reports of
injury. We’ll see if we can get any reports. Coach Warren refused
comment which is unlike him, but an assistant said it had been an
emotional half time. Back to you.”

Atlanta went three and out running the ball
three times which announcers interpreted as “looking like they’re
going to sit back and let San Francisco continue to make mistakes
and burn clock. We’ll see what happens on this first series and
whether they’ve made any adjustments."

Reilly was even toned and confident in the
huddle. Jimmy Oliva said after the game, “When he talks that way he
does, with the confidence and swagger, there is no doubt we are
going to score.”

Atlanta was happy to give San Francisco the
underneath stuff. Playing conservative, prevent defense, trying not
to give up the big play, in a 10 play drive with 5 different
receivers, Reilly went in untouched on a keeper. Atlanta came back
and had a couple of first downs, but the drive stalled and they put
San Francisco deep in their own end on the punt. Keiland Best was
electrifying. On 2nd and two, with wide receivers throwing blocks,
Best went for 27 and it took three guys to haul him down. Three
plays later, he went for 17 yards on a dump off pass. Reggie
Robinson came in for Best and ran for 11 yards. Jimmy Oliva just
managed to touch his toes down (confirmed with a replay challenge)
in the back of the end zone, for the score. Back in the game,
20-14, with the stadium rocking.

At the start of the 4th quarter, the Atlanta’
drive stalled on the San Francisco 45. Reilly took over at the 12
and again came out in the hurry-up offense in a four receiver
spread formation. He picked the defense apart, taking what the
defense gave him. Keiland Best in the slot fought his way for 33 on
a flat pass. Two plays later, his Tight End got 19 more. San
Francisco gave Best the ball four straight times as Atlanta sat
back in zone trying to stop the San Francisco passing attack. With
two more first downs, Reilly found his third option in the pattern
all alone when the defender fell down in a crossing route for a
touchdown. Reilly calmly walked off the field with a lead for the
first time that day.

Atlanta didn’t roll over. They put on their
own sustained drive and kicked a 36 yard field goal for a 23-21
lead with 3:30 to play. This was the first time that Reilly had
been in this position all season, having to win a game with clock
winding down. Reilly looked around the huddle and said, “Plenty of
time boys.” He then called two plays. Saw the Corner back off
Oliva, changed the play, took the snap and fired it out to him for
14 yards. He then handed it off to Best for another 9 up the
middle. At midfield, he hit one of his crossing wideouts and then
did it again on the next play for short gains and a first down at
the two minute warning. Reilly walked over to the coach and said
“the safeties are cheating trying to stop Best. Let’s go get it now
with Oliva.”