From the Outhouse to the Penthouse and Somewhere in Between
The Story of One Free Agent's Trip Through the Ranks of Pro Football
by
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Three. Two. One. The gun went off. As Parker bounded across the field to congratulate the opposing team, he was overwhelmed by a wave of emotion he had never felt before. Rocky Balboa didn’t have anything on him that day! The Giants went into the locker room. The team discarded their pads and helmets, and formed around Coach McEllroy to listen to his post-game speech.
"That was a great job out there today, men! If we take one game at a time and play like we did today, we can make the playoffs."
Jim McEllroy was a medium-sized, square-jawed man. He was a rookie head coach in the NFL, and he had just taken a Giants team with a handful of veterans, selected free agents from the defunct World Football League, a couple of high round draft picks, and one free agent walk-on, and had gotten them off to a three and one start in the pre-season. Everybody knew that the pre-season didn’t mean... but for a team that had a dismal record the year before, it was an auspicious beginning with new players.
Coach McEllroy had come from the defunct Memphis franchise in the World Football League, where the team had had a seventeen and two record and had won the league’s title the year before.
Parker and Herb Hanson had gone to the Giants’ free agent camp in late April, and Parker had blown the Giants’ coaching staff away. Parker had run a blazing 4.9 forty, weighed in at 295, and was one of the strongest guys on the team, having bench pressed 225 pounds 26 times. He had bench pressed 405 pounds. The coach, after having witnessed Parker’s performance at that camp and having watched Parker snap back frozen ropes on punts and fieldgoals, had pulled Parker aside at the camp and said to him:
"You’re gonna be my starting center."
Parker Thomas had defied the odds and was delivering both for himself and for the head coach and the team. There had been nothing pretty about how he had gotten there.
Mark Osbourn’s phone rang at eight o’clock the next morning. It rang again. It rang a third time. He snorted and shook his head as he groped for the receiver.
"Hello?" said Osbourne witha throaty voice. His head was banging.
"Mark, this is Parker. Be over if fifteen minutes to pick you up for practice."
"What the hell time is it?"
"Time to rock and roll, big guy. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes."
"Parker, what the hell are you talking about? I got my own wheels."
"What time did you leave Mr. Chico’s last night?"
"Closed the... place out. Got home about three or so, and I swear I’ll never do shots of tequilla again! I don’t remember too much, and I know this is gonna sound really... nuts, but I could swear I saw a horse in my bedroom last night before I passed out."
"Probably ate the worm from the bottle, Osbourne." said Parker Thomas.
"Yeah, must have been-- hallucinating." croaked Osbourne.
"Sure you don’t need a ride?" Parker pressed one more time.
"I’m all set, buddy. See you at practice."
Mark Osbourne hung up the phone and put his fingers to his temples. He started rubbing them to clear his blurred vision. Then he got that feeling in the pit of his stomach that told him that he had better run for the bathroom.
As Mark Osbourne shifted his body to the side of the bed, he slipped his feet onto the floor. Both feet went smack dab squishing into a pile of horse-- On the run to the bathroom, he stepped in two or three more giant flops and proceeded to heave up his guts.
"I’ll get that-- Parker Thomas for this!" gagged Osbourne, who was sure that this was pay-back for the turkey head prank he had played on Parker the day before.
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About the Book
Many red-blooded American boys growing up in the '60's would dream of becoming a professional athlete, but which of them had enough stamina and determination to tackle the obstacles that blocked the way to securing a career as a pro-football player? The odds were one in a million against their fulfilling that dream- unless, of course, that boy was someone like Parker Thomas!
From the first day that the protagonist is introduced to football, his strength, agility, speed and spirit are assets to his team. His choice to secure an Ivy League education rather than to attend a 'football factory' aids his accomplishing goals after his career in the pros ends, but also hampers his burning desire to play pro football. Only after months of training following his attending Redskins free-agent camp and being rejected the first time around does he finally secure a contract offer to play in the pros. Following an injury and his subsequent release from the team, he heals, retrains, and reaffirms his dream by gaining a spot with the Giants in the NFL. For Parker Thomas, it had to be all or nothing.
A burst appendix cuts short his Giants' playing days, but not one to be deterred, he heads north to the Canadian Football League after being recruited by the Montreal Alouets. He becomes a major force in the team's successful season, but finishes his first year of play in a game that turns out to be a heart-breaking loss for the Grey Cup.
The third section of the book follows his A.F.L. years with the Tampa Bay Bandits and his subsequent trade to the San Antonio Gunslingers. The novel ends with the Supreme Court decision of the NFL Anti- Trust case finishing his pro-football career, but not breaking his spirit. His off-season employment in the securities industry and steady planning for the days he would no longer be able to play payoff for him.
About the Author
Bill Winters graduated from Princeton University. He was a free-agent lineman with the Redskins and Giants. He later played in the C.F.L and now-disbanded A.F.L. He is a registered securities rep and insurance broker who resides on the West Coast of Florida. He is also pursuing an acting and modeling career.
JoAnne V. McGrath has a B.A. magna cum laude in English and M.S.T. in English.
She had taught literature and composition on the high school and junior college levels for almost two decades. Currently a resident of Florida's West Coast, she has had articles, short stories and poetry published in Woman for Woman, NEA Magazine. Modern Maturity and Readers' Digest.