Heather finished up and headed back to her Townhouse she sent Nat a text telling her she was out of practice and what plans she had for the day.

 ------>>>>> To Dorm Town Houses after practice Wednesday.

(( friday morning, before  game  with Dolphins))

  The meeting  were shorter. Focusing on  some things   Coach fry was shown the other day... Offesne and defesne   working  more on Sim's  version of Game plans....consisting of  Offesne plays   that would be thier meat and potatoes, and defense  looks that  would either Fake Blitzes... or  hide them.

 the rotating  Zone  would  still be  in effect, even those  QB  Pedro franco was not considering  a 'running QB"

.................

 Out on the field, the   players  ran  hard worked on thier skills, THEN..went into the game plan.

 Duke  and Steele   alternated   every other series.. with Steele feeling the lash  from Sims  everytime he messed up. it was understood, that Adam  would  take a series or two  towards the end of practice.

 Heather took notes during the meetings, and she paid attention.

 On the field she ran hard, and then practiced her kicks.

Ben listened to the talks, but relished the actual practices far more, running around like an excited puppy chasing the ball with enthusiasm.

     for  Most of the team, practice  when  well..Santos  was  chased by Cal  a few times when he blew a coverage...Emma was told  to be less aggressive  comign up to  stop the  run, unless she was sure   the  other Safety had  rotated over.

 By Steele  got the worst of it, two interceptions thrown into coverage.. and a third that wasn't  intercepted when  Machins knocked it out of   Bing's hands.

 It got worse when Adam  started  at the  5 yard line  with the offense and  move the  ball 95 yards in 1:13, to hit Ben with a 20 yard TD.

 Sims  was  disgusted  as he made  Steele  watch the whole drive  standing next to him... as they  walked to the track for the  ...end of practice  mile.. Sims  could be heard saying,you're damn lucky i don't have another   full time QB on this roster...get you damn head in the game...

 Fry  had  steele  hold for  Heather, and  kick Five FGs  from 30..35..40..and 45.., before they did thier   Run...

Smokey practied   punting and  , mik, white  and  Adam  practiced fielding the  kicks.

The excited puppy still had enough energy to run his mile full tilt before heading in for a shower.

 Heather went and set up for her practice kicks5 kicks from 30, 35, 40, and from 45.
She lined up to kick from 30, and missed the first one. She shook it off and made the next 4. She went to 35, and again missed the first one and made the next 4. She went to 40, and then first kick she lost her footing and the kick was really bad. She made the next 3 but missed the last one.

 Heather was pissed, but she controlled herself and used her emotion but didnt loose control. She then went to 45 and made the first one easily and made all the rest of the kicks. She ended on a good note and felt good.

   Adam  tried to  talk to  Steele  after the mile  run, 4 players were held out of the run because of injuries,  Mik, Wills, Carlos and Dalton.

  Steele  Just waved  Adam off  and stomped off  into the locker  room..he was Intercepted by the 2nd string  reporter (  Wendy was down in Miami getting their players views)

 ..Jim Steele?.. seesm you had a rough outing today? Will this effect your  playing time

 Steele  growled,who knows? Right?  I mean i'm doing what i think i should do, i follow the plays, a reciver drops the ball or runs the  wrong  route  and its on me?.... Some people don't have to answer   for  thier mIstakes...now?.. I have to get a shower!.. he storms off.

 The   Reporter Grinned as he looked at the Camera  and Grabbed  Ben,..Ben?    Steele  seems to  be in a bit of a tiff?... will this effect the team's performace?.. he  does  play the  3rd quarter  as  QB.

Ben smiled a lazy grin.

"I'm an army brat. My dad always says 'Train Hard, Fight Easy'. Same applies to football. We work hard in practise and when it comes to gametime... well, Here There Be Dragons!"

   Simms  came into the Locker  room, he called     The Ladies in after makign sure the   Guys were  decent  ,..the dolphisn   are tryign to mess with us, I didn't complain to the elague, ebcause i  don't want them to think they  are effecting  us... our  walk through  in thier stadium is 10:00AM until 12:00 noon... that ,eams  we leave from our airport at 1:00AM... you will all get to sleep in, but  have to be ready for breakfast and taping  at  8.... we are close to the    stadium... when walk through is obver, we wil come back  to the hotel and have meetings... its backwards  but  Yuto wants to make sure we have the party... Pregame party at  6:00 ... until 9:00..then you folks go home  and get packed  , meet at the bust  by midnight... you miss the bus... you might be lookign for work... see you in a few hours.

Ben - in jeans and t-shirt - pulled on a hoodie. With that kind of schedule he didn't really feel like going to a party but... well, Lu-Ti might want to go, and at least the food was good at the Rising Son and he'd have to eat somewhere.

He found his phone and sent a text, asking if she wanted to go, and if so, did she want picking up?

 Heather smiled and after everyone was all set, the ladies came in and Heather listened. After Heather smiled got her stuff and headed home to get ready for the party and she knew Nat was already going to be there as a part of the Dragonettes. Heather was excited for the party tonight.

<- Amota Med

Ben met up with Lu-Ti when she got off the bus and went with her into the dining hall. He picked out some pasta and salad for himself and got whatever she wanted.

  Lu-Ti settled  down she  had some chicken with a side of  mushroom soup .  She had a sad  smile, This is  always  a mixed bag, is it not? We see these children once  a week..or less? someti,es   the  same   children are not there? other times there are new children. and i wonder. what happened to the ones who are no longer there?

 she sips  some soup,I like to think they are better, and  went home. The other thought bothers me too much... I want them all to be  like 'Lyssa Dragon' her sad  smile twithces a bit.

"It always suprises - and humbles - me how much our visits seem to mean to them. They are getting the best of care, so if even the Amota Med doctors cannot save them, then only a miracle will do."

Ben sampled his pasta.

"They could do with putting a pinch of salt in the water... You said you have business to attend to this afternoon. How are you fixed for the evening?"

Lu-Ti  smiles, If all goes right, i should be free by 6:00..  victory party  at  8:00... you have  curfew at  11:00? so i  am sure    we will find some time together...

"Call me when you are free... would you like an early supper? I'm guessing you'd like to party..."

Ben might have preferred a quiet night in but he wasn't letting on.

  Lu-Ti shakes her head...this  NFL cheerleader is harder then college.... and..we get paid for other things  as well...one of them, is showing up at the party...

 she pouts,..you must think me  the terrible girl friend.

"Terrible, my love? You get me into all the best parties!"

He grinned.

"I don't have much to complain about. Of course I'd like to see more of you, but we are both busy people. At least once we get wed we will be living in the same place... most of the time. We both have to travel for work, after all. So, what sort of house do you want? Being in Florida, I guess I'd like something by the sea, big deck to sit out on, maybe a jetty. Does that appeal? Or would you rather city centre in Jacksonville, nice penthouse or something?"

There was still so much he didn't know about what she liked. Still, it would be fun finding out!

 Lu-Ti titled her  head , lookign up and pointed her  fork at ben, The beach would be nice, but there are hurricanes  and such. Perhaps  we could get a bit of land, close enough to the city for short commute, but able to go to the beech as well.

 we will need to maintain a palce in  New York as well.. i think we can just use  hotels  on the west coast when needed.

"Best of both worlds... Where is your work in New York? A Manhattan Brownstone or an apartment might be best, or if you move a bit further out you can have access to more ameneties. Depends on what you need... and if it's primarily you or if there's something for me there as well. Apart from you, I mean. Once I stop playing, that is."

There was so much going on. He'd thought playing in the NFL would be straightforward. It probably was, it was the admittedly wonderful complication of falling in love with Lu-Ti that was creating all the extra stuff to cope with. Not that he wanted to change a thing!

"Call when you're done and I'll come fetch you to wherever you want to be. If you have your party clothes with you, come and change in my place and we'll go together. If not, I can take you to the estate to pick them up..."

 Lu-ti  was finishing up, she sipped from her drink as she said,..it  will be  depending on what you want to do when you finish playing...some  players, i have read about, have
 coached, or went into  movies, or became announcers  and worked in studios? others  started
  businesses, but most of those  fail, after thier name wears out. others  use thier time to help people...and still others, just settle down  and become  , normal family men..

 there are others m who fall...they are not the smart people, who had let thier  money vanish, and think they meant more to people, then just thier  uniform

"I want to coach youth... but as for earning my keep I'm not sure. I have a degree in computer science, but that is a fast-moving subject. I may be obsolete by the time I retire from football. Maybe I can go back to school, learn something useful: more computing, business, law... Above all I want to be a good husband to you and a good father to whatever children we are blessed with."

Ben liked the sound of being a 'family man'. As for the rest he'd consider opportunities carefully. He wouldn't want to live off past glories on the field. He certainly didn't see himself as an actor or a TV pundit.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 11:01, Sat 22 May 2021.

(( Tuesday before  colts  game ))


 Cars  started to pull into the stadium, well over an hour before  the meetings were to start.  Adam had Kane  jammed into his little Mazda, with  Kane looking  a little tired  as they got out of the car.

 ..Little Man?   why so early all the Time...

 about  30 years ago , there was this hard assed coach. He would fine guys  , by the minute, if they were late..he  EXPECTED  them to be  5 Minutes  early.....when one of his 'stars' objected  tot eh fines and tried to get the union involved.. the  Coach just said... " if you're not  early...you're  Late..."..he won.. the 'star was traded before  camp ended  and  never was more then  a back up player.

 Me?.. I'm not Gonna be that guy...

 Kane got his   playbook and  laptop from the hatch and shook his head,no worries there...

Ben's truck was already there. Ben himself was in the swimming pool.