Chapter 5

Back in Baltimore I went to practice more than a little bleary eyed. I hoped Jessica was not dissatisfied on our wedding night. Before she said anything about the team, I knew, just knew she was the one I wanted to live my life with but not right now; I still was not certain if...

I met Janice, in-fact she was waiting for me near the locker room.

“Congratulations, now get your ass inside and change.”

You all have heard of the ‘plant’ an investor puts into a business before taking over. Janice had been embedded to learn what she could. She knew where the bodies were buried. On her ‘Day One’ as GM, four executives and their cronies were let go. The only one left from the old Cleveland Brown’s was the Director of Player Personnel. To say some were surprised would be an understatement.

The team’s attitude to me had not changed. Probably due to the fact no one on the team but Janice knew about Jessica and myself.

The first time Jessica showed her face she was almost ignored. It was a common problem. No Access card, few female owners and, and, and the list went on. Reality check is that many people were afraid of change and to be successful change was necessary.

Jessica was not the kind of person to be deterred by something as small as that. She had several great attributes one of them was patience. I should know as one who she set her sights on and reeled slowly until I ‘caught’ her. It took three days but when she returned she was not alone. Haber, Shutter and Fink, the executors of the trust led the way, a court order in hand. Following, flanking Jessica were the proverbial ‘Men in Black’, sent by Daddy to support his little girl.

Y’all have heard of Friday the 13th or ‘Black Friday’, today was Jessica’s version of those ominous occasions. Before it was noon, every administrative and staff person (17) were told to ‘hit the road’. Five new Temps began the tedious work of collecting, auditing and validating every bill, invoice and payment made for the last 12 months. Haber, Shutter and Fink, the executors of the trust oversaw what they did. New financial transactions, including Player’s salary was serviced out to a large Washington D C Accounting firm owned by the law firm Kirkland and Ellis.

Every remaining employee received a letter containing a new Id card, access code and telephone numbers to call in most emergencies. Friday now needed a new name. She slowly walked to her new owner’s office with a smile on her face.

I repeated ‘Does that mean ... like G and I need to wear ties or something?’ to myself.