The Quarterback Ch. 02

Staci and Jimmy's marriage lasted less than two years because Jimmy found someone younger. From what I heard, this was devastating for Staci. She was the one who usually ended a relationship. For Jimmy to dump her was something she had never experienced before.

Staci's show continued for five more years, and I must admit that I enjoyed watching it with Charlotte. However, the ratings slowly began to fall off until the show was canceled. Television, like football, is a business. If you are not making money for the owners, you are gone. Last I heard, Staci was a weathergirl in Toledo, Ohio.

I ran into Staci's mom about three years after the Super Bowl. I always liked Linda, so I stopped and had coffee with her. She confirmed that Staci was having a hard time dealing with Jimmy dumping her. Then Linda patted my hand and said she was having a hard time not having me as a son-in-law.

There was one other thing that I learned about Staci from a college girlfriend of hers. That time that she withdrew because she supposedly had mono. Staci did not have mono; she withdrew for the semester because she had an abortion. Apparently, there were complications that required Staci to be hospitalized. I don't know whether it is true, but her girlfriend said that because of the complications, Staci is no longer able to have children.

Jimmy's injury in the Super Bowl was only a strained ligament. Still, he only lasted another half year in New York before he was traded to Detroit for a seventh-round pick. I think the club and Jimmy were happy about the change. Jimmy was booed unmercifully every time he took the field in New York. He finished the season in Detroit and played one more year before being cut. The last I heard, Jimmy had filed for bankruptcy and was selling real estate in California.

I called Tabor from time to time, but TJ was still battling cancer. Approximately four years later, I got a call from Tabor that broke my heart. The doctors had told him that TJ only had a few months left. I immediately got plane tickets for Gina, Tabor, TJ to fly into town. The team's owner was kind enough to invite TJ and his family to watch the game from his box. I took TJ and Tabor to the locker room where the players could not have been nicer. TJ died three weeks after the game.

I flew out for the funeral, and it was one of the saddest things I have ever experienced. I couldn't help but cry when I saw the tiny little boy in the coffin wearing the jersey, I had given him in the hospital.

The death of TJ devastated Gina and Tabor, but they bounced back. Their love held them together, and they had three more children, all girls. Every year, sometime around Halloween, Charlotte and I would invite Tabor and his family to visit us in Jacksonville for a week. One of the things we would always do was catch a Jacksonville Jaguars game. Our two families would all wear jaguar jerseys with TJ and the number nine on the back. Nine was TJ's favorite number, and it also happened to be the number I used when I played for the Jaguars.

It is funny how life moves along. Charlotte and I were snuggling in bed one night when she gave me a completely different perspective on Jimmy and my love life.

"You know, you really should send a thank you note to Jimmy," my wife told me as she lay her head on my chest.

"Why would I want to send a thank you note to that asshole?" I asked, laughing.

"Think about it," she said, reaching up to kiss me. "The breakup with Gina had been painful for you back in high school, but you were just kids. And you cannot deny that Gina and Tabor are soulmates. And Jimmy did not push them together, so they obviously were attracted to each other already."

I refused to concede the point. "Maybe that's true, but what about the rest?"

"You admitted yourself that you dodged a bullet with Melinda. What is she on her third or fourth husband? Jimmy may have sent the guy to Ms. Worthington, but she spread her legs on her own. As for Staci, you were in love with an illusion. Jimmy forced you to see that the woman you loved did not exist. Besides, Staci got stuck with Jimmy, which did not end well for her."

"What about us?" I continued to challenge Charlotte. "Jimmy broke us up, and I almost lost you. That alone makes Jimmy a total asshole."

"Actually, that breakup made me a better woman," Charlotte said in a small voice.

"How so?"

"If we had gotten married back then, I was so insecure and jealous; you would have quickly gotten fed up with me. During the years apart, I went to a counselor and learned the truth about myself. I was selfish, insecure, and insanely jealous of any woman who got anywhere near you. So, because of Jimmy, you got the new, improved version of me."

"When you put it like that, I guess I do owe Jimmy a thank you note," I said as I nuzzled my face into Charlotte's breasts.

And I did send Jimmy a thank you note. Well actually, it was a postcard of the Super Bowl Champion Jacksonville Jaguars. All it said was, "Thank you for everything you have done for me."

Yes, I was being a prick, but I very much enjoyed it.

As for me, life is great. I am currently Century First's Executive Vice President. After eight years of marriage, Charlotte and I have a little boy, Jason, Jr., and a little girl, Cassie. Sometimes when I think back on it, for a kid who did not want to play football, I had a hell of a ride.