Gridiron Follies Page 4

center of the field before getting tackled. Rahim was livid. He felt the play was illegal. He walked up to the main referee, screaming in his face. “WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT? THOSE FUCKERS WERE TUGGING ON MY JERSEY, WHERE’S THE DAMN FLAG?”

  The referee kept his composure, signaling that the ruling on the field would stand and that the Colts had possession of the ball. He tried to walk away from an enraged Rahim, but Rahim was not to be controlled. The Beast was unleashed; he trailed the ref all the way to the sidelines. When the ref turned around and signaled that Rahim was ejected, he went bonkers. Shoving the ref to the ground, glaring at him menacingly. His teammates had to restrain him, dragging him all the way to the tunnel. The air was rendered with boos from Colts fans. It was a dark moment in Bills history.

  That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. The NFL gave him a hefty fine and suspended him for the rest of the season and the playoffs. Of course the Bills had no chance to win without him and were easily defeated in the first round. He was traded to the lowly Detroit Lions in the off season for a few picks in the latter rounds of the draft. Their once prize acquisition had to be let go so as not to alienate the fans. The Lions needed Rahim’s skills but were also wary of giving him a huge contract. He simply came with too much baggage to justify such. So they offered him a contract juicy enough to entice him, but also not what his true value on the field warranted. He was offended, but he knew his options were limited. No other team was willing to take on a ‘head case’ like him.

  The season rolled around and Rahim was expected once more to revive a dying franchise, this time around it wasn’t going to be that easy. The first two years were down years. The Lions were a really bad team. Bad coach, bad organization, testy players and a disgruntled fan base. They won a total of four games in Rahim’s first two years with the team. His numbers plummeted; he became an afterthought to most.

  It was a trying period for Rahim. He felt alone, friends left him; lovers didn’t want anything to do with him. He tried to keep a low profile, did not want to be perceived as a bad guy but sometimes it just wasn’t good enough. His only love was football and he wanted to prove his naysayers wrong. So he hit the gym, motivated to get the Lions into the playoffs.

  His hard work paid off for him. With the new batch of talent the team had acquired in the off season, the Lions were once again looking like a decent outfit. It was a good year; they finished over .500 and barely missed the playoffs. Rahim had one of the best individual seasons from the running back position and was selected to represent the team at the All-Star game. Things were looking up once again in Detroit. The widespread belief in the city was that they were playoff bound and Rahim was looking like his old self once again.

  Outside of Detroit, things weren’t looking that rosy for the Lions. Pundits picked the team apart, but mostly Rahim. His sins were still trailing him. The media never seemed to have gotten over the incident where he threw the referee to the ground.

  Rahim knew this was most likely going to be his last chance to get a good contract. By the time the year was over he’d be 32 years of age. The next NFL deal would be his last. With all the hits he had taken in his career, chances of his body going another 5 to 10 years was highly unrealistic. So he put his all into his last season, determined to put the football world on notice.

  He did just that! It seems that whenever Rahim had his back to the wall, he produced better than expected. In their first 6 games the Lions went undefeated. Heads were turning at how well the team was playing, but most noticeably how Rahim had regained his ‘beastly’ form.

  Tragedy struck in the 7th game.

  It was a game against the top ranked defense in the nation, the Baltimore Ravens. The Lions had the ball at the 20 yard line, it was third down on the field. Coach wanted a go at it; why not go with what had been working? So the orders came in to give Rahim the ball. All he needed was a seam and he knew the touchdown was his. His Quarterback handed the ball to him and he was off, he’d broken a few tackles, and needed to avoid one more defender to get in the end zone, so he jumped thinking he’d extend his way to a touchdown. The defender reacted otherwise, hitting him in the pelvis area in mid-air, causing him to land on his neck with a sickening thud.

  The tension in the stadium could have been cut with a knife. Everyone who saw the play was frozen in shock, wondering what had happened to Rahim. He lay there motionless for a few minutes. The team medics rushed onto the field and carted him off on a stretcher. Rahim was out cold, it was one of the worst injuries ever seen on an NFL field. He was moved to a nearby clinic where it was diagnosed that his vertebrae had shifted in some spots. He didn’t come to until the third day and when he did, it felt like his whole body was on fire. As the days went by the pain subsided, he could move about, but he knew there was something wrong. The biggest question on his mind was getting on the football field before the playoffs were over.

  See Rahim knew his reputation was in tatters and this was his last shot at fixing that. If he didn’t get back on the field before the playoffs were over, chances of getting a lucrative deal were out the door. So when the doctor told him there was no way he would play the game again with his shifted vertebrae, it felt like a bullet had pierced his heart.

  “Doc tell me that’s a joke? Please tell me you are joking?” pleaded Rahim bolting to his feet as the Doctor delivered the sad news.

  “I am sorry, there’s nothing I can do. Of course I can’t force you, but be warned if you get another hit, you could be paralyzed and even worse lose your life”.

  Rahim stood there stunned. A tear rolled down his cheek. Reality was staring him in the face and it didn’t look good for him.

  He walked out of the room meekly and back to his car. He sat behind the steering wheel for a good hour, a trance like expression on his face. He probably would have stayed there longer if his phone didn’t go off.

  RING! RING! RING!

  He looked down at it, the caller ID read ‘ZIGGY’.

  “Hullo, he said.

  “What did the doctor say? The gruff voice on the other end replied.

  Rahim sighs, “Said I can’t play. Something about a shifted vertebrae.”

  “Damn, that sucks big time man. You sure there ain’t nuffin he can do about that?”

  “Positive! Told me any more hits could make me a cripple, might even lose my life.”

  “That’s some brutal stuff fam. How you taking all this?”

  Rahim goes silent for a moment, there’s so much running through his mind.

  “Honestly, don’t know how to answer that. Football’s all I know man. I can’t imagine life without it.” He finally spoke into the phone, barely audible.

  “Yo, where you at man? You don’t sound too good,” boomed Ziggy.

  “I am still at the hospital...well in their parking lot right now.”

  “How long before you get home?”

  “Like 20 minutes, depends on traffic really.”

  “I’ll be there in about an hour; we’ll find a solution to this man. Don’t start feeling all sorry for yourself”, his friend tried to console him.

  “I am not, just gotta deal with reality. I guess I’ll be seeing you in a few,” a resigned Rahim speaks into the phone.

  “Aite man, one.” The phone line on the other end goes dead.

  Rahim pockets his phone, starts the car and drives off.

  An hour or so later, Rahim is seated in his living room just staring at the fish tank. The blinds of the house are all pulled down, casting of a dark eerie vibe. It doesn’t seem to bother him, once again looking like he is in a trance.

  The door bell rings a couple of times before he gets up to answer it.

  Ziggy, a behemoth of a man, stands there looking at Rahim quizzically. Its like his whole body is crammed with muscles, even his locks have a bulging appearance to them.

  “Where you been man? I have been ringing the bell for the last 10 minutes”

  Rahim doesn’t respond. He just walks back indoor
s, leaving Ziggy at the door fuming.

  Ziggy storms inside to see Rahim seated at the same spot, staring at the fish tank.

  “Dude, what the heck was that?” questions Ziggy.

  Rahim just looks ahead; it’s like he can’t hear what Ziggy is saying. Ziggy walks over and stands right in front of him, forcing Rahim to acknowledge his presence.

  “I am sorry Zig; I just don’t feel like talking about anything.”

  “Unfortunately I don’t wanna hear noneofdat. You look like shit man…Is this how you gon be acting in this big ass house? If anything happens to you, no one’s going to know…. I ain't allowing that,” bellows Ziggy.

  “What you gonna do Zig, beat me? I am a grown man; I am allowed to feel sorry for myself.”

  “Listen to you. That’s weak talk man….You are f’ing Rahim ‘The Beast’ Jenkins. So what if some Doc told you that you can’t play, since when do you give up that easily?”

  “I saw it man, I saw my back. It doesn’t look right. This ain’t about giving up, this is reality.” Rahim looks like he is resigned to his fate, but Ziggy is adamant.

  “Look, I’ll ask around, you know that stuff I take, it really works wonders especially when it comes to healing”, says Ziggy.

  “You talking about steroids?” Rahim raises his eyebrows quizzically.

  “Yeah”.  Ziggy walks over and sits besides his friend.

  “Man, you know I don’t mess with that stuff. Don’t wanna put anything in