QB1 by Pete Bowen

Roger and shrugged my shoulders.
    “Let’s go see Matt,” she said. “I love that
guy.”
    I shrugged my shoulders again and said,
“Let’s go see Matt.” We got out and went to the door. I didn’t see
any security around. Benson answered the door himself and
immediately took Liz into his massive arms. Up close, these
football players were big. Matt was a first round draft pick out of
Texas. As a middle linebacker, he anchored and led the defensive
team. The Team defense had become dominant last year and he was
definitely the star.
    “I’m so sorry about Tony, Liz,” Benson said.
Roger and I shook hands with him and he led us into his living
room. A beautiful woman stood there to meet us. Holy shit, these
football players get the women! Matt introduced her as his friend
Keisha. She offered her condolences to Liz and offered to get
refreshments. We declined and we all sat down as Keisha left
us.
    “What happened to Jade?” Liz asked Matt.
    “I upgraded,” he said.
    “You do a lot of upgrading,” she said.
    “Elizabeth, I’m so bummed about Tony,”
obviously wanting to get out of that discussion. “He was more than
just a friend. I would have done anything for that guy.”
    “He thought the world of you, Matt.”
    Benson looked at us, “I know about you guys.
Saw you on Leno young man,” he said to Roger.
    “I’ve seen you on TV too, Mr. Benson,” said
Roger.
    “Matt, Oscar Tierney suggested I speak with
you as one of the leaders of the team. He’s hired me to look after
the team’s interests, be a liaison for the investigation with the
authorities and the team and NFL. We were wondering if you could
share anything about what Tony may have been up to the last month.
He seems to have fallen off everyone’s radar.”
    Benson stretched in his chair. “A liaison,
huh?” he said. “How long have you known Tierney?”
    “Met him today,” I said.
    “Here is a tip in dealing with Tierney. If
his lips are moving, he’s lying. He is a two-faced
motherfucker.”
    “I’ve heard that before,” said Liz.
    Benson continued, “For all the love he
professes for his players, he makes decisions for one reason and
one reason only. How will this benefit me? He is the most soulless
person I have ever met.”
    Shrugging my shoulders, “It’s a business,” I
said.
    “It is, Tom,” said Benson, “and we’re all
just cattle to him. Just make sure your agreement is set in stone
because he’ll find some way to fuck you. He’s very consistent.”
    A thought struck me, “You think he had
something to do with Tony’s death?” I asked.
    Benson looked at me with no expression on his
face. “If it benefited him in some way.”
    “You’re a little bitter, I take it.”
    “I’ve just seen the shit he’s pulled. I got
no use for him as a human being.”
    I could see this was going nowhere so I
changed the subject. “You and Tony were close?”
    “Tony and I were close. I respected him more
than any player on the team. Tony Reilly had a great head for
football. He knew more about football than anyone on the field. I
would have been very surprised if he didn’t end up as a head coach
someday.” Benson stretched and put his hands behind his head. “We
both came in as rookies together. I was a number one draft pick. I
was the anointed one, the middle linebacker that was going to run
the defense. Tony was undrafted and if he hadn’t gone to Cal, he
probably wouldn’t have been playing. Tony’s job was to run the
scout team against the defense. Since he saw so much of the
defense, he became a student of it. He was a very positive guy and
he worked both sides of the ball in practice, encouraging the
defensive and the offensive players. Pointing out mistakes and
telling someone how to improve but never in a critical manner.
That’s a unique talent and soon everyone knew that Tony was someone
special. He would often go through me to relay a message to a
player. This was supposed to be the job of the