Like every time before Tony found himself back in Roy"s body when he drifted to sleep. He walked downstairs and with a yawn saw there was no more food left in the fridge. He went back upstairs and put on a new suit.He checked himself over to make sure he had everything before going out into the city to get breakfast. Given he didn"t know the area well enough he wandered around the blocks in search of any sort of destination. He gave on walking aimlessly so he waved down a cab, one came by shortly and he asked them, "Where would you suggest for breakfast?"
"There is a small family owned restaurant called Dee and Mike"s Diner it is a bit of a drive through."
"That is fine, thank you."
The drive itself was calm and but Tony"s phone didn"t give him the same calmness. With the draft having now ended, Roy was getting calls from other GMs about trades. Most of the people were interested in Champ Bailey and by the third person asking the same question, Tony turned off his phone.
"You"re Roy White?"
Tony couldn"t help but laugh, "Yea, you have any complaints from the draft?"
The driver shook his head, "Actually I don"t. I know nothing about drafting, but I"m curious why you made the choices you made."
"There is no definitive answer. I can only admit that my draft wasn"t perfect. I simply believed that the players I picked would give us the best chance of winning. Want to know something?"
"What?"
"Tim Couch, the apparent star QB won"t throw for 1000 yards this year"
"That"s a bold statement." The driver laughed in shock.
Tony didn"t answer as he watched out the window for the small time diner.
The taxi pulled up to the diner and Tony paid the fine. Tony stood outside of the diner for awhile memories of his father flooded his mind and brought forth a smile. He hadn"t been to this specific diner but the feeling of the cold along with the threat of snow reminded him of sitting by the window with a cup of hot cocoa in hand.
He strolled in the diner and found himself a seat by the window taking a posture similar to the young version of himself. His coffee came not long after with the waitress also asking for his order, nothing special pancakes, eggs, and bacon.
After she left he took the cup in hand and toasted the heavens similar to how people do with shots. It was a weird sight but with no one in the diner, it didn"t make a scene.
After the filling meal and the bill paid Tony walked out and around the area. He didn"t have many plans for this moment and was waiting until later to start the main objectives of today.
He took in the cool weather and lazily called for taxis as he saw them about to drive by. It wasn"t till the fifth that one picked him up and drove him to the Training Facility.
---
Tony sat at his deck looking for the phone numbers for free agents" agents. He silently swore in his head that he hated Roy for being so disorganized. He also made a mental note to spend a day and clean this room up.
He eventually found the first person he was looking,
"Roy, how may I help you?"
"I"m calling about Terrence Wilkins."
"The boy out of Virginia, good choice."
The chat was actually much easier than he thought, Terrence Wilkins wasn"t a star and was someone who you may define as below average for a WR under Peyton Manning.
This was only the first of many calls though, next was Qadry Ismail a WR who would have three good years for the Ravens before going to the Colts for his final year in the NFL.
Next would one of the calls Tony was dreading,
"h.e.l.lo Mr. Donahoe, I"ll make this quick I"m looking at Hines Ward."
"That"s a tough request Roy, what"s your offer?"
"I"m prepared to offer you a second. Last year he only caught 45% of the pa.s.ses sent his way. I feel my offer may be a bit much." Hesitance a big negotiation move, by showing you"re unsure means the other end may turn out to be frantic.
"Given you called though, you believe he has potential."
"You"re right if it was only was last year"s stats he would only be worth maybe a fifth or sixth."
"I"m sorry but I can"t let him go so easily."
"What do you want?"
"A second, and a third."
"No way I can do that. How about, a second and fourth."
"I"ll stand on second and third."
Tony stayed silent, a second and third were high for the current possible but this was Hines Ward a WR who never made the cut to be Hall of Fame (HOF) but he was d.a.m.n close, 1,000 receptions and 12,000 receiving years over a 13-year career.
"Deal."
"It"s been a pleasure, Roy." Tony could hear a slight laugh but he didn"t care. He knew that today he overpaid but in the future, everything would be fine.
"The pleasure is my own." Tony bode before he was hung up on, there was an evident pattern here.
Taking out a piece of paper he wrote down the required positions and names next to it. The ones left blank were, LT, RG, DE1, DE2, MLB, and RCB.
He was almost there, he could taste the finish line. Now to go for the last sprint and create the best team.
He shook his head at the thought, "I"m not looking for the best team this year. I"m looking to make a dynasty that will be talked about for generations. I guess before that, would be the best team."
This single messy room was only the starting point. The angry coaches and staffers only pa.s.ser-bys.
"h.e.l.lo, I"m hoping to talk to you about Barry Sims." And within a few short moments, another name was written down, LT checked off.