The Valleys of New Orleans, by Timothy Strauss

Dated: March 17, 1990

With the 65th pick of the AFL Initial Draft, the Tampa Blazers select wide receiver Gary Thompson.

Everyone around me winced. A man in a business suit and tie, sporting shoulder-length brown hair
(it's quite a sight, I assure you) slowly stood up and addressed the rest of us with a look of defeat, anger, and great burden.

"We just got punched in the face," he said. Murmurs of agreement rose up throughout the room. "See this?" he asked, as he pointed towards the blackboard full of names such as WR Bo Jackson, Des Frank Bishop and Mike Earl, G Heath Tolbert, and T Byron Forrester. "It's useless to us now." He quickly wiped the board clean, and with it, hours worth of brainstorming top, yet cheap performers. "If we don't get the best damn cover man available, we'll be watching Gary Thompson saunter into the end zone more times than I can stomach." Sternly, New Orleans Knights GM Darrel Michaud ordered his staff to call out the corners "worthy of lining up across from Gary Thompson."

"Keith Reid," someone called out. "He's making-" but he was cut off.

"I don't care what he's making," Michaud snarled.

Minutes of frantic discussion ensued. After the debates died down, on the board, scrawled in the tall, narrow handwriting of Michaud were 3 names.

Keith Reid
Steve Jones
Cedrick Broyles

"If one of these guys don't end up a Knight, we're in big trouble," Michaud said gravely.

With the 70th pick of the AFL Initial Draft, the Miami Blitz select wide receiver Scotty
Kleinsasser.

This time, everyone around me nodded. "This just convinces me even more we need a cornerback,"
Michaud said. If they could neutralize the biggest playmakers of two of their division rivals, the year could go very smoothly."

From that pick until the Knights's pick, two defensive backs went. Michaud and his staff were lucky in that they were both safeties. Or were they? New Orleans had expected one or two of their three targets to be off the board. With all three remaining, some felt they'd misjudged the perceived value of the shutdown corners and could select a top talent just 16 picks from now in the next round. Tempers flared, voices raised, and papers flew until the general manager shot themall a cold look.

"We will take Keith Reid to ensure we have adequate protection against Gary Thompson."

That was that: Michaud's word was the final one and all staff members followed suit. The only ones in the organization who winced at the pick were the accountants, who knew they had some heavy work to do trying to fill the roster cheaply.

But Michaud knows that Keith Reid is worth every penny he's getting paid. "If only for my sanity," he