Cover-up by John Feinstein

seventh round prior to their first season—presumably to hold a clipboard and upgrade the team’s IQ. But he had become a starter in his second season and a true star in this, his third season, leading the Dreams on their unlikely Super Bowl run.
    â€œAnd he went to high school where?” Kelleher said.
    Finally
it hit Stevie. “Summit High School in Summit, New Jersey. Let me guess—this guy played with him.”
    â€œDidn’t just play with him. Was his number one receiver and, apparently, one of the main reasons Harvard recruited him.”
    â€œAnd no one else knows this story?”
    â€œI think some of the Baltimore guys probably do. Brian Billick mentioned it to me when I was talking to the Ravens during the off-week, but I haven’t seen anyone write about it yet. Coach Billick introduced me to him, and Darin said he’d be happy to talk this week. I’ll introduce you.”
    They walked over to Kerns, who was now opening another box. “Darin, how are you?” Kelleher said.
    Kerns looked confused for a moment, then recognition flickered in his eyes. “Hey, how are you?” he said, shaking hands with Kelleher. “Bobby Kelleher, right?”
    He turned quickly to Stevie. “And I know who you are,” he said. “I watched your show. It was entertaining. Smart stuff. I’m really sorry….”
    â€œIt’s okay,” Stevie said, accepting his handshake. “I’m here, and I’ve got plenty to do.”
    â€œIncluding, I hope,” Kelleher said, “interviewing you.”
    Kerns smiled. “I think that can be arranged,” he said. “I just have to get some of my guys to store this stuff in the locker room and check on a couple other things. Can you wait about ten minutes?”
    â€œOf course,” Stevie said. “Should I wait for you here?”
    Kerns glanced around. “Nah, why don’t you walk back to the locker room with me. It’ll be quieter there.”
    That was fine with Stevie. He and Kelleher agreed to meet near the goalpost closer to the locker room at 10:30, which was when the Ravens were scheduled to leave and the Dreams were supposed to arrive. That gave Stevie almost an hour to interview Darin Kerns, learn his way around “backstage,” and then see if he could think of a way to get close enough to Eddie Brennan to get a quote from him on his old high school buddy. That, Stevie realized, would be the hard part, since Brennan would be in high demand from the media while he was on the field.
    For now, though, he’d concentrate on the interview at hand. He followed Kerns up the tunnel leading to the locker rooms. When they reached the hallway, a yellow-jacketed security guard put a hand up to stop Stevie.
    â€œNo media back here today,” he said. “Field only.”
    Kerns was about to say something when the guard put his hand down. “Oh, wait, you’ve got a CBS credential. You’re fine.”
    Stevie almost wanted to tell the guard that CBS was media just like everyone else, but he knew that wasn’t the case. For one thing, CBS was
paying
to televise the game as part of its multibillion-dollar deal with the NFL. For another, he knew from his own brief experiences that
TV
was a magic word in the English language.
    â€œWhere
did
you get the CBS badge?” Kerns asked as they walked down a long hallway filled with signs directing people to locker rooms and holding areas and elevators and the field.
    â€œThey want me to do some work for them this week,” he said. “Right now, I’m working for the
Washington Herald,
but I’m going to do some CBS stuff too.”
    â€œGood for you,” Kerns said. “Sure made our lives easier just now.”
    They finally reached a door that had a huge sign on it that said BALTIMORE RAVENS—AFC CHAMPIONS . Stevie followed Kerns inside and was stunned by the size of the locker room. It