Jerry Maguire Page #21

TIDWELL:

(irritated)

Shouldn't you be out there doing

some pickle dance or something --

Pickle Man nods and goes out to

dance for the crowd.

VOICE:

Hey Rod -- hey Buddydude --

Tidwell turns. It's Bob Sugar approaching. Laser-like, ready

to feed on his insecurity.

SUGAR:

Listen, I spoke to your

quarterback. He's my client, you

know. And I said, "take care to

get those passes down, let Tidwell

look good on t.v."

Tidwell looks at him, chews his toothpick.

SUGAR:

(continuing)

You should let me do more for you.

I would have had you your deal by

tonight. Al Michaels is a friend

of mine. I would have had him on

the air, talking about you,

tonight, when it counts.

TIDWELL:

Get outta here. Go.

_

120.

SUGAR:

Where's your agent tonight?

TIDWELL:

Don't know.

SUGAR:

Rod. I know this is "uncool" to

do this now, but you belong with

the big boys. You belong with the

money. You belong with --

Here comes Jerry Maguire.

JERRY:

Get the f*** away from my guy,

Sugar.

Tidwell can't help it. He beams as he sees his agent

approach.

TIDWELL:

Jerry! You made it --

JERRY:

(off Sugar)

Go. Flee.

Sugar retreats, offering one final look to Rod, think about

what I said.

TIDWELL:

Thanks for coming.

JERRY:

(bittersweet)

I missed ya. What can I say?

INT. TIDWELL HOME -- NIGHT

They watch the game.

GIFFORD (ON T.V.)

It's a bruiser out there tonight.

MICHAELS (ON T.V.)

Arizona refusing to go into the

quiet night of this rough football

season. Come on, I'm trying to be

poetic here.

Tidwell takes a rough hit, and they respond loudly.

_

121.

DIERDORF (ON T.V.)

Ooof. Another rough hit across

the middle on Rod Tidwell.

Nothing poetic about that.

INT. PRESS BOX -- NIGHT

Maguire moves through the box.

INT. FIELD -- NIGHT

Tidwell takes a hit. Hangs onto the ball.

INT. TIDWELL LIVING ROOM -- NIGHT

The Tidwell clan are banging on t.v. trays and whooping

loudly. But in the middle of the cheers, Marcee sees the

unsettled look on young Tyson's face. She pulls him over to

her, giving him preference over baby Kaydee. He is the only

thing in her world, as she says:

MARCEE:

What does daddy say?

TYSON:

"It looks worse than it is...

Marcee gives him a kiss, as Tidwell makes another grueling

gain on the field.

FRANK GIFFORD'S VOICE

They don't pay enough for a man to

take that kind of ugly hit --

MARCEE:

(to others)

Boy, no s-h-i-t.

Big laughs from the living room. Except Tee Pee.

TEE PEE:

He's gonna have nothing left for

next season. They're letting him

kill himself.

MARCEE:

Can you be quiet?

TEE PEE:

What'd I say?

INT. PRESS BOX -- NIGHT

Maguire watches as Arizona's quarterback John Swenson drops

back for a pass, and is sacked.

_

122.

Philadelphia fans cheer wildly. The game is turning uglier

by the minute. Jerry looks up to the monitor for a closet

look at the next play.

ON PRESS BOX MONITOR

Swenson, the Arizona quarterback, throws a wobbly pass into

the end-zone. Tidwell leaps for the catch, tucks the ball in

and is promptly and brutally hit by two defenders from two

different sides. This hit is bad. Worse than bad. Tidwell

flips and comes down like a sack of potatoes, with a thud,

ball still in his hands. His head hits the astroturf, hard.

Tidwell is out cold. And the ripple effect of the injury

shoots through the stadium. Jerry stares at the monitor,

stunned by the sudden brutality.

EXT. ARIZONA FIELD -- NIGHT

We are thrust into the vortex, inside the game. Tidwell lies

still on turf. Overhead, the fight music continues for a few

seconds before disappearing abruptly. Players and coaches

begin to gather around the still body of Rod Tidwell.

TV MONITOR -- SLO-MO

The hit in replay. It is brutal. And we can see a flash of

his pride as he catches the lousy pass, and then... like two

bulls, the Philadelphia defenders enter from each side. One

cuts his legs out from under him, and Rod's taut body

literally flips. The second defender then hits him at the

shoulders. Tidwell lands on the back of his neck, crumpling

downwards. Still holding the ball. Still.

INT. TIDWELL LIVING ROOM -- NIGHT

Silence. Utter silence.

GIFFORD'S VOICE

-- you sure hope his family

wasn't watching that.

And then, in a cry that gurgles from way down deep, Marcee

begins to sob. Camera catches the face of Tyson, now

panicked. Scared, he embraces his mother.

INT. BOWELS OF SUN DEVIL STADIUM

Maguire sprints through the inner bowels of the stadium. He

turns the corner, into the tunnel, talking his way past a

guard, heading into the bright t.v. light of the football

field.

_

123.

INT. TIDWELL LIVING ROOM -- NIGHT

Gathering around the television, the family waits through a

commercial for more information on Rod's injury.

TEE PEE:

He should have kept his head

tucked down.

MARCEE:

(immediately)

Shut up!!!

TEE PEE:

I'm not putting him down, I just

have a commitment to the truth.

Marcee lunges for him.

MARCEE:

Can't you be loyal to your brother

who LOVES you??

(she is held back)

Get out of my house!

Across the room, the phone starts ringing. A COUSIN answers.

COUSIN:

It's Jerry Maguire!

EXT. ARIZONA FIELD -- NIGHT

Jerry Maguire on the portable.

JERRY:

He took a shot. He's unconscious.

MARCEE:

I'm freakin out. Oh God I'm --

JERRY:

Keep the phone open. I'll call

back. Stay calm. He's got some

good doctors out there.

MARCEE:

"Stay calm?" I'm freakin...

JERRY:

Alright, I'm freaking too. But

they need you to stay calm. I'll

call back.

_

124.

MARCEE:

My whole life is this family,

Jerry. It doesn't work without him.

She takes a big gulp, as Jerry watches an overzealous Trainer

run out onto the field to join the cluster around the fallen

Tidwell. Jerry covers phone and yells onto the field.

JERRY:

DON'T TOUCH HIM!!!

EXT. CENTER OF PLAYING FIELD -- NIGHT

We're now just a few inches in front of his peaceful,

sleeping face. They are all. YELLING, trying to pull him out.

SHOTS OF NATIONAL TELEVISION AUDIENCES

1) A full sports bar in arizona silently watches Monday

Night Football.

2) Generic living room of sports fans, all watching Tidwell

pinned to the screen.

3) Generic outdoor bar-b-que as white fans watch t.V.

4) Tidwell living room. All gathered around the television.

5) Maguire straining at the sideline.

ON TIDWELL -- CLOSE

Dead to the world as sound disappears. There is now only

silence.

POV TIDWELL - SLO-MO -- SILENCE

The Doctors and the Trainers are now truly panicked. We

don't hear them. We see them, their motions increasingly

manic. Shoving fingers in front of him. Screaming. We read

their lips. ("Rod!" "Rod can you hear us!") We see the

anguish and escalating fear on their faces. The Trainer

leans in close, bellowing, he spreads his hands wide to clap

right in front of Rod's still face. His hands head toward

each other... closer... bringing with them the first inkling

of sound... getting closer and then finally coming together,

bringing with him the sounds of the stadium.

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