"So, did the Redskins' test put Lu Ke to the test?" Kipp asked curiously.
Vic interjected, "More than Lu Ke, I'm more curious about Cam Newton's test results."
During his time in college, Cam was forced to drop out after he was caught stealing a classmate's laptop. The entire league knew about this. During the draft, it was rumored that the Carolina Panthers took this very seriously, repeatedly asking about the details of the incident and even considering not using the number one overall pick on Cam.
"Cam didn't go to the Redskins' interview. The Redskins knew they wouldn't be able to draft Cam, so they focused on other quarterbacks," Kipp explained, and everyone nodded.
Craig finally caught on and joined the conversation, "In high school and college, Lu Ke was always a diligent and hardworking player, and there were no off-field issues."
To become a qualified football player, Lu Ke put in a lot of effort in college. He didn't slack off even as a practice squad player, and the Bruins' head coach, Rick Neuheisel, praised Lu Ke endlessly. Not only that, but outside of football, Lu Ke's academic performance was also outstanding and impressive.
But Craig still asked, "Lu Ke passed the test, right?"
"What do you think Lu Ke did?" Jim's face showed a smug expression as he deliberately created suspense and piqued everyone's interest.
"Come on, Jim, we don't have time for jokes," Craig said, rolling his eyes helplessly and tapping his watch. "Tick-tock, tick-tock, the reporters will be here soon."
Jim shrugged, expressing his helplessness at Craig's lack of humor, but he didn't continue to beat around the bush. "During the interview, Lu Ke handed a sealed envelope back to the Redskins. In the envelope, there was the hundred-dollar bill and a note." Then, he paused for a moment, one second, two seconds, and when he saw the impatience and annoyance in everyone's eyes, he finished his sentence. "The note said: Give this back to me after I help you win a Super Bowl."
The coaches looked at each other, exchanged glances, and then exclaimed with profanity, "Damn it!" "Son of a bitch!" "Holy shit!"
Craig also put his hands on his hips, thought about it carefully, and couldn't help but laugh, but he also couldn't help but shake his head. "So, what does that mean?"
"It means that his desire and obsession with winning, his belief and determination for the game, and his plan and faith in his career are far more outstanding than we imagined," Jim's eyes showed a smile, and he didn't hide his smugness and satisfaction. He raised his right hand, clenched it into a fist, and waved it lightly. "He led us to two wins, and there's no reason why we can't expect a third."
In competitive sports, there is nothing that a victory can't solve. If one victory can't solve it, then two or three will. The two consecutive regular season wins could be called luck, a coincidence, or skill, but what was undeniable was that it had earned Lu Ke enough leverage and had also become the key to him continuing to be the starter.
After the second regular season game, the first question Jim thought about was: Alex Smith or Lu Ke.
As the head coach, Jim was never one to sit back and wait. Instead, he took the initiative and called multiple scouts, repeatedly asking about Lu Ke's performance in the rookie training camp. The news from the Washington Redskins was an unexpected bonus.
Unexpectedly, Jim learned that in the draft, the Washington Redskins almost chose Lu Ke with the 152nd pick in the fifth round. But at the last minute, the team made a series of trades, exchanging picks with the Indianapolis Colts and the Houston Texans, and then with the New Orleans Saints. In their hesitation, they gave up on Lu Ke.
In the end, the Washington Redskins didn't pick a quarterback in the draft this year and continued to use Rex Grossman as their starting quarterback.
After the new season started, Lu Ke's outstanding performance had become a big phenomenon in the league. However, even though the Washington Redskins were disappointed, they didn't have too many regrets. Under Rex's leadership, they also got off to a good start with two consecutive wins. So, with a relaxed mindset, when someone asked about Lu Ke, they didn't hide anything and generously shared the behind-the-scenes story.
For the Redskins, it was a missed opportunity. For the 49ers, it was a lucky encounter.
Before today, Jim had already made his decision.
"But what about the locker room?" Kipp still expressed his concern. The situation this morning looked terrible.
Jim's breath was caught in his chest, and he seemed to be deep in thought. This was not his area of expertise, but without any hesitation, he shrugged, "This week, Alex still needs some time to recover and get used to the rhythm of the game again. Next week, we'll see who is better between Alex and Lu Ke in practice and then decide on the starter."
Simply put, sports should be solved with sports. It wasn't about scheming or plotting. Everything would be solved in a fair and square way on the field. When two opponents meet on a narrow path, the brave one wins.
Competition will never disappear, and there is only one best way to win: pure skill.
Two wins were incredibly rare, but they were not a Super Bowl.
As an undrafted rookie, Lu Ke still had a very long journey ahead of him to prove himself. It wasn't just the starting job for the third game, but for every game for the rest of the season. The same was true for Alex. By being chosen as the starting quarterback, he would also have to face Lu Ke's continuous challenge.
"If necessary, Colin Kaepernick can also join the competition if he can pass his concussion test," Jim said after he made up his mind, opening up all possibilities with a very relaxed mindset. "According to the original plan, Colin should be our starting quarterback. So let's get back on track and see how things develop."
Jim went all in and completely opened up the competition for the quarterback position. All three players had their own strengths and weaknesses. In the competition, they would have to continuously improve their form and ability to keep the starting job. Otherwise, the other two players who were watching closely would take their place.
In this way, a healthy cycle would truly form, which could be a driving force for the quarterbacks to push themselves. At the same time, it could also liven up the team's atmosphere and let their skills do the talking, shutting down all the controversies and disagreements. In fact, for the San Francisco 49ers, a team that was in the process of rebuilding and still in the integration phase, this was not a bad thing.
"Alex Smith vs. Lu Ke vs. Colin Kaepernick." A fair and square showdown on the field to choose the starting quarterback. It was simple, direct, and decisive. All the locker room conflicts and arguments would be completely extinguished. The winner would be king, and the loser would be…the backup. All the conflicts would come to an end.
Of course, healthy competition is the ideal state. In practice, whether or not unexpected things would happen was unknown. This wasn't the best solution, but it was a feasible one.
Craig looked at Kipp, Vic, and the others, and they exchanged glances. Then the other coaches also exchanged glances, raised their eyebrows, nodded, shrugged, and spread their hands. With a sense of helplessness but also a willingness to try, they gave their approval and agreed.
Then, everyone started to banter, "This is the fairest way," "Practice next week is going to be interesting," "Why do I feel a little excited?" "Now I'm more curious about what the result of this week's game will be"...
The chirping and discussion once again livened up the atmosphere in the locker room, and the locker room conflict had temporarily found a way out.
For the 2011 season, the starting quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers in the third week of the regular season was officially confirmed. It was still Lu Ke!
During the following practice, Jim immediately announced the coaching staff's decision. Then Kipp also had a one-on-one conversation with Alex, informing him of the plan for the next week and hoping that Alex wouldn't be too hasty. He wanted Alex to slowly ease back into his daily training this week and be ready for the team competition next week.
Soon, the entire team knew about the quarterback competition in the fourth week. All the arguments and disputes were temporarily put on hold. Even Parish was no exception. He temporarily put aside his disagreements, refocused, and got back into his regular training to prepare for the third game.
In the subsequent official media interviews, the reporters immediately asked about the starting quarterback competition. Jim gave a simple and clear answer, "This week, Lu Ke will still be our starting quarterback. Alex has just returned from an injury and had some recovery training last week. He's back in football training this week, and we still need to observe the recovery of his injury. So, for the third game, Lu Ke will still be our starting quarterback."
"What about next week?" The reporters didn't want to miss out on the news and held on tight.
Jim wasn't good at dealing with the media and didn't like dealing with them, but he understood the basic rules. "We'll worry about next week when it comes. Right now, the team needs to focus on our opponent for the third week. We have a lot of things to prepare for, and we can't take it lightly. The Cincinnati Bengals are not an opponent to be underestimated."
The simple words were effective enough. Even if the reporters wanted to dig deeper, those words were enough to stop them. But for the reporters, if one story didn't work out, there was always another one.
"This week's game is against the Cincinnati Bengals. Lu Ke, what are your thoughts?" Jim was no longer the focus, so the reporters turned their attention to Lu Ke.
But this time, they were destined to be disappointed.
"For a rookie player, every game has to be taken seriously, and every opponent has to be treated the same. I have no other thoughts than to focus on preparing for the game and hope that we can continue our winning streak." Lu Ke's answer was perfect.
But would the media just let it go?
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