In many professional leagues, one thing is constant: jersey sales.
The number of jersey sales is not only a reflection of a player's popularity but also the first clue to their commercial value. Fans are always willing to spend their money to buy jerseys to support their favorite players and show their loyalty. There are home jerseys, away jerseys, commemorative jerseys, retro jerseys, limited-edition jerseys, and so on.
The importance of a jersey to a professional player goes without saying. Some stadiums even hang up jerseys with important numbers to commemorate a player's great contributions. A jersey has become a bridge that connects the player, the team, and the fans with a shared memory and belief.
After this year's draft, Cam Newton's jersey sales led the league by a large margin. This showed how much the Carolina Panthers loved and admired their first overall pick.
As a negative example, Lu Ke's jersey sales were a different story.
After joining the San Francisco 49ers as an undrafted rookie, Lu Ke had to give up his number 11 jersey from his college days because of Alex Smith. He then chose number 14, but his jersey didn't cause any commotion. The sales figures didn't even make it into the top fifty of the San Francisco 49ers' team.
The team's roster had a total of fifty-three players, but besides the fifty-three, there were also legendary players from the team's history and some players who had transferred this year. The jerseys sold on the market were definitely not just those of the fifty-three players. And for an undrafted rookie quarterback, people had no expectations, and his jersey sales naturally didn't have any momentum.
Before the regular season, because of a series of accidents, Lu Ke became the helmsman of the new San Francisco 49ers. The sales of the number 14 jersey did increase slightly, but it was still limited, probably just barely making it into the top fifty. Because the sales were so low, the official statistics didn't have detailed data. The jerseys ranked after forty-fifth probably only sold a few hundred units.
Ironically, a very small number of fans who bought the number 14 jersey didn't do so to show their support, but to vent their anger by tearing, cutting, piecing together, and defiling it to show the coaching staff and management their position.
In terms of jersey sales, Alex Smith was still the undeniable number one on the team. Colin Kaepernick, who joined the team this year, was in second place, which showed that fans had high hopes for him. After three weeks of the regular season, the situation was slowly changing.
According to the official statistics of the San Francisco 49ers and the NFL, Lu Ke's jersey sales had increased by 660% in the past week, soaring to the top ten in the San Francisco 49ers' team rankings!
Although Lu Ke's jersey sales figures were not yet amazing, let alone the entire league, they had just barely made it into the top ten of the San Francisco 49ers' team rankings. The sales figures were still behind those of rookies Aldon Smith, Logan Newman, and Marcus Lynch. This was not something a quarterback could brag about.
But no one could deny that the momentum and speed of the increase were terrifying, especially considering Lu Ke's Chinese-American background. This was even more commendable. Football had the weakest influence in the Chinese-American community and could not be compared to the sales of basketball jerseys. Even baseball jerseys sold better.
Now, Lu Ke's jersey sales were rising steadily, which complemented his strong performance on the field. He was moving forward step by step. It was incredibly hard and difficult, but he was always moving forward.
Today, after finishing his yoga training to relax his body, Lu Ke drove home. At the traffic light near his community, he was thinking about how to add the basic point he had earned this morning.
After the first week of the regular season, the daily training tasks had undergone a huge change and were completely in line with the regular season games. Now, two weeks later, after all the training tasks were completed on time and in full, the system automatically reminded him that he had completed the daily training tasks and earned a basic point when the clock turned to midnight.
After a simple thought, Lu Ke added this basic point to his medium-pass accuracy. It was originally sixty-seven, and now it was sixty-eight.
Although Lu Ke had mainly chosen to add points to his tactical awareness and observation skills yesterday, he also realized that his medium-pass accuracy and short-pass accuracy needed to be improved further. Otherwise, his tactical arrangements would be in place, but his passing accuracy wouldn't be able to keep up, and the result would be the same.
His short-pass accuracy of seventy-one and his medium-pass accuracy, which had grown to sixty-eight today, needed to catch up with the pace as soon as possible.
After adding the point, the red light turned green. Lu Ke focused again and skillfully drove back to the community he had grown up in. But then, Lu Ke was stunned. The scene in front of him left him confused, or rather, surprised.
On the short street, every household had a San Francisco 49ers number 14 jersey hanging on their front door. It was clearly Lu Ke's jersey. But why?
He slowly parked the car in a parking space on the side of the road and turned off the engine. Then he saw a neighbor passing by and greeting him enthusiastically, "Hey, Bambi!" He also turned his back and pointed to the number 14 on his jersey. "Go, Bambi, go!"
It was so sudden that Lu Ke was stunned for a moment, then he laughed. He politely waved his hand. "Thank you, Mrs. Franz." Mrs. Franz lived on the street corner and was a very kind old lady. Every time she baked cookies, she would deliver them to every household to let the kids have a taste. She was also very active in community events.
After watching her walk away, Lu Ke opened the car door and got out. He heard a group of children shouting from across the street. "Bambi! Bambi! Bambi!" It wasn't in unison, but rather a sporadic, cheerful shouting.
Lu Ke turned his head and saw a large group of children, about eight or nine of them. About half of them were wearing the San Francisco 49ers' red home jerseys. If he wasn't mistaken, there were number 14 and number 88 jerseys. Before Lu Ke could respond, they ran past him like a gust of wind.
Lu Ke was also full of questions as he walked to his front door. He opened the door and asked loudly, "Mom, what's going on in the community? Why..." But he stopped mid-sentence. He looked at his father and mother in front of him. His mind paused for a moment, then he laughed heartily. "Can you tell me what's going on? Why are you suddenly wearing jerseys? I know this is my jersey number. You don't have this habit, do you?"
The Newmans had this habit of wearing Logan's number 88 jersey to watch the games, like true loyal fans. But Lu Zhengze and Jiang Youning weren't fans. They only supported Lu Ke, so they had never had the habit of wearing jerseys.
Today, Lu Ke saw his parents wearing number 14 jerseys, and they were even wearing them over their regular clothes. The sleeves and collar of their inner clothes were sticking out, which looked really weird, like a failed Halloween costume.
"How does it look?" Lu Zhengze was examining his outfit. When he saw Lu Ke, he quickly asked.
Lu Ke had to answer, "You should only wear a sweat-wicking shirt or a tank top under the jersey. Wearing it over your clothes like a jacket looks weird."
Lu Zhengze suddenly understood. "Then I'll go change." Without waiting for Lu Ke to stop him, he turned and left.
Lu Ke could only look at his mother. Jiang Youning pulled at her jersey. The jersey seemed a little too big, and the hem was a bit too long, making it look a bit like a dress, but not quite.
However, Jiang Youning didn't mind at all. She said with a smile, "We just wanted to show our support. From now on, we'll wear jerseys to watch the games, just like Austin and Tiffany. Today, Tiffany even said that our community is discussing whether we should have a big barbecue party on game day this week and get everyone together to watch the live broadcast."
Looking at his son, who was full of surprise, Jiang Youning walked over and patted his butt. "What, not used to it? I went to Chinatown today, and a lot of young people were wearing your jersey. It seems like your performance is gaining more and more recognition. Maybe in the future, everyone on the street will be wearing your jersey."
Listening to his mother's explanation and recalling the scene he saw on the street just now, Lu Ke laughed. He nodded. "Maybe." Then, Lu Ke really looked at Jiang Youning's outfit from top to bottom. It still looked a little weird. "Mom, did you buy a men's size? You know there are women's sizes for jerseys, right?"
Jiang Youning's mouth slightly opened, and she looked stunned. She didn't say anything, but her expression made it clear: she didn't know.
Lu Ke laughed. "If you're not used to it, I'll get you a women's size from the team tomorrow."
"No, no, a men's size is fine. A bigger size is also good," Jiang Youning waved her hand. Then she seemed to have suddenly remembered something. She walked around the sofa, found a felt-tip pen from the coffee table, and said, "Oh, right, right. Quick, sign your name on my jersey."
"Mom!" Lu Ke couldn't help but want to hold his forehead. This feeling was too strange. Signing his name on his mom's jersey? It's not like she was a fan.
Jiang Youning didn't care. She put the felt-tip pen in Lu Ke's hand. "Quick, sign it. That's what makes it one of a kind. Otherwise, what if someone else takes this jersey?"
"If someone takes it, I'll get you ten more," Lu Ke said with a helpless smile. But facing Jiang Youning, who refused to back down, Lu Ke finally gave in. He honestly signed his name on the back of Jiang Youning's jersey, above the number 14.
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