The quarterbacks on the field were all wearing their own jerseys. The one in the bottom-right corner of the field was wearing a New York Jets jersey. The one on the right was wearing a Denver Broncos jersey. And the one in the top-left corner was wearing a San Francisco 49ers jersey with the number 11.
The San Francisco 49ers' number 11 is Alex Smith.
Obviously, the person on the field was not Alex, so who was he? He was too far away to tell. His helmet was covering his face, and the shoulder pads on his jersey were hiding his body shape, so it was impossible to tell what he really looked like.
"Lu Ke, the Chinese quarterback." Kip's explanation made both Jim and Craig stop in their tracks.
A moment ago, they were thinking about which quarterback on the free-agent list was named "Luke," but the next second, Kip's answer exploded in their minds.
Their first reaction was, "No way." Their second reaction was still, "No way." And their third reaction was, "What's going on?"
If he were just the only Chinese player at the rookie training camp, people might not have a strong impression of him. After all, with a helmet on, it's hard to tell who's who, and no one would pay special attention to him. But this Chinese player was different.
First, he got a perfect score on the Wonderlic test. Then, he was the first to score a touchdown in the practice game. His skills as a quarterback were truly impressive, and he was getting a lot of attention. But then, all the high expectations didn't last.
During the draft, it's no exaggeration to say that almost no one remembered this Chinese quarterback. The ingrained belief that "Chinese and Asian players can't handle a leading role" played a decisive role.
But now, just the mention of the name "Chinese quarterback" was enough to jog Jim's memory. The accuracy of his passes, his decisive judgment, and his ability to read the defense had all left a deep impression. At the time, the 49ers had a meeting and seriously considered this player, but they ultimately decided against him.
This was because there wasn't enough data to go on. No one was willing to take a risk based solely on a brief, excellent performance at a rookie training camp. Lu Ke had played very few games in college, not even a single full game.
If Lu Ke had played a full year in college—at least one year—and also performed well at the training camp, there would have been a lot of teams willing to pick him in the later rounds, and he wouldn't have gone undrafted. But unfortunately, there were no "what ifs."
After coming back to his senses, Jim was a little hesitant.
First, Lu Ke was a rookie. The 49ers' current situation didn't need another rookie to add to their burden. Colin hadn't even figured out the playbook yet, so another rookie would probably just make things worse.
Second, Lu Ke was Chinese. It was 2011, not a conservative and closed-off era from half a century ago when any team that used a Black player might face protests from fans. But it was undeniable that being the first coach to use a Chinese quarterback required courage—not just for any position, but for the quarterback position.
Third, Lu Ke's physical fitness. If he remembered correctly, Lu Ke's physical fitness was only average. For a Black or white player, average would be enough, but for an Asian player...
The three quarterbacks on the field were still diligently going through their passing drills. Jim stood there, his mind racing with different thoughts. Then, he heard Kip's voice:
"He doesn't look like a rookie quarterback at all. Jim, don't you remember? The first two games of his career—and the only two games he's played—he was called in during a crisis and led a comeback victory. He reminds me of Eli Manning, a quarterback with a big heart."
Jim clenched his teeth. He knew that this small step could be a historical one. But he had to put those thoughts aside for now and focus entirely on "ability." So, he said, "Bring me Lu Ke's physical test results from today. I want to see them."
Focused, concentrated, and single-minded—that was Lu Ke's state right now. He wasn't thinking about the tryout, the difficulties ahead, or the competition. He didn't even notice the changes on the sidelines. He was solely focused on his passing drills.
This wasn't his first tryout. And it might not be his last.
A long time ago, Lu Ke knew that for white or Black quarterbacks, they only needed to show 60% of their ability to have a chance at becoming a backup, especially in the 49ers' current crisis. This was similar to how the New York Jets chose Greg McElroy in the seventh round.
But for a Chinese quarterback, he had to show 120%, even 200%, of his ability to have a chance. After going through the tryout process for the past three months, he was more and more certain of this.
Having the Superstar Football System was his biggest advantage, but in the past few months, he hadn't relaxed for a second.
Suddenly, he felt like he was back in his junior year as a practice player. After two years of failure, he finally made it onto the team, and he cherished this hard-won opportunity. He treated every practice like it was the Super Bowl and every day of training like it was his last. He gave it his all, holding nothing back, and just focused on sprinting, sprinting, and sprinting again.
It wasn't an easy thing to do, but it was something that made him feel happy.
Since the rookie training camp, through the draft and countless tryouts until today, Lu Ke hadn't missed a single day of his daily training regimen, not even during his drive to Washington. He always found a way to complete all his training on time and as planned. So, over the past five and a half months, he had accumulated a total of eleven basic points.
All eleven basic points were used where they mattered most.
First, Lu Ke added six points to his observational awareness, bringing the skill to 70 points. It had crossed the passing grade and reached the minimum standard for an excellent rating. This meant that in this skill alone, Lu Ke had reached and even surpassed the league's average level.
Second, Lu Ke added one point to his tactical awareness, bringing that skill from 69 to 70 points. With his tactical awareness and observational awareness, along with his three passing accuracy skills, Lu Ke had moved past the rookie stage in his basic quarterback skills and was truly in the average range.
However, being a quarterback is not just about passing. Being an excellent passer doesn't mean Lu Ke is an excellent quarterback, because he still has a lot of ground to cover in terms of his running and tackling ability.
So, Lu Ke put the remaining four basic points into carrying the ball while running, which brought the skill up to 69 points, just one point away from 70.
Before this, Lu Ke's passing while running skill was already at 70 points. Now, with the increase in his carrying the ball while running skill, he was no longer a sitting duck when faced with a blitz.
Of course, in other skills like dodging, shoving, juke moves, and head fakes, only dodging had reached 60 points. The other three were still at 53. So, he was still a traditional pocket quarterback, and his running ability was still very poor and not very impressive.
While this was a clearly unbalanced way of allocating points, with some skills being very strong and others very weak, a year had passed since Lu Ke got the system. He had gone from a practice player to a qualified backup quarterback. This rate of growth was shocking, and it was his greatest source of confidence.
But more importantly, after half a year of persistent and consistent training, his physical fitness had improved again. In addition to the accumulated basic points, his real-life physical attributes had also improved.
His strength increased from 48 to 49, his speed from 66 to 67, and his acceleration from 62 to 63. All three attributes automatically increased by one point.
In addition, his overall physical fitness went up by one point, from 63 to 64. This was a fundamental change in his physical condition. At the same time, these were not from adding basic points but were natural increases from his hard training.
Over the course of almost a year, with his persistent training, every aspect of his basic physical fitness had grown. Although the rate of growth was much slower compared to using basic points, it was the result of his hard work. Countless hours of sweat, after a day's worth of accumulation and rest, had turned into that seemingly insignificant "one point."
Although it was only four points in total, Lu Ke knew how hard-won they were. After he entered college, he felt the ceiling of his physical fitness. No matter how much he trained, his talent for things like strength, explosiveness, and speed had very limited improvement. He was almost at a standstill, as if he had reached his physical limits. The Superstar Football System gave him a chance to break through those limits, and now, the results of his accumulated efforts were truly showing in his training.
Even with limited improvement, Lu Ke could genuinely and clearly feel his progress, real progress, as if he were back in high school.
To an outsider, it had only been a short five and a half months since the rookie training camp. But the effort Lu Ke put in to go from a quantitative change to a qualitative one was far more than just adding basic points from the system.
Pass, pass, pass. Lu Ke was meticulous and focused on every single pass, perfecting every part of the process.
He was waiting for his chance, but when it came, he wanted to be ready.
Jim looked at the physical test results in his hand, his mouth agape. He looked up at Bobby Engram, his eyes wide, and a slightly distorted voice came out. "Are these numbers correct? Have they been drug tested?"
Seeing how surprised Jim was, Kip and Craig both became curious and looked at Bobby with a questioning gaze.
Bobby met Jim's eyes and nodded. "Yes, the initial drug test is done, and there are no problems. The report for the further test won't be ready until tomorrow." He felt Kip's and Craig's stares and shrugged, giving them a look that said, "See for yourselves." His expression and actions suggested that he was just as baffled.
Then, Kip and Craig both moved in closer to look at the physical test results in Jim's hand.
"Damn it," Craig said under his breath, letting out a curse. Kip's eyes also lit up, and after a flash of surprise, a smile appeared in his eyes.
NOTE:
New chapters drop three times a day, every Monday through Saturday! Plus, you have the power to unlock more: we'll release three bonus chapters for every 100 votes! Let's get this story moving together.
Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/MistaQuartz
Explore up to 20 chapters in advance!