Chapter 125 123: Season Opener
Sunday, September 11, 2011.
The San Francisco 49ers kicked off the new season at their home field, Candlestick Park, facing their divisional rival, the Seattle Seahawks, in the first game.
The team played in the NFC West, a division with four teams: the San Francisco 49ers, the Seattle Seahawks, the St. Louis Rams, and the Arizona Cardinals. Among them, the greatest and most heated divisional rivalry was between the San Francisco 49ers and the St. Louis Rams.
Before the Rams moved to St. Louis in 1995, the team had spent fifty-eight years in Los Angeles. As the Los Angeles Rams, they and the San Francisco 49ers became one of the greatest divisional rivalries in NFL history. In 2008, ESPN ranked the "San Francisco 49ers vs. St. Louis Rams" eighth on its list of the league's top ten rivalries.
By contrast, the Seattle Seahawks and the Arizona Cardinals were only placed in the same division as the San Francisco 49ers after the NFL's realignment in 2002. Although they were divisional opponents, they lacked any deep-seated history or bad blood. Furthermore, in the short span of eight years, the teams' peaks never coincided, so a true clash of titans never materialized. The tension in their matchups was always noticeably weaker.
Until this year.
In 2010, the Seattle Seahawks hired a new head coach, Pete Carroll. In 2011, the San Francisco 49ers followed suit, with Jim Hubble taking the reins.
Over the past three years, the personal feud between Pete and Jim had made them one of the most entertaining, combative, and explosive rivalries in the NCAA.
Pete Carroll was the head coach of the University of Southern California from 2001 to 2009, a period in which he saw the team rise from the depths to glory, only to fall from its peak. Meanwhile, Jim Hubble coached Stanford University from 2007 to 2010. Under his leadership, the team was unstoppable, steamrolling the competition and reaching the university's highest point of the 21st century.
The University of Southern California and Stanford University were already bitter California rivals. Add UCLA to the mix, and the history of the three teams could fill an epic saga of feuds and grudges. However, due to UCLA's recent struggles, they gradually fell behind their two rivals, relegated to the role of spectators watching three consecutive years of epic showdowns between USC and Stanford.
Jim was an outspoken and brazen coach, while Pete was an unconventional but strict disciplinarian. With neither man willing to back down, every meeting was explosive. From the pre-game trash talk and the on-field matchup to the post-game interviews, the rivalry between the two men never failed to generate headlines.
Now, Pete's Seattle Seahawks and Jim's San Francisco 49ers were set to clash once more, an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object. With both teams in dire straits, the tension was already palpable before the two old rivals had even taken the field.
"He's not worth worrying about. I've never considered him a rival," Pete Carroll said in an interview with the *Seattle Post-Intelligencer* at the entrance of the Seattle training facility before departing for San Francisco.
"Back in his college days, all of his victories were won by Andrew Luck. Luck is a top-tier quarterback, and I believe he'll have a bright future in the league. As for that glory-seeking 'mastermind' behind the scenes, I think he should realize his own incompetence and stop spouting nonsense."
After saying this, Pete scoffed and added contemptuously, "I don't think that quarterback who looks like a matchstick can pull off another miracle. I'm confident we'll walk away from Candlestick Park with an easy win."
Throughout the interview, Pete was filled with disdain and contempt, showing no regard for Jim or the San Francisco 49ers whatsoever. As for Lu Ke, he was an even bigger nobody in his eyes.
In the face of Pete's provocation, Jim fired back with a powerful rebuttal. "If he's still lost in his college daydreams, it's time for him to wake up. Clearly, his record from last year is all the proof you need. He's a mediocre, incompetent, and arrogant coach."
Last year, the Seattle Seahawks managed only a dismal 7-9 record. But because the other teams in their division were even worse, they became the first team in NFL history to win a division title with a losing record and make it to the playoffs. After defeating the defending champion New Orleans Saints in the first round, they lost to the Chicago Bears in the second, ending their run.
Although the Seattle Seahawks made it to the playoffs and even reached the second round, they left their mark on NFL history in an awkward and bitter way, and Pete Carroll's abilities were widely questioned.
During the offseason, Pete decided that quarterback Matt Hasselbeck lacked the ability to lead the team forward. So, he cut Matt, traded for Travis Jackson from the Minnesota Vikings, and completely cleaned house of all the team's backup quarterbacks to start the new season fresh.
"His greatest skill is blaming his players for everything. When other teams succeed, it's because of great players; when he fails, it's because of terrible players." Jim wasn't one to be trifled with, his words sharp as he fired right back, "Finally, instead of worrying about our team's players, he should get the mad dog on his own team under control! To lose the game and your dignity—now that's a real disgrace!"
The "mad dog" he was referring to was a rookie on the Seattle Seahawks, Richard Sherman.
This rookie had been running his mouth nonstop during the Rookie Training Camp, but his talent failed to impress the scouts. Ultimately, he wasn't selected until the fifth round of the draft by the Seattle Seahawks.
After the draft, Richard made a bold declaration to the media, furiously taking shots at the other teams. "All the scouts are blind. I'm going to make the other thirty-one teams regret passing on me. They're gonna see what I'm made of. I'm telling you, any pass thrown my way is going to be a disaster for the offense!"
After three quiet months of training camp, the new season officially kicked off, and Richard immediately started talking again. "That Chinese-American quarterback is a disgrace to the league. He's a clown, weak as Little Deer Bambi—yeah, let's call him Bambi. He's just a grandstander, it's sickening."
"At the Rookie Training Camp, he was just a clown jumping all over the place, constantly asking players for pictures, practically dying to kiss every player's..." Richard said the last word, but the reporters bleeped it out, as it was clearly vulgar. "He's a total pansy. I can't believe a team would be stupid enough to make him their quarterback."
Finally, Richard pointed his right index finger at the camera. "I'm telling you," he said, addressing Lu Ke, "you throw one ball my way, and I'll make you pay dearly. I'll teach you a lesson, beat you down like a stray dog! I'll let you know this is my turf!"
A rookie, and a fifth-round pick at that. Almost no one in the league knew who Richard Sherman was. But now, not only was this kid spouting arrogant trash talk, he was also brazenly provoking an opponent. Of course, everyone saw the 49ers' Chinese-American quarterback as an easy target anyone could challenge, which added another layer of drama to the game before it even began.
Still, everyone believed Lu Ke wouldn't have the guts to challenge Richard.
In response to Jim's accusation, Pete casually brushed it off. "Players have the freedom to express their opinions. If he can't handle it, he should go run home to mommy."
"He's his player, all right. His mouth is just as foul—guess he only uses it for spouting crap," Jim responded in a subsequent interview. "We'll settle this on the field."
The game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks hadn't even started, yet the teams had already traded several verbal blows. The hype surrounding this divisional showdown was skyrocketing.
So, between two teams both experiencing internal turmoil and external pressure, which would manage to secure a win to open the season? And how would the curtain fall on the first game in NFL history to feature a starting player of Asian descent?
In theory, this should have been a highly anticipated game, but the reality was far less glamorous than the PR spin. The game failed to secure a primetime television slot, kicking off at 1:15 PM San Francisco time, just one of many games starting simultaneously.
The "historic moment" the NFL had been hyping felt more like a Chaplinesque farce—a complete joke.
But even without a primetime broadcast, and even if the promotional push was merely for the sake of political correctness, the game still drew a massive amount of attention. Regardless of the cookie-cutter press releases, the prospect of a dull matchup, or a seemingly foregone conclusion, the debut of the first starting player of Asian descent in history was a story that had to be covered. And so, hordes of reporters flocked to Candlestick Park.
Furthermore, game day was also the tenth anniversary of 9/11. Fox Television would be broadcasting the game, providing a platform for fans in San Francisco and Seattle to watch.
On the morning of September 11, Candlestick Park was already a sea of people. Hordes of reporters, home fans, visiting fans, and curious onlookers bustled about, creating a lively scene. Even though San Francisco's fans had lost faith in their team, it was the season opener, so season ticket holders still showed up—if only to make an appearance and help the team save face.
Candlestick Park, located on the edge of the city, was a multi-purpose stadium used for both football and baseball. Less than ten kilometers from downtown, it was easily accessible. It had been the home of the San Francisco 49ers since 1971 and could hold nearly 70,000 spectators.
The stadium was built on an artificial peninsula made of reclaimed land and construction debris. It faced the sea, but any poetic notions of "spring blossoms" were dashed by the reality of its location, right in the path of a natural "wind gate." This meant the stadium was perpetually shrouded in a cold, swirling fog, making it one of the windiest in the entire NFL.
Today, right here, the league would witness history.