Chapter 147 145: Rebellious Mentality
They had secured a resounding victory in the first game, but the doubts surrounding Lu Ke, far from diminishing, had only grown stronger.
Before Week 1, people's interest in Lu Ke was purely out of curiosity. He was merely a topic of idle chatter, mentioned in passing. But this week, his spectacular performance thrust him into the eye of the storm. It was as if he had raised a high-powered spotlight in the pitch-black night, instantly making himself a target for the entire world.
His quarterback rating and PFF grade were so outstanding they seemed unbelievable, as if the whole thing had been fabricated. It was too perfect to feel real. Then, the Alliance officially announcing him as one of the players of the week for Week 1 only added fuel to the fire.
Every week, the Alliance divides players into the American League and National League conferences based on their on-field performance, selecting a Best Offensive Player, Best Defensive Player, and Best Special Teams Player for each.
In Week 1 of the regular season, Lu Ke, on the back of his flawless performance, seized the title of National League Offensive Player of the Week!
Based purely on his on-field performance and statistics, the selection was undeniable and held no suspense. But this was a rookie—a Chinese Descent rookie, at that. A rookie who was making history and scaling new heights with every step. For his very first step to be so glorious, so magnificent, so grand... it was nothing short of earth-shattering.
In an instant, "Lu Ke" was thrust to the pinnacle. It was a case of pouring oil on a roaring fire and adding embroidery to fine brocade; it seemed all the praise in the world was rushing toward him.
This immediately triggered a contrarian impulse in people, like the desire one feels upon seeing a perfect object: either possess it or destroy it. And so, the nitpicking began. They scrutinized him from top to bottom, determined to find fault. Even if Lu Ke had been a flawless quarterback, people would have likely found a mountain of flaws—and he was not.
The title of "undrafted rookie" alone was enough to suffocate Lu Ke.
An undrafted rookie. Why do players go undrafted? Because they're not good enough, because they have flaws, because they're mediocre.
On the one hand, his outstanding passing accuracy? In the public's view, it was like Duan Yu's Six Meridian Divine Sword—wildly inconsistent, not even as reliable as Eli Manning's notorious streakiness. His perfect score on the Fonderick test? That was just seen as evidence of the stereotype that students of Chinese Descent are smart—maybe useful at Ivy League Schools, but worthless on a football field. His clutch performance in critical moments? A comet streaking across the sky, a momentary burst with no predictive value.
On the other hand, there was his poor height-to-weight ratio, poor Pocket Footwork, poor explosiveness, poor ability to handle contact, poor running ability, poor ball protection ability, poor game experience, poor teamwork experience... and so on and so forth. The list could go on and on, seemingly without end.
These weaknesses hadn't just been apparent during his college career; they had also surfaced subtly during the first regular season game. It was just that the Seattle Seahawks hadn't managed to get a clear read on Lu Ke's abilities and failed to devise the right counter-strategy, which was why they ended up in a bind and lost the game.
And his "undrafted rookie" status wasn't the whole story.
Kim Gimes, a commentator for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, presented the most damning piece of evidence: just one year ago—or, to be precise, before September 2010—this player was still on the practice squad.
It wasn't unheard of for Undrafted Players to work miracles in the Alliance. Besides Kurt Warner, the Dallas Cowboys' current starting quarterback, Tony Romo, was also one of them.
In 2003, Tony Romo, who played for a lower-division college team, was a name virtually unheard of before the draft. He then performed terribly at the Rookie Training Camp. Despite a high Fonderick test score of thirty-seven, his physical metrics were abysmal—for reference, Tony's combine numbers were even worse than Lu Ke's. Consequently, he received no interest during the draft and ultimately went unselected.
During the offseason, Romo bounced between tryouts for various teams before finally landing with the Dallas Cowboys. He spent three years on the bench and was promoted from his backup position in 2006, after which he became the undisputed starting quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys for the past five seasons.
But even Warner, even Romo, had long and substantial college careers with solid fundamentals and a wealth of experience. Moreover, before becoming official starters, they both spent a long time honing their craft, enduring hardships to lay the groundwork for their subsequent "ugly duckling" transformations.
So, what about Lu Ke?
A mere practice squad player. And even then, Lu Ke had only held that role for a single year.
The point Kim Gimes raised was highly persuasive. A transformation from the practice squad to a starting quarterback in the Alliance in just one short year? A rise from a nobody to the best player of the regular season's opening week in just two? Lu Ke lacked maturity, he lacked refinement, and most of all, he lacked a solid foundation.
Therefore, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer commentator declared, "The Sea Eagle Team lost the game at Candlestick Park this time, but next time, when we're back at CenturyLink Field, we will not let victory slip through our fingers again!"
Clearly, for the Seattle Seahawks, this game was a disgrace.
In the first clash between Pete Carroll and Jim Hubble, the latter won a decisive victory. In the first meeting between Lu Ke and Richard Hillman, the former won a decisive victory. In the first showdown between Pete Carroll and Lu Ke, the latter came out on top.
Especially Lu Ke's single-word reply—"Who?"—during the post-game interview, which became the flashpoint of a media firestorm. It not only humiliated Sherman but also the entire Sea Eagle Team's Defense Team.
Rumor had it that when word got back, Richard Sherman smashed a locker to pieces, and the other players on the Defense Team were filled with righteous fury, their faces ashen with rage. That single, casual "Who?" carried an unimaginable weight. It wasn't a swear word, but it cut deeper than one.
After Week 1 of the 2011 regular season, a true feud was born between these two direct competitors in the National League West, turning them into mortal enemies. While the rivalry lacked a long history or deep roots, that history was beginning to be written now. This first major clash had tied a knot so tight it was nearly impossible to undo, inciting fans from both sides to start clamoring at each other.
The rage was boundless!
It was foreseeable that the next game at the Seattle Seahawks' home stadium would be explosive. Kim Gimes's report was just the beginning.
But the burgeoning rivalry between the Sea Eagle and the 49ers was merely a subplot to the week's main headline: the rise of Lu Ke. Ultimately, the public's focus remained fixed on the Chinese Descent rookie with the near-perfect quarterback rating—the very same Chinese Descent rookie who had earned a perfect score on the Fonderick test during the Rookie Training Camp.
From Charles at ESPN, to Steven at the New York Times, to Kim at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, they all held the same view:
The first game was a product of mystery, luck, and coincidence. Such occurrences, while not common in NFL history, were not unprecedented. The second game would be the true test. You never know if you've got a mule or a thoroughbred until you let it run; only then would his true abilities be revealed.
This wasn't just one person's opinion—in fact, it was the prevailing one. Nearly the entire Alliance shared a similar viewpoint. There were voices of doubt, provocation, ridicule, jest, and even anticipation. Whether the Alliance wanted it or not, whether the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys wanted it or not, Week 1 of the regular season had barely concluded, and the Week 2 matchup between these two teams was already the center of intense, widespread attention.
It was against this backdrop that Charles Davis's provocation and wager on the show "Inside the Alliance" became a massive topic of discussion. Everyone was enjoying the drama, chiming in with their own jokes, mockery, and ridicule. But the most interesting part was that no one bothered to ask the other person involved—Lu Ke—for his opinion.
It was as if everyone was already certain of the outcome. It was as if everyone already agreed with Charles.
In 2011, the NFL regular season had only just kicked off, and the media buzz had already reached a historic high. Just when people were worried that this year's regular season would lack a crowd-drawing topic like "Peyton Manning vs. Tom Brady," an undrafted Chinese-American quarterback appeared out of nowhere to fill the void, igniting excitement for the new football season.
Some praised him, some were amazed, some celebrated, some were curious, and some cheered. But the overwhelming chorus of doubt and debate was incessant. After starting just one game, Lu Ke had seemingly become "public enemy number one." His innate skill for drawing fire seemed to be maxed out—which was, in its own way, a special kind of talent.
However, amidst this vast sea of voices, Lu Ke also had his supporters. The local San Francisco media, led by the San Francisco Chronicle and the World Newspaper, became his strongest and most powerful backers.
"Is Lu Ke perfect? Of course not. Can Lu Ke be compared to an elite quarterback? Of course not. Is one game enough to prove everything? Of course not.
But Lu Ke is a rookie—a first-year player not yet twenty-two years old, a rookie with countless possibilities and endless potential.
He is growing. From the practice squad to a backup, from a relief player to the starting quarterback, his rate of growth has been astonishing. No one has noticed that he gained twenty-three pounds in just six short months. Nor has anyone noticed that in the nine months since his first college game, his ability to handle physical contact and his professional quarterback techniques have improved on a fundamental level.
"This is a quarterback with a future and with possibilities. He won the first game of the regular season, and that is a starting point. In the second game, the third game, he might win or he might lose—no one is an ever-victorious general—but we have hope! Not Alex Smith, not Colin Kaepernick, but Lu Ke!"
This article was published in the San Francisco Chronicle and written by Brian Westbrook.
It wasn't just support from the official media, but also from the local residents. Fans are always so simple: their hate runs deep, but so does their love. A single victory was enough to win their hearts. In the run-up to the second week of the regular season, they would be Lu Ke's most loyal supporters!