Chapter 296 294: Leadership Charisma
For the Philadelphia Eagles, it was heaven; for the San Francisco 49ers, it was hell.
This was especially true on the road, where you could barely see any San Francisco 49ers fans. The loneliness and dejection felt like standing against the entire world, isolated and helpless. A profound sense of powerlessness left everyone at a loss.
After a three-game winning streak, a fourth was within reach—just a single step away—but they had fallen short at the final hurdle. In an instant, it seemed to shatter everyone's faith, as if they had been thrown back into the past eight years. Failure was a nightmare that refused to fade. Without its backbone, the team immediately fell apart like a pile of loose sand.
Michael Crabtree lay there on the turf, as if all his strength had completely drained away, leaving him with no energy to even move. He was filled with a simmering rage and regret that had no outlet. He just lay there quietly, staring at the patch of blue sky above. Then, he saw Lu Ke appear over him.
"One game is over, but the season isn't. Come on, I'm going to need you to keep playing brilliantly next game. Honestly, what did you eat today, gunpowder? Breaking three tackles in a row?"
Lu Ke's words made Crabtree let out a small laugh. He grabbed Lu Ke's outstretched hand and used the leverage to pull himself up.
Staring into Lu Ke's dark eyes, which still shone with resolve and confidence, Crabtree could feel the weight and bitterness in Lu Ke's words, but there was no sign of defeat in his gaze. He couldn't help but chuckle softly and clap Lu Ke on the shoulder, signaling that he was okay.
Lu Ke didn't press him further, just gave him a thumbs-up and moved on. He went over and pulled up Justin Smith, patted Reggie Smith, hugged David Akens, bumped shoulders with Ted Ginn Jr., then reached out to help up Navorro Bowman and Aldon Smith, and also hugged Chilo Rachal and Mike Lupati.
One by one, Lu Ke made his way to every corner of the field, consoling each of his teammates.
But there were simply too many players on the team. Lu Ke had already circled more than half the field and still hadn't managed to get to everyone. Players were scattered all over, lingering and unwilling to leave. So, he waved over his buddies—Logan, Marcus, Aldon, and the others—and gestured for them to help gather everyone.
At that moment, Lincoln Financial Field was still buzzing with excitement.
The Philadelphia Eagles players were running a victory lap, wildly celebrating their hard-won victory with their fans. Meanwhile, all the San Francisco 49ers players formed a large circle on the field with Lu Ke at its center. The quiet field once again started to liven up.
The coaching staff, standing on the sideline and preparing to leave, noticed the unusual scene. Jim Hubble furrowed his brow, studying them several times but still unable to figure it out. "What are they doing? Why are they still lingering on the field instead of heading back?"
Craig Roman also paused for a moment. A bold guess formed in his mind, but after it surfaced, he was more surprised than anything. He looked at Kip Kester, Vic Fangio, and the others in disbelief, only to see similar expressions in their eyes as they watched the field with keen interest.
Craig's mouth fell open in surprise. "Do you believe this?"
Kip didn't answer, just shrugging and spreading his hands to show he didn't know either. But the corners of his mouth turned up slightly. The bitterness of defeat slowly faded, and his whole demeanor relaxed.
"Back? Why aren't we going back? We still have to do press interviews!" Jim was still completely baffled, his head full of questions.
"Jim," Craig said, patting his old partner's shoulder. "The interviews can wait. Let's leave this to the players. We can just watch from the sidelines."
Jim blinked. His confusion didn't lessen; it only grew.
Similarly, Jed York, standing before the floor-to-ceiling windows of the VIP suite, was also full of confusion. "What are they doing?" He had been about to leave but now saw the large circle on the field. Even stranger, the coaching staff was standing outside the circle, watching quietly, with seemingly no intention of interfering.
Beside him, however, Lech Steineberg broke into a satisfied smile. He had never doubted his own judgment, but this time, he couldn't help but feel fortunate that he had beaten his competitors to the punch and picked this player.
"He's taking on the responsibility of a leader," Lech said.
...
"I hate losing. Believe me, no one hates losing more than I do. Because for an undrafted rookie, any loss can have unbearable consequences. As for my good looks, well, I don't even need to bring that up." Lu Ke deliberately raised his eyebrows, a playful nod to his Chinese heritage that made people chuckle, slightly easing the tense atmosphere.
Lu Ke continued, "Today, we lost the game, but we are not losers. We fought to the very last moment, we held on until the final second, giving everything we had to win. With forty-nine seconds left, we had turned the game around and seized control. Our performance deserved a standing ovation from everyone."
"Why did we lose? It wasn't because we didn't play well enough; it was because our opponents played better. So what we need to do now isn't to hang our heads or give up on ourselves. It's to burn this loss into our memories, go back, study the game film, and prepare diligently for the next game. Let's get back on the winning track!"
"But right now, I want everyone to lift their heads, puff out their chests, and walk off this field with pride. We are not losers! We have earned the right to hear the fans' applause! Because we are all warriors!"
It wasn't a fiery, passionate speech, but his words were steady and firm. Each one was delivered with deliberate force, leaving no room for doubt. Lu Ke met his teammates' gazes, openly and resolutely conveying his conviction.
In today's game, Lu Ke had endured thirteen hits and two sacks, but he had also thrown for three touchdowns with no interceptions. In last week's game, he was sacked four times and faced a collapsing pocket, yet still led the team to victory with three touchdown passes.
Then there was the game-winning drive in the second week, and the blowout victory in the first... And after the fourth week of the preseason, he had been thrust into the spotlight. From joining the team to his first start, Lu Ke had integrated with them for less than six weeks, yet he had led them to a three-game winning streak, and even in today's loss, he fought until the very end.
Just as Lu Ke said, he never gave up, he never feared or backed down. Fighting with all his might until the last moment was a sign of respect for his opponent and a reward for himself. Victory was the return on hard work; defeat was the motivation to keep fighting. On the field of competitive sports, he would absolutely never bow his head in submission!
Looking at the Lu Ke before them—he wasn't particularly strong, nor was he a familiar face. Standing among a crowd of white and Black players, he looked out of place. He'd had too little time to gel with the team, and as a rookie, he had no college legacy to speak of. But in this moment, his resolve and tenacity erupted like a song of blood and fire.
"Guys, I'm ready to walk off this field with my head held high! And then I'm going to tell those reporters waiting for interviews, yes, we lost this game, but we will win the next one. Because we are warriors! Warriors who never admit defeat and never give up!"
Lu Ke's simple words were powerful and resonant, full of electrifying passion!
Chilo Rachal was the first to raise his right hand high, fist clenched, shouting, "We are warriors!"
Immediately after, Ted Ginn Jr. followed suit, raising his right fist. "We are warriors!" A brilliant, happy smile spread across his face as the sadness and bitterness began to fade.
Then, Mike Lupati started swearing under his breath, "Damn it, bullshit!" With a reluctant look on his face, he still raised his right fist and then, with all his strength, roared, "We're fucking warriors! To hell with everyone else!"
Then came Joe Stanley, Michael Crabtree, Kyle Williams, Logan Newman, Marcus Lynch, Kendall Hunter... Gradually, all the players from the offense joined in, the chant of "We are warriors" rising and falling in waves.
Patrick Willis and Navorro Bowman exchanged a look, and both of them broke into laughter. Chuckling softly with shrugging shoulders, Willis took the lead for their group. "What the hell! We are warriors!"
The flat shout made Bowman heckle him. "No energy at all. You're a disgrace to our defense. Come on, brothers, let's show our quarterback what we are...?" Bowman shot his right fist into the air, a powerful force erupting from deep in his gut as he roared, "WE ARE WARRIORS!"
All the members of the Defense Team, including Parris Harrisson, raised their right hands high. So did Vernon Davis and Alex Smith. Everyone was raising a fist, jumping in place, yelling, and roaring. The passionate cheers and shouts bound the entire team tightly together.
At that moment, they were like a true team, united as one, with one heart and one mind.
Brylen Edwards stood in the crowd, furtively glancing left and right. He shot a look at Colin Kaepernick, who was hiding behind some other players, and after making sure Kaepernick couldn't see him, he too raised his right hand and hesitantly joined the chant, "We are warriors!" As he kept shouting, his spirits lifted, and his blood began to pump with excitement.
It was a brutal loss. In the final two minutes, they had experienced a game-winner and a counter game-winner, going from hell to heaven and back to hell again. The rollercoaster of events was almost enough to give someone a heart attack. But for the San Francisco 49ers, this was the most important game they had played since the regular season began.
Because they had finally found each other, and embraced each other.
This team, which had undergone a major house-cleaning in the offseason, had just taken the most important and solid step on its road to rebuilding.