American Football: King of the Bay Area

”Good morning!” ”What time’d you get back last night?” ”You guys actually went to a bar when we have practice today?” ”Hope your legs aren’t jelly!”...

All sorts of cheerful teasing and jokes drifted past his ears on the gentle breeze. He could almost smell the leather of the footballs, the fresh-cut grass of the field, and that hint of leisure that came just before the season started. It made his heart yearn to leap over the chain-link fence, to get onto the field on the other side and glimpse into that space where miracles were born.

Lu Ke pulled his eyes away, slowed down, and focused his mind, beginning to search for an empty spot in the parking lot.

The San Francisco 49ers’ home stadium was Candlestick Park. The training facility was just on the other side of the park, a place with beautiful and pleasant scenery.

For the parking lot of a Professional Alliance training facility, the scene before him was nothing like the fields of luxury cars seen in Hollywood movies. To be precise, a quick, casual scan revealed not a single high-end sports car. The nicest vehicle was just a black BMW coupe; the vast majority were pickup trucks or SUVs. It was far more low-key than he had imagined.

After parking his car neatly, Lu Ke grabbed his gear bag, left the lot, and asked a couple of staff members for directions. He then found his way to the auxiliary locker room with practiced ease. Having gone through numerous tryouts over the past three months, Lu Ke was familiar with the entire process and no longer felt flustered.

It was ten in the morning. The team’s official practice had already been underway for an hour, and players were finishing up their warm-ups. Next up were the individual, position-specific drills. For the players attending the tryout, however, their time to take the field for evaluation and testing had arrived.

It was just another ordinary tryout, no different from all the ones before. It was still a chance to evaluate a player’s abilities, still a competition between Undrafted Players and free agents, and still a challenge fraught with obstacles and difficulties. And yet, this was no ordinary tryout, because this was an opportunity with the San Francisco 49ers.

The 2011 NFL preseason was set to kick off next week. In their Friday game, the San Francisco 49ers would travel to the Louisiana Superdome for an away game against the New Orleans Saints, officially starting their new season.

By this point, most teams had already concluded their tryouts. In this final week before the preseason, teams needed to further polish their strategies, determine what they wanted to evaluate in the upcoming games, and clarify their goals and plans. But at such a critical juncture, Lu Ke received a tryout invitation from the San Francisco 49ers—a personal call from Kip Kester.

Such a move was anything but ordinary. However, the reason for the 49ers’ action was no secret. Anyone who opened a web browser and looked at football news could easily find the answer in the top headlines:

The San Francisco 49ers’ starting quarterback, Alex Smith, had torn his ACL during a practice session just before the preseason. After a consultation among the doctors, the initial diagnosis determined he would be out for at least six to eight weeks. His condition would require further observation, and his return to the field would depend on the progress of his recovery.

With the official season opener less than six weeks away, the news was a devastating blow.

After missing the playoffs for eight consecutive years, this offseason had been a turbulent and ill-fated one for the 49ers. The top brass had made sweeping changes, firing the general manager, head coach, and even parting ways with their starting quarterback, hoping for a complete overhaul that would allow the team to hit rock bottom and rise from the ashes.

As the first overall pick in the 2005 draft, Alex had started fifty games in his first six seasons, winning only nineteen of them. He had never once managed to lead the team to the playoffs. While not quite a total bust, his performance was far below expectations.

The quarterback’s arm strength was his biggest weakness. He had never thrown for twenty-three Touchdowns in a single season, his passes averaged a mere 6.8 yards per attempt, and his ratio of deep-ball attempts was among the lowest for all quarterbacks in the Alliance. At the same time, however, his turnover rate was also one of the lowest in the Alliance.

In short, he was a game-manager quarterback: conservative style, consistent passes. But his deficiency in intermediate and long throws meant he lacked big-play capability and the clutch factor needed to decide a game’s outcome.

The scouting report from that year’s draft had said it all: ”Aaron Rodgers is a system player. Excellent running backs in college took most of the pressure off him, and he usually relies on screen passes and quick-release plays, avoiding true contact and letting his Offense Line and Wide Receivers do the work. In contrast, Alex Smith is the one who led Utah to victory; he’s the clutch guy. I don’t think California won because of Aaron Rodgers.”

And so, holding the first overall pick, the San Francisco 49ers chose Alex Smith, passing on Aaron Rodgers. Six years later, Rodgers had won a Super Bowl, while the 49ers’ management had finally lost patience. When his contract expired, they chose not to re-sign him, cutting Smith from the team.

Alex Smith became a free agent.

But throughout the offseason, Alex failed to find a new team. Instead, it was Jim Hubble and Trent Balk who, after some discussion, reached out to Alex and told him the team would welcome him back anytime he wanted. After careful consideration, Alex chose to return to the 49ers, signing a one-year contract for just five million US dollars.

During the draft, the 49ers selected quarterback Colin Kaepernick, making their intentions perfectly clear. Alex was just a bridge quarterback. They needed to develop their own rookie but didn’t want to pay the steep price they had in 2005. So, they targeted their man, decisively traded up in the second round, and selected a rookie with high potential.

But one thing was certain: for the 2011 season, Alex would still be the 49ers’ starting quarterback, giving Colin ample time to grow and develop. A veteran quarterback like Alex could even pass his experience on to the first-year rookie, helping Colin quickly adapt to the pace and intensity of the professional league.

After such a dramatic rollercoaster of events, the 49ers had come together with a unified purpose to embark on the new season. But now, they were struck with this terrible news. The entire plan they had built over the past three months was completely upended, forcing the coaching and management staff to start working on contingency plans—

The critical question was, would Alex be out for six weeks, eight weeks, or even longer? If it was just six weeks, he would only miss the season’s first game, and the impact wouldn’t be too great. But if the recovery dragged on any longer, it would be a different story entirely.

So, should they thrust Colin Kaepernick into the starting quarterback role? Or should they pick up an experienced veteran from the free-agent market to serve as a stopgap?

Regardless, one thing was certain: signing another backup quarterback was imperative. This would fill the roster spot left open by Alex’s injury. If Alex recovered quickly, they could cut the new backup at any time and get back on track. But if his recovery took longer, they wouldn’t be left in a bind.

This was the context for the tryout: the San Francisco 49ers needed an emergency backup quarterback.

Such emergencies are commonplace on the intensely physical gridiron. Generally, teams lean toward experienced veteran quarterbacks in these situations. They can step onto the field and adapt to the pace of the game at a moment’s notice. Their performance might not be spectacular, but they’re seasoned enough not to require the same hand-holding a rookie does.

As one of the Undrafted Players, Lu Ke knew he was at a disadvantage, but he still seized this last chance and returned to San Francisco.

The only silver lining was that the 49ers had drafted Colin with the hope that he would become the future cornerstone of the team. Even if they didn’t want to rush his development, special circumstances called for special measures, and the odds of them making Colin the starting quarterback were quite high. If that was the case, then when it came to choosing a backup quarterback, free agents and Undrafted Players would have an equal shot.

’Relax, relax, relax...’

”Hey, Lu Ke.” A voice called out in the locker room. Lu Ke turned his head and saw a completely unexpected face. ”Scott?”

It was Scott Torsin, the quarterback from the Wisconsin University Badgers and a friend he’d made at the Rookie Training Camp. Lu Ke had lost touch with Scott after the camp ended, yet today they had met again at the 49ers’ tryout. Fate was a curious thing indeed.

”You here to try out, too?” Scott walked over and gave Lu Ke’s shoulder a light punch, a wide grin on his face. ”Me too.” Lu Ke’s expression was one of surprise, which made Scott smile. ”I’m one of the Undrafted Players too.”

In this year’s draft, a total of twelve quarterbacks were selected. This meant that out of the quarterbacks at the Rookie Training Camp, nine had gone undrafted.

Lu Ke let out a wry laugh. ”Looks like our competition is going to continue today.”

Scott smiled too and left the locker room shoulder-to-shoulder with Lu Ke.

Not far away was the training field for the 49ers’ official roster, the air filled with constant noise and clamor. But the tryouts weren’t being held there; they were on a separate field next door. The two of them reluctantly began to walk, saying nothing, but their eyes held the same mix of envy and resignation. They exchanged a look and both broke into a smile.

”You know, there are a ton of free agents here today.” Scott had arrived a bit earlier than Lu Ke, so he had better intel. ”I just saw Matt Hasselbeck. I could hardly believe it!”

Matt Hasselbeck entered the Alliance in 1998. After three seasons with the Green Bay Packers, he was traded to the Seattle Seahawks, where he stayed for a full decade—a true Alliance veteran. He wasn’t a top-tier player, but his skills were definitely above average.

Lu Ke’s eyes widened, but then a small smile touched his lips. ”Looks like we’re in for another tough fight today.”