American Football: King of the Bay Area

Lu Ke jogged away from the official team’s practice facility, and soon, the adjacent training field came into view.

Unlike the official practice facility—which was surrounded by tall office buildings, luxurious and orderly, ensuring privacy—the training field about three to four hundred meters away was a completely open space. It was accessible from all sides with a wide-open view. The field itself was simpler, but it was still well-equipped and level—even better than the practice fields at UCLA.

Thirty or forty people were scattered across the field. At a glance, it was impossible to tell the staff members from the players trying out. There wasn’t much noise, as everyone was focused on their own tasks, but a tense and electric undercurrent flowed through the quiet atmosphere.

After Lu Ke and Scott entered the field, they didn’t speak. They simply nodded to each other before silently going their separate ways to begin their own warm-ups.

Every team’s tryout process was slightly different, but ultimately, they all evaluated the same things; only the format varied. So, Lu Ke wasn’t overly nervous. He began his warm-ups methodically, but he couldn’t help but discreetly size up the competition out of the corner of his eye.

Kevin O’Connell. Twenty-six years old and in his fourth year in the Alliance. His performance had been mediocre, with no standout achievements. He’d recently left the New York Jets.

Mark Brunell. Forty-one years old. He had been through the grind with teams like the Green Bay Packers and Washington Redskins. After leaving the New Orleans Saints last year, he had been looking for a job and still had no intention of retiring.

Tom Brandstater. Twenty-seven years old. He spent his rookie season with the Denver Broncos and had been bouncing between different teams as a practice player ever since. Not long ago, he had tried out for the Dallas Cowboys alongside Lu Ke; unfortunately, neither of them had made the cut.

Chris Greisen. Thirty-five years old. After playing in the NFL for two years, he had gone to play in Australia, where he found his footing in their football league and started to get noticed. This offseason, he returned to the United States to try out for several teams. Lu Ke had run into him at a St. Louis Rams tryout.

Carson Palmer. Thirty-two years old. After eight seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals, the team drafted Andy Dalton, and Carson was subsequently cut. Now, he was looking for his next team. Incidentally, Carson was the 2002 Heisman Trophy winner.

...

Just a casual glance around was enough for Lu Ke to feel the immense pressure.

On one hand, it came from the sheer skill of the veteran players. Carson Palmer, Matt Hasselbeck—these were quarterbacks in their prime. They had experience and drive, their abilities were above average, and having knocked around the Alliance for years, they were ready to play at a moment’s notice.

On the other hand, it came from the profile of the competition. They were mostly experienced free agents, with very few Undrafted Players. ’Does this mean the 49ers don’t plan on rushing Colin Kaepernick into the spotlight? Are they leaning toward choosing a veteran to get them through this rough patch and wait for Alex Smith’s return?’

His thoughts churned, making him feel restless and agitated. Lu Ke closed his eyes, realizing he had lost focus. He’d been completely absent-minded during his warm-ups, unable to stop his mind from racing. In competitive sports, that was the greatest taboo of all.

An insufficient warm-up meant his muscles, ligaments, and body wouldn’t be properly activated, which would drastically increase the risk of injury during actual exertion. In a high-contact sport like football, a single lapse in concentration could be all it took to get hurt. Plenty of athletes have suffered injuries in practice after taking the field without warming up properly.

Letting out a long breath, Lu Ke forced himself to refocus, clear his mind, and start his warm-up from the very beginning. It was better to spend a little more time and effort than to be careless and sloppy.

After finishing his no-ball warm-ups, Lu Ke went to the sideline, expertly selected a football, and began simple on-ball drills. He knew the whole routine by heart; it was pure muscle memory. Once he was fully absorbed, the clutter in his mind vanished, and his anxiety dissipated along with it.

About half an hour later, a middle-aged man in San Francisco 49ers team apparel walked over.

He wasn’t dressed in coaching attire, but in a numberless jersey, making him look like one of the players. He appeared to be around forty, perhaps even a bit younger than Mark Brunell. He had a buzz cut and maintained the lean, powerful physique of an athlete; even his movements carried an athletic air.

On a field full of athletes, no one paid him any special mind. But then Matt Hasselbeck walked up to him, and the two shared a hug. As they walked over, talking and laughing, they started to draw some attention.

Next, the middle-aged man raised his right hand, motioning for everyone to gather around as he introduced himself. His name was Bobby Engram, currently an offensive assistant for the San Francisco 49ers. Before this offseason, however, he had been a Wide Receiver for the Kansas City Chiefs.

It was worth noting that Bobby and Matt had joined the Seattle Seahawks in the same year and had been teammates for a full nine years.

The situation was developing in a direction that was unfavorable for the Undrafted Players—or to be more precise, favorable for Matt. But by this point, Lu Ke’s mindset had already stabilized. He didn’t seem surprised or alarmed, which made him look like an outlier among the other Undrafted Players with their dramatic reactions.

Bobby then began organizing all the players for physical tests. They were the same drills from the Rookie Training Camp: the 40-yard dash, 20-yard shuttle, standing broad jump, vertical jump, and so on. The data was just a baseline for reference. Next came the quarterback-specific fundamental drills, like footwork, impact absorption, the three-cone drill, and other similar exercises.

Another two hours had passed by the time Jim Hubble, Kip Kester, and Craig Roman arrived at the adjacent practice field. The players had already completed all the basic physical tests and were now in the middle of passing drills. Footballs flew everywhere, creating a scene of heated activity that was even more bustling than the official team’s practice field.

These three men were the head coach, the quarterback coach, and the offensive coordinator, respectively—the true decision-makers who held the fate of every player at this tryout in their hands.

Jim Hubble rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on. When he recalled the practice session on the other field, his thoughts became a tangled mess.

Objectively speaking, Colin Kaepernick’s personal ability was undeniable. He had scored a thirty-seven on the Fonderick test, which was why the San Francisco 49ers had used a high second-round pick to select him in the draft.

But everything had happened so suddenly. In the space of a single week, he was expected to memorize the entire playbook, build chemistry with his teammates in practice, and adapt to the game speed of a professional league. It was asking the impossible.

College ball and the professional league were, after all, completely different beasts—worlds apart, even. No matter how talented a rookie was, they needed time to adapt and transition. Historically, very few players had immediately taken the helm as a starting quarterback in their rookie year. Of the current four elite quarterbacks, only Peyton Manning had managed it.

If he could, Jim would have loved to give Colin more time. But...

His temples throbbed again. Jim took a deep breath, pushed aside his tangled thoughts for the moment, and started observing the players on the field. There were three quarterbacks currently trying out, each in a different corner of the field doing passing drills. They weren’t throwing to Wide Receivers, but at targets—similar to a basketball player shooting hoops, they were trying to pass the football into a basket set up at a specific spot.

Jim scanned the field, his gaze lingering on each quarterback for a moment. He wasn’t just watching their accuracy, but also their passing motion, the arc of the ball, their touch, and more. Finally, his eyes locked onto one quarterback in particular.

This quarterback had a crisp, clean, and concise passing motion. His entire windup was extremely compact, yet his use of arm strength and core power was perfect. He was effortlessly launching passes of thirty and thirty-five yards.

Moreover, his footwork was light and methodical, and his overall balance and flexibility were impressive. But of course, the most important thing was accuracy. He made fifteen consecutive throws from about thirty yards out, sinking every one of them without the slightest deviation, and he didn’t even look like he was breaking a sweat.

That made sixteen.

Jim couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. With the three quarterbacks all training at once, the difference in skill was immediately obvious. ”Craig?” Jim called out.

He didn’t expect that at that very moment, Craig was also tapping him on the shoulder. ”Look at that quarterback.” Jim followed Craig’s gesture and saw he was pointing at the exact same guy. ”His passing motion is as smooth as flowing water, just a real pleasure to watch. His control over his power, his arc, his feel for the ball is excellent. Plus, he’s got touch passes and bullet passes, and he varies his trajectory and timing. You can tell he’s a quarterback who plays with his head. His Fonderick test score must be pretty good.”

Jim couldn’t help but nod in agreement. ”Who is he? With fundamentals that solid, how is he still on the market?” More than agreement, Jim felt confused. There was only one week left until the preseason. While there were plenty of quarterbacks still available, very few were of this caliber.

”Lu Ke,” Kip answered, not Craig.

Jim and Craig both turned to look, their faces etched with confusion. ”Which Luke?”

”Not Luke. It’s... Lu... Ke,” Kip clarified. ”The Chinese-American quarterback.”