American Football: King of the Bay Area

Colin Kaepernick absentmindedly fiddled with the fork in his hand, listlessly prodding the potato on his plate. The single boiled potato, once whole, was now riddled with holes. Out of the corner of his eye, his gaze kept drifting involuntarily toward the young man sitting diagonally across from him. Amid a sea of Western faces, that Eastern face with its short black hair was especially conspicuous—and especially grating.

What’s more, he wasn’t alone. Sitting opposite him was another Eastern face. The two were chatting and laughing, clearly enjoying their conversation. In a football training facility, such a scene was like seeing the aurora at the equator—utterly baffling and hard to get used to.

”Colin?” Kendall Hunter raised his knife and fork, waving them slightly. ”Hey, man, what are you doing? We’ve got a full afternoon of practice. Are you trying to watch your weight now? I remember the conditioning coach saying you’re too light and need to load up on carbs.”

In this year’s draft, the San Francisco 49ers had selected a total of ten rookies, including two sixth-rounders and three seventh-rounders. Kendall, a running back, was one of those ten rookies.

According to the team’s unwritten rules, rookies had to sit in a designated area before the regular season. Unless they earned their stripes, they weren’t allowed to mix with the veteran players. It wasn’t an ironclad rule, but during the preseason training camp, it made it easier for the old-timers to ”break in” the new guys.

Kendall’s voice snapped Colin back to reality, but it was clear he hadn’t heard a word Kendall said. Instead, he muttered, ”Don’t you think this is ridiculous? Why does he get to be interviewed by a reporter? And the reporter even came to the team cafeteria? Isn’t that breaking team rules?”

”What rules?” Kendall, a straightforward guy, asked in confusion.

Colin waved his hand in frustration. ”I don’t know, but there’s got to be some rule. Aren’t they worried this reporter is a spy? Here to steal our training secrets?”

Rookie players, viewed optimistically, were the future hope of the team. Realistically, however, they were just a bunch of nobodies who had to prove themselves.

Before the official season began, it was rare for even first-round picks to get reporter interviews. Generally, only the top three picks in the draft were the focus of media attention. To reporters, all other rookies were more or less the same.

’But this Chinese-American quarterback? A reporter is here interviewing him on his very first day after signing, and with the team’s approval? This is utterly absurd!’

Kendall chuckled. ”You’re a funny guy.” He clearly didn’t take Colin’s words seriously, assuming it was all a joke.

At that response, Colin felt both frustrated and stifled. He rolled his eyes in annoyance, and then a figure caught his eye—Aldon Smith, the San Francisco 49ers’ first-round pick this year.

On any team, whether people liked it or not, a first-round pick was the center of attention. What’s more, Aldon Smith was the seventh overall pick, a top-ten selection, which drew even more intense focus. In comparison, Colin was a second-round pick, and the level of attention he received was cut in half.

Aldon was like a miniature sun, naturally becoming the center of the rookie class. Although Colin was a quarterback, the brains of the team, Aldon was a linebacker—also a leadership position on the Defense Team. The two just couldn’t be compared.

In full view of everyone, Aldon walked over to the Chinese-American quarterback and put his tray down next to him. He initiated a greeting, and the two shook hands, bumped shoulders, and patted each other on the back, laughing and talking with an air of great familiarity. Aldon even greeted the reporter before finally saying, ”I’ll let you get back to it,” and walking away with his tray.

’Disturb?’

A nerve in Colin’s head snapped. He shot to his feet, startling Kendall. ”Colin? What’s wrong?”

But Colin ignored him, striding away purposefully. Kendall, snapping back to his senses, called out, ”Colin!” The word had barely left his lips before he, worried about causing a scene, lowered his voice. In that brief moment of hesitation, Colin had already left the rookie area and was heading toward the section where the veterans gathered.

Kendall watched Colin’s retreating back in confusion, his gaze happening to meet Lu Ke’s. Lu Ke offered a friendly smile, which Kendall returned. He then turned away, muttering to himself, wondering what on earth Colin was up to.

Colin didn’t hesitate. He zeroed in on one player: Parris Harrisson.

During this year’s offseason, the San Francisco 49ers had conducted a major house-cleaning, releasing seventeen players in one fell swoop. The entire roster had undergone a massive shuffle. As a result, there weren’t many old-timers left on the team, and Parris was one of them.

In fact, Parris was a 2006 draftee and had only been with the team for five years. He was just a fifth-round pick back then. As an outside linebacker, his career had been unremarkable; he had never made the Pro Bowl or been named a First or Second-Team All-Pro, which was more or less in line with his draft position.

However, Parris was a charismatic player—cheerful, gregarious, and fiercely loyal to his friends.

After the massive roster turnover, the team was in a state of turmoil. On the one hand, they had to face the challenge of a brand-new coaching staff, as Jim Hubble was an absolutely iron-fisted coach. On the other hand, they had to deal with the influx of rookies, as well as the adjustment period after adding free agents and Undrafted Players.

The veteran players needed a representative to maintain discipline and organize activities. Parris himself was a veteran-level player, with only a handful of others more senior than him. Combined with his personality and style, the veterans had subtly formed a clique with him at its center.

”Colin, you should know rookies aren’t allowed in this area during lunch.” Parris was chatting with his teammates when he looked up and saw the team’s young, hot-headed quarterback, his face radiating hostility.

”I know,” Colin said bluntly. He then turned his head toward the rookie section. ”But I also know that rookies aren’t supposed to get one-on-one interviews with reporters, especially not during lunch.”

Following Colin’s gesture, Parris looked over and saw Lu Ke talking with a reporter. It wasn’t hard to spot him in the bustling crowd. Not just Parris, but the other veterans also turned their heads, their gazes curious—

To be honest, for the entire Alliance, a player of Chinese Descent was like a giant panda:

How good was he? Could he really handle the intensity of the pro game? How would he gel with the team and get along with the other players? What impact would the cultural differences have? Even as a backup, would he drag the team down? Would he become a media circus, distracting from the game itself? And would he become a target for other teams?

Everything was new, everything was negative, everything was unfamiliar. They were like scientists observing a lab rat—curious, but with an unavoidable sense of rejection. It was already hard enough for a rookie to win the veterans’ approval. For a player of Chinese Descent? It was exponentially harder.

”This rookie obviously hasn’t received the team’s ’welcome wagon’ yet. He doesn’t know his place. Is this really allowed?” Colin continued, adding fuel to the fire.

Because of the major roster overhaul this year, the team was full of unfamiliar faces, so the veterans’ tradition of hazing the rookies had seemed to weaken. Although Parris and the other veterans had ”taught a few lessons” to the ten rookies over the past three months, the intensity and severity were nothing to write home about.

Still, Colin had a point: this rookie, who had just joined today, had a long way to go and a lot of lessons to learn before he could be considered a true 49ers player.

Parris looked at his buddies and said with a grin, ”Well? You guys ready to be ’mentors’?”

After three months, the integration of the 49ers was mostly complete. The original veterans and the newly transferred senior players had gradually gotten to know each other. The intensity of the pranks they could pull now was naturally on another level compared to before.

Knowing smiles spread across everyone’s faces.

Suddenly, Parris looked up at the snickering Colin. ”And you. Looks like you haven’t learned your lessons either. Before the regular season, you don’t cross the line. Period. No exceptions.” Colin’s smile froze on his face. ”Drop and give me thirty push-ups. Now.”

Colin stared blankly at Parris, speechless. Then he saw the mocking looks from the other players. Gritting his teeth, he got down on the floor and started doing push-ups on the spot.

In an instant, Colin became the center of attention in the cafeteria. Even Lu Ke and Lin Shuyuan turned to look, confused about what was happening.

’It’s his fault. All his fault. All his fault.’ With each push-up, Colin muttered the words through gritted teeth. ’If it weren’t for that damn guy, I wouldn’t be in this mess. I’ll get him back for this, for every last bit of it.’

”Aren’t you concerned? What’s going on over there?” Lin Shuyuan asked, looking at Colin in surprise. He glanced around and saw that everyone else looked like this was business as usual. He could even see schadenfreude in the eyes of the veteran players.

Lu Ke just shrugged. ”In the United States sports world, rookies are always getting hazed in one way or another. It’s nothing new.”

As a Chinese-American quarterback, he had gone through similar pranks time and again throughout elementary school, middle school, and college. He went from initial anger and resistance, to sullen endurance and passive acceptance, and finally to skillfully defusing the situations or even launching clever counterattacks. He was no longer a child.

”Then you...” Lin Shuyuan’s thought trailed off as it dawned on him. After all, he, too, was of Chinese Descent living in the United States.

Lu Ke broke into a smile. ”I guess it’ll be my turn soon.”

Lin Shuyuan had to wonder if his eyes were deceiving him. ’Why does Lu Ke look like he’s actually looking forward to it?’