American Football: King of the Bay Area

”San Francisco 49ers Stick with Starting Quarterback: Lu Ke!”

”Alex Smith Returns from Injury, Becomes a Spectator on the Sidelines.”

”Chinese-American Quarterback to Continue Leading the San Francisco 49ers’ Offense.”

”San Francisco 49ers’ Starting Quarterback Battle: Lu Ke Wins!”

”Number 14 to Continue Writing His Miracle, Leading the Team into Battle.”

”A Second Kurt Warner? Or a Second Tony Romo? Lu Ke Forges Ahead Amidst Controversy.”

”Undrafted Rookie Rises to the Top. The NFL’s Cinderella Story Is Far from Over.”

”Conservative or Risky? Jim Hubble Makes the Boldest Choice of His Tenure.”

”San Francisco 49ers General Manager Trent Balk: ’I Support Jim’s Decision.’”

”Continue the Magical Journey or Reveal His Rookie Colors? Amidst Attention and Controversy, the San Francisco 49ers Have Chosen Number 14.”

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Extra, extra, read all about it! All eyes in the media were on the San Francisco 49ers.

Every week of the regular season was filled with countless hot topics: the previous week’s games, the upcoming week’s games, on-field performances, and off-field drama. The conversations never stopped.

For example, the Indianapolis Colts had lost again; without Peyton Manning, they seemed to have fallen into a bottomless abyss. Meanwhile, Houston Texans quarterback Matt Shaobu accused his last opponents, the New Orleans Saints, of using injurious blitz tactics and maliciously attacking him on defense. The Saints Team, on the other hand, denied the allegations, and the two sides entered a war of words.

Among the countless trending topics, the San Francisco 49ers were undoubtedly the center of everyone’s attention. An undrafted rookie, a Chinese-American quarterback, and a three-game winning streak—any single one of these factors would have been enough to send the media into a frenzy. With all of them combined, it was like Christmas had come early for reporters.

Faced with a choice between 2005’s number one draft pick, Alex Smith, and this year’s second-round pick, Colin Kaepernick, Jim Hubble’s coaching staff ultimately chose Lu Ke. The news unquestionably ignited a firestorm of discussion.

There were those who supported the decision. They believed the three victories had already proven Lu Ke’s ability, making it the obvious choice for him to continue leading the team forward. After all, Lu Ke had done what Alex couldn’t.

There were also those who opposed it. Lu Ke’s lack of game experience and the volatility of a rookie player were reasons to bench him in favor of Alex. In their view, Lu Ke was merely a transitional quarterback, just as Alex was. The team’s future should be in the hands of Colin Kaepernick.

And then there were the onlookers. Some were waiting for a disaster, others were hoping to witness history in the making. Either way, it was a sensational news story and great fodder for water-cooler talk. Watching the drama unfold and gossiping about it made for good entertainment.

Amidst all the clamorous debate, the sudden rise of Lu Ke became a very interesting topic for reporters at the press conferences of the other thirty-one teams.

Take the New Orleans Saints, for example. During the draft, they had come infinitely close to picking Lu Ke, and the team’s quarterback coach, Joe Lombardi, never hid his admiration for him. Selecting Lu Ke in a later round to serve as Drew Brees’s backup would have been a good move.

Unfortunately, they missed their chance. So, do they regret it now?

”I think it’s a paradox.” In an interview, Joe Lombardi graciously shared his opinion. ”If Lu Ke had come to the Saints Team, he would have only served as Bruce’s backup. What his ability and skill level would be in three to five years is anyone’s guess. By going to the 49ers, Lu Ke earned his own opportunity to perform and captured everyone’s attention. So, it’s a question that’s destined to have no answer. But I’m genuinely happy for Lu Ke. He’s truly an outstanding player.”

Then there were the Washington Redskins. First, their interest during the draft, then a tryout during the offseason—they missed out on Lu Ke twice. However, with their current record of two wins and one loss, they didn’t seem to have any problems and naturally felt no regret.

The team’s head coach, Mike Shanahan, answered crisply, ”No, I don’t regret it. We’re in a good position right now, we’re full of confidence, and everything is fine. We don’t need to worry about the quarterback position, nor are we coveting any other team’s quarterback.”

Among these countless topics, the situation for the St. Louis Rams was agonizing.

As a division rival of the San Francisco 49ers, the St. Louis Rams had been in a terrible state in recent years. In the sixteen regular-season games of 2009, they managed only a single victory. After landing the number one draft pick, they selected University of Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford, pinning all their hopes on the 2008 Heisman Trophy winner.

In the 2010 season, Bradford immediately became the Rams Team’s starting quarterback. Amidst high expectations, his performance couldn’t be called terrible, only up and down. Like any rookie, he was still inconsistent. They finished the season with a record of seven wins and nine losses. Incidentally, in their divisional matchups against the San Francisco 49ers last year, they split the series one-to-one, with each team winning at home.

Then came this season. After much hesitation, the St. Louis Rams decided to keep their faith in Bradford, giving the young quarterback more time to develop. Therefore, they didn’t pick a quarterback in the draft. Instead, during the subsequent training camp, they hoped to find a backup for Bradford.

During the camp, Lu Ke’s performance was truly impressive, and he trained with the Rams Team for two weeks. But in the end, the team passed on Lu Ke because of his rookie status. Instead, they chose a veteran, Karen Clemens, who entered the Alliance in 2006.

They had missed out on Lu Ke.

During the preseason, the Rams Team achieved an impressive perfect record of four wins. With Bradford entering his sophomore year, expectations were even higher. But as soon as the regular season began, a nightmare unfolded for the Rams Team. Affected by an ankle sprain, Bradford’s performance plummeted. Over the past three games, he had only managed two passing touchdowns.

The St. Louis Rams started the season with three consecutive losses.

Now, everyone was discussing what the Rams Team’s situation might be if they had chosen Lu Ke as their backup during the tryouts.

In response, the Rams Team’s coaching staff was unanimous in their refusal to answer, ”We won’t answer hypothetical questions. It’s meaningless. All I can say is that during the preseason, everything was perfect. Everything indicated that we were going to have an outstanding season. But the sudden onset of injuries affected our plans. All we can do now is keep looking forward and hope to bounce back from this low point.”

The San Francisco 49ers had made their official choice: Lu Ke would be the starting quarterback. Consequently, the teams that had passed on Lu Ke in the draft, the teams that had passed on him during offseason tryouts—almost everyone was wondering: why did we miss out on this quarterback?

It was just like after Tom Brady’s powerful rise, when the entire Alliance was asking: What did Bill Belichick see that they didn’t? Why did Bill Belichick choose Tom Brady, when the one hundred and ninety-eight picks before him were all misses? Brady was the one hundred and ninety-ninth pick in the sixth round.

Even now, that same question is a recurring theme within the Alliance. Today, that theme has fallen upon Lu Ke.

However, Lu Ke had only secured a three-game winning streak, not three consecutive Super Bowl championships.

So, they were still debating whether Lu Ke would be another Tony Romo—an undrafted rookie who became a starter and carved out a niche for himself, but has yet to win a Super Bowl. Or would he be another Kurt Warner—a nobody who came out of nowhere to achieve fame and success, leaving an indelible mark on the Alliance’s history, even if he doesn’t make it into the Hall of Fame.

Jim Hubble’s one decision sent ripples through the entire Alliance.

After all, compared to Tom Brady, Tony Romo, and Kurt Warner, Lu Ke possessed a unique, incomparable advantage: he was a Chinese-American quarterback.

And so, from the East Coast to the West Coast, from newspapers and magazines to television shows, from professional sports media to celebrity gossip tabloids, it seemed everyone had joined the discussion.

In a blur, everyone had heard that a Chinese-American quarterback had appeared in the NFL. Unlike Wang Kai from last year, this time he had truly entered the mainstream spotlight. Many people even thought Lu Ke was the first purely Asian player in the history of the Alliance, and a quarterback at that.

For the first time, the name ”Lu Ke” began to spread beyond the football field and into other domains. The reason was simple: in a direct internal competition, Lu Ke had squarely defeated Alex Smith to become the starting quarterback. It wasn’t due to injury, nor was he just a relief player—it was a pure contest of skill.

But, unexpectedly yet understandably, the nickname that caught on with the public wasn’t ”Bambi,” nor was it the Chinese ”Lu Ke,” but ”Luke Skywalker.” Star Wars is an irreplaceable part of American culture, and the name ”Luke” itself is highly iconic. One look at the headline from the entertainment magazine ”Vanity Fair” made it clear:

”The Skywalker of the Gridiron, the Dazzling Debut of the First Chinese-American Quarterback in History—

The San Francisco 49ers Are Writing a New Record in the NFL.”

In the article, ”Vanity Fair” described Lu Ke as the successor to Joe Montana. This was partly because they both belonged to the San Francisco 49ers—a crucial connection for non-fans. It was also because both players had relatively lean builds. And finally, it was because a small number of fans and reporters were genuinely discussing him in those terms.

”Vanity Fair” noted that when Montana first entered the Alliance, he wasn’t highly regarded, yet he defied expectations to become one of the greatest quarterbacks in history, if not the greatest. Now, Lu Ke had also entered the Alliance as an undrafted rookie, and after securing three straight wins, he had solidified his starting position through sheer skill, blazing a legendary path of his own.

Before anyone knew it, the ”Skywalker” moniker began to spread!