American Football: King of the Bay Area

Perfectly focused. In that moment, Marcus achieved a state of perfect focus. No thinking, no hesitation. The only thought was to push forward, push forward, and push forward again.

With a quick dodge, he evaded a surefire tackle. With one stride, his peripheral vision caught two Eagles players attempting to close in from both sides. Seeing the lane in front of him rapidly shrinking and the entire encirclement closing in, Marcus began to accelerate, and then accelerate again.

Speed wasn’t Marcus’s greatest strength, but his 4.50-second 40-yard dash at the Rookie Training Camp meant he still had the ability to power past his opponents.

At that instant, completely lost in the moment, Marcus pushed his speed to its absolute limit. His body felt light, his feet flew like the wind, and a CRACKING sound erupted from his joints. As if riding on wheels of fire, he burst forward with an unstoppable momentum. He charged ahead, a sharp, paradoxical blend of grace and raw, wind-slicing power.

Just as the two players were about to complete their double-team, Marcus burst through by a hair’s breadth. He could even feel the sensation of their fingertips trying to tug at his jersey. Every muscle in his body tensed. Goosebumps erupted as adrenaline surged, forcefully kicking his speed up another notch and pushing him into a full-out sprint.

WHOOSH.

The two Eagles players tackled nothing but air. In the instant the trap was about to spring shut, Marcus had escaped. Their hands only managed to grasp a swirl of turbulent air. Their powerful, tiger-like pounces failed to find their target, causing them to lose their balance. They flailed their arms, struggling to regain control and avoid an embarrassing fall—

All they could see were Marcus’s light, nimble steps as he pulled away into the distance, kicking up dust. The trap had failed!

”...The San Francisco 49ers’ rookie running back, Marcus Lynch, is handling the return. After catching the ball, he hesitated for a moment, seeming to assess the difficulty of the return, then ran head-on into the dense defensive formation to start his run. The Philadelphia Eagles miss the first tackle, and then… Lynch breaks through a two-man enclosing tackle! He broke through! My God!”

After the kickoff, the commentators had dutifully turned their attention back to the field. They had initially assumed it was just a routine play, which was why their rhythm was a bit slow. But they quickly realized something unexpected was happening. A missed first tackle, a missed second tackle. Marcus burst forward with irresistible force, like a hot knife through butter. A SIZZLE seemed to echo as the impenetrable wall of players fell apart.

The momentum of the play was a stunning blow to everyone watching.

Kirk stared at the live action on the field, his face a mask of astonishment, unable to believe his eyes. ”Out of position! After Lynch broke through the encirclement and shattered the containment, the Philadelphia Eagles special teams players are all out of position! They can’t provide backup coverage!”

”The entire defense has lost its positioning! The encirclement is completely torn open! Against Lynch’s pure speed, they have no way to get back on defense. It’s turned into a footrace now, a contest of speed!”

Marcus was running vertically down the field. After his powerful burst of speed to escape the pincer, a gap had opened in the circle. In his running lane, there were no Philadelphia Eagles players to be seen. All his opponents were scattered to his sides or behind him.

This meant Marcus had broken through the containment. There was nothing but open field in front of him. If the Philadelphia Eagles players wanted to make a tackle, they would have to use their absolute speed to get in front of Marcus and cut him off, or they would have to catch up to him and make a diving tackle from behind.

Just as Kirk said, it had evolved into a contest of speed, like a 100-meter dash where all the athletes were sprinting in the same direction.

It was all so complex, and yet it was all so simple.

Ahead of Marcus was nothing but open field. He couldn’t see a single Eagles player in front of him. Out of the corners of his eyes, he could see players running parallel, trying to cut him off at an angle. But Marcus wasn’t going to give them the chance. Accelerate, and accelerate again—that was the only thing he had to do now.

The adrenaline was now in full flood. The push-off from his feet was so powerful, the churning of his legs so fast! Clutching the football tightly in his right hand, Marcus focused with single-minded determination on the End Zone at the other side of the field. He ran in a straight line, pushing his speed to its absolute peak, as if his very soles were catching fire. The whistling wind filled his ears as he soared freely!

Across his own half of the field, past the opponent’s half, he charged toward the high ground of victory! Running. It was just that simple!

”Lynch! Lynch! My God, the thirty-five, the forty-five, midfield… Unstoppable! Lynch is completely unstoppable! The 49ers players are running interference, providing cover! The Eagles players are still trying to catch up! Everyone is trailing behind Lynch like the tail of Halley’s Comet, sweeping majestically across the entire field! What a spectacular sight!”

”The forty, the thirty, the twenty… They can’t catch him! The Philadelphia Eagles players can’t catch him anymore, but Lynch still isn’t slowing down! He’s still accelerating, charging toward victory in one sustained burst! The fifteen, the ten! Touchdown! Touchdown! Without a doubt, that is a kickoff return for a Touchdown! The San Francisco 49ers have scored a Touchdown!”

”My God, that’s a one-hundred-and-six-yard kickoff return for a Touchdown! In the face of the Philadelphia Eagles’ dominant performance, the San Francisco 49ers have answered with an even more forceful response! Marcus Lynch has just completed the team’s first return Touchdown of the regular season! Brilliant! That was truly brilliant!”

Screams, roars, and cheers erupted from the commentary booth. ”Touchdown”—that one simple word exploded from the mouths of all the commentators at once, each interpreting the same passion in their own way. The explosive exclamations and elation formed a powerful storm that swept violently through Ford Field.

”Touchdown! It’s a kickoff return Touchdown! This is the second-longest return Touchdown of the 2011 season so far! Marcus Lynch has created an incredible miracle! He scored a Touchdown! He has narrowed the score for the San Francisco 49ers! My God, this young team has unleashed an unimaginable youthful energy! The San Francisco 49ers have proven once again that their three-game winning streak was absolutely not a fluke!”

The commentators’ roars were already hoarse and strained. Their bloodshot eyes and cracking voices were a testament to their fanaticism. But in stark contrast, Ford Field was dead silent. The shock was followed by a stunned, vacant silence, creating an unbelievable quiet. It seemed even the sound of the wind was crystal clear.

What should have been an ordinary kickoff had instead produced the biggest surprise of the game so far. Marcus had completed a kickoff return for a Touchdown! A one-hundred-and-six-yard return Touchdown! Even when compared to all the games this week, even among all the games of the season so far, this was bound to be a highlight-reel play of the week!

In the first week of the regular season, the Green Bay Packers’ rookie Wide Receiver, Randall Cobb, had scored a one-hundred-and-eight-yard return Touchdown. Now, Marcus Lynch, also a rookie, had contributed a one-hundred-and-six-yard return Touchdown of his own!

Brilliant. Truly, absolutely brilliant. It was the charm of football displayed to its fullest!

For the home fans, however, this was a fatal blow. Even more devastating than a regular Touchdown was a return Touchdown.

This was supposed to be the Philadelphia Eagles’ kickoff, followed by the San Francisco 49ers offense taking the field. They had been hoping their Defense Team could shut down the opponent’s offensive momentum. But now, the other team’s offense didn’t need to come on the field, and their own Defense Team didn’t need to come on either. Effortlessly, the opponent had scored a Touchdown.

A return Touchdown—fast, direct, fierce, and brutal. Quick and clean. It was a rare sight in any game. For the scoring side, it was a morale-boosting Touchdown. For the side that was scored upon, it was a fiery hell.

Everything had happened too fast and too ferociously, catching everyone off guard. The home fans were so dumbstruck they even forgot to boo and jeer, simply staring at the field in disbelief.

Dead silence. A vast, dead silence. But in the midst of this boundless silence, a fierce and aggressive voice suddenly exploded. ”Who’s the man?! Who’s the man?! Aaaah!”

It was Marcus Lynch.

Standing in the End Zone, Marcus slammed the football hard onto the ground. His hands clenched into fists, his body tensed like a bow, he roared wildly at the home fans in the stands. All the pressure and frustration of playing an away game erupted in that one moment. He mimicked King Kong, pounding his chest with his fists, a cathartic release of surging passion and boiling blood.

A show of absolute dominance!

It was an unexpected start, but a beautiful finish.

When he caught the ball, Marcus had no idea the return would be so effective. But clearly, the Philadelphia Eagles’ special teams had suffered a communication breakdown. There seemed to be a tactical misalignment between the kicker and the other players. The football wasn’t kicked out of the end zone, and the encirclement in the middle never formed. So, after Marcus broke through the pincer tackle with his extreme speed, everything became simple.

All the players from the San Francisco 49ers’ special teams unit rushed over, slapping Marcus on the back, laughing and cheering to celebrate the Touchdown.

For the special teams, opportunities like this weren’t common. Standing on this stage, they seized every chance to showcase their abilities, to be active members of the team, to play their part. So now, they were going to enjoy it to the fullest and celebrate with abandon.

That ferocious, taunting roar echoed across the stands. The home fans finally, gradually, came back to their senses. After a brief moment of silence and bewilderment, Ford Field once again grew tumultuous. A rising tide of boos and roars washed over them like a monster baring its fangs and claws. The home fans did everything in their power to make noise, trying to crush the surging, head-held-high morale of the San Francisco 49ers.

But that would not be an easy task.