Chapter 863: The Golden Ocean
Not everyone has the potential to be a leader. Not every show of dominance can intimidate a crowd. Not every leader has the same style or approach, and not everyone with leadership potential can achieve great things. On the path to becoming a leader and achieving greatness, every person has to go through different hardships and tests.
As a second-year player, Lu Ke was taking one step at a time to become the San Francisco 49ers' leader in the truest sense—a complete leader from a tactical and spiritual standpoint, like an "achievement of a king's heart" hidden quest. He was becoming the core of the entire team, but for now, he still had a lot to learn.
Lu Ke couldn't help but laugh at the commotion in the locker room.
He had been foolish this time. After all, he still lacked experience, and the more desperate he was, the more he became anxious and lost his usual way of doing things. As Logan said, being hesitant and indecisive wasn't his style. He learned his lesson and wouldn't make the same mistake again.
In the midst of the chaos, veterans Patrick Willis and David Akers walked over hand in hand. Seeing Lu Ke's embarrassed face, they high-fived each other in celebration and shook their heads in admiration.
"We always thought you were a mature and seasoned guy. It's only now that we can feel your youth. It seems your birth date wasn't fake after all," Willis said, teasing and mocking him. He was clearly in a great mood after the prank was a success.
Akers kept fiddling with the gold gloves in his hands. "Do you know how hard it was for me to find something gold? And I couldn't expose it early. I had to do it secretly. God, now I'm certain that I'm not meant to be a secret agent."
Lu Ke, who was usually eloquent, was speechless in front of the two captains who were enjoying their success and still acting innocent. In this prank, Lu Ke was completely defeated, and he didn't even figure it out until the very last moment.
Willis noticed Lu Ke's embarrassment and walked over, punching Lu Ke's chest. "Bambi, I know that unyielding fighting spirit is hidden right here, and I know that steadfast belief that you'll never give up is also hidden right here, both for the team and for the fans."
Willis looked back at his teammates who were joking around in the locker room. He continued, "Now, we need you to lead this entire team and this entire city to victory. I know this is a very, very big responsibility, but I believe that you're ready, and we're ready too."
A simple act of trust weighed heavily on Lu Ke's shoulders.
In just two seasons—or, to be precise, a season and a half—Lu Ke had earned this trust with his actions. This was true on the field, at practice, and now, off the field as well.
Was it fast? Was it short? Was it easy? Was it simple? Obviously not.
Akers felt Willis' gaze and nodded. "Bambi, the biggest reason I chose to come back and play for one more season is you. Because you made me believe that I could still keep going and that my persistence was valuable. Bambi, I crave victory and I crave the Super Bowl. You made me believe that I can still have hope."
This was the first time Akers had expressed his true feelings. Lu Ke's eyes felt a little warm. That profound trust was surging in his chest. He gave a big smile. "Even if what you're saying is a lie, I've already believed you now, so it's too late to take it back."
The playful jab made Willis and Akers both laugh heartily.
Logan kept bumping his shoulder against Lu Ke's. "See? I told you! I knew it! I knew it!" Then he rambled on to Willis and Akers, "I said during the draft last year that the teams that didn't pick Bambi would regret it sooner or later."
With such a funny person standing beside him, everyone couldn't help but laugh.
After he calmed down a little, Lu Ke noticed something was wrong. "Wait a minute, something's not right. When did all this start? When did you guys know? Why did you all look so unwilling when I first brought it up? Something's not right. This is not right."
Lu Ke's sharp mind instantly stung Logan. He opened his mouth slightly, unable to think of an excuse, because he hadn't expected Lu Ke's reaction to be so fast. He was still excitedly waving his hands and feet, but in the next second, Logan became completely still.
Willis and Akers, the two cunning guys, sensed that something was wrong. They quickly ran away before Lu Ke could react, scattering his attention and escaping at a speed that was no less than Randy Moss'.
Then, Lu Ke was left alone with only Logan.
It wasn't that Logan didn't want to run. It was that Lu Ke's hawk-like gaze had already blocked all his escape routes. In a daze, Logan knew that he had been caught by Lu Ke.
It had been this way since they were kids. It was almost an impossible mission for him to fool Lu Ke, just like the Monkey King falling into the palm of the Buddha.
A smart person knows when to cut his losses. So, Logan chose to be honest. "Leigh." He sold out the mastermind behind the whole thing without any hesitation.
This was an unexpected but logical answer.
"Before you talked to us, Leigh had already called Patrick, David, and Ahmad in advance to tell us about the whole plan. He wanted you to be more proactive and take on more responsibility, so he told us to act like we weren't interested," Logan confessed honestly.
Patrick Willis, David Akers, and Ahmad Brooks. Okay, the three leaders of the team had all been persuaded by Leigh. No wonder everything about this whole thing seemed strange but was also perfectly coordinated.
At this moment, Willis and Akers, who had disappeared from their teammates' sight, could feel Lu Ke's laser-like gaze and inexplicably started to shiver.
And Brooks, who had not joined the fun, was clueless. He gave Lu Ke a big smile and waved the gold wristband in his hand. Lu Ke smiled back and nodded happily: This guy was so dead after the game.
Logan looked at the clueless Brooks and mourned for him in his heart, but he also felt a little schadenfreude. Then he felt Lu Ke's gaze return and confessed everything without needing any torture. "Oh, and Trent and Jim knew, too."
Now, everything made sense.
Leigh Steinberg. This veteran agent's influence was clearly beyond his imagination. Lu Ke was convinced that after the game, they needed to have a "heart-to-heart."
"Bambi! Bambi, let's go! It's time to warm up!"
Everything else could wait for now. The game against the St. Louis Rams was the most important thing. Victory, victory, victory! Full speed ahead to victory!
Lu Ke joined his teammates and left the locker room.
As he walked through the relatively narrow player tunnel and entered the stadium, his vision immediately widened. The surging and vast sea of color was like a meteor shower pouring down from the sky, creating a more shocking, more powerful, and more magnificent sight than a real one. It passed through his eyes and his skin and fell directly into his soul without any obstruction, welcoming a pure and beautiful baptism.
The red wave that spread across the entire Candlestick Park was like a silk ribbon. Even without touching it, one could feel its delicate and soft texture through its shiny luster. The golden sparkles dotted throughout highlighted the vibrant and rich red, soaring through it and making the misty wave endlessly extend, seeping into the azure sky.
In a trance, the line of poetry "The sunset and lone duck fly side by side, the autumn water shares the same color as the sky" became real.
The magnificent and grand wave was so familiar, yet even so, he couldn't help but marvel at it every time he saw it with his own eyes.
At this moment, most of the San Francisco 49ers players had entered the field, looking up with wide eyes at the magnificent sight in front of them. Then the fans received the signal, stood up in a massive wave, and waved the gold items in their hands in unison.
The support towels, the baseball caps, the scarves, the gloves and jackets, the business cards and badges...
Everything started to flutter in the wind, like a hurricane hitting the sea. The ocean started to roar, showing the ferocity and grandeur of nature. Then, a thunderous roar of support erupted in unison, like a giant wave crashing down after reaching its peak. The sheer force of the wave was enough to freeze the air, as if all the air around them had been sucked out instantly.
"Never! Stop fighting!"
"Never! Stop fighting!"
"Never! Stop fighting!"
There was no screaming, no shouting, no cheering, just a simple motto, "Keep Fighting." Over and over again, it tightly connected all seventy thousand spectators, forming a perfect whole from body to spirit.
It was a golden ocean, a vast and golden ocean. It was like a natural ocean, but it was even more brilliant and magnificent, making the nearby Bay Area pale in comparison.
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