Chapter 774: A Stirring Within
"I have a friend, John Ward. Don't bother; you've definitely never heard his name. He was my college teammate, and like me, he was a walk-on. We were both ordinary players. In our last season of college, we tried our best to become backup players. In our last game in college, we teamed up to make a 21-point comeback and won that game.
For a moment, we really thought we owned the world.
But after the season ended, he gave up on the draft and found a regular job. He is now a car salesman. Every day, he wears a suit and tie, goes to work, and tries to please customers, hoping they will open their wallets. The last time we talked, he told me that he really missed the days of playing football and being on the field, but he knew he might never have a chance to come back."
Facing Moss's irritability and anger, Lu Ke seemed to have gradually gotten used to it and was not scared at all. He spoke calmly, telling a story on his own. After he finished, he paused for a moment and added, "But you came back."
John Ward.
That name, forgotten by almost everyone, Lu Ke has never forgotten it.
Perhaps Ward and Lu Ke have chosen completely different lifestyles now, but those glorious years will forever remain in their youthful memories and will not fade away or disappear.
Lu Ke can't help but wonder how great it would be if Ward could also enter the league and join the 49ers, and the teammates from UCLA could be reunited. But... life is life. Being able to fight alongside Logan and Marcus is already a very rare experience. He shouldn't have more extravagant hopes. The professional field is cruel and bloody; there is no gentleness.
Ward couldn't come back, but Moss did.
In a way, fate is unfair. Moss has a talent and a sense of flair that everyone envies. He can be reckless, extravagant, and do as he pleases. He shines on this field. He is trying to chase another great man's footsteps, and behind him are countless skeletons.
After retiring, Moss could still choose to come back and stand on the field in his own way because of the talent that God gave him, which allows him to do as he pleases. Even at the age of 32 and after retiring for a year, the 49ers still chose to sign Moss. This is the favoritism of the creator.
"So what?" Moss was still unmoved. There were too many similar stories in sports, countless of them. He couldn't and didn't need to feel sorry for a college player who didn't even participate in the draft.
"So, why did you choose to come back?" Lu Ke brought the conversation back to the starting point.
This time, Lu Ke didn't pause and continued, "Those who longed to come back could never do it, but you chose to come back, and you are wasting your talent and ability. I know you still have a keen sense. You can still break up a zone defense, and you can still find a way to get yards in a crowd of defenders. But you can't continue to play the way you used to."
"It's not because you're not the 22-year-old Randy Moss anymore, but because the 22-year-old Randy Moss, relying on this style of play, still couldn't win a Super Bowl, not even on the 2007 New England Patriots." This simple sentence severely hit Moss's wound, cruelly and brutally. In an instant, blood gushed out.
"Damn it! Get out! Get out!" Moss was completely enraged. He cursed without a care in the world, and he threw the tablet in his hand straight at Lu Ke.
Lu Ke was not stupid enough to stand there like a wooden stump. With a quick dodge, he avoided the tablet, and then a muffled sound came from his ears. The tablet hit the ground heavily, and the glass screen on the surface was completely shattered, kicking up the gravel on the ground. But this still couldn't vent the anger in his heart, and he continued to curse.
Lu Ke didn't retort or leave. He just stood there, looking into Moss's eyes without being servile or overbearing.
Moss was arrogant, reckless, and self-centered. He had never changed.
Throughout his career, countless people have questioned Moss because he was too rebellious. He didn't even put in half the effort of a regular player. He studied the playbook in a sloppy manner and relied entirely on his personal talent to play.
When he had a flash of inspiration, he could make an incredible catch. Even in a crowd of defenders, a touchdown was as easy as picking something from a bag. But at the most crucial moments, the team was not sure if they could trust Moss because his "inspiration" was too unpredictable.
Even during his time with the New England Patriots, Belichick could always ask Moss to follow the playbook's instructions and get to the passing spot, but Moss's temper and arrogance were still a ticking time bomb. Moss played in only one Super Bowl in his seven seasons with the Minnesota Vikings and four seasons with the New England Patriots.
The team's reasons cannot be denied, and Moss's own reasons cannot be ignored.
This is also one of the important differences between Randy Moss and Jerry Rice.
In terms of talent alone, Rice cannot be compared with Moss. In fact, Rice is one of the most hardworking players. His father was a bricklayer, and he grew up in a remote, quiet town. Not to mention luxuries, even pervasive "spiritual food" like alcohol and drugs was almost impossible to find here. This allowed Rice to maintain a simple and focused attitude toward life.
On a side note, Jerry Rice is a legendary player for the San Francisco 49ers. He and a group of players, including Joe Montana, created the San Francisco dynasty in the late 1980s. And after coming out of retirement, Moss chose San Francisco, and it's possible that Rice's connection played a role in it.
In San Francisco, Rice is a legend.
Rice still lives in San Francisco and still maintains a habit he has had since he entered the league: almost every day, he goes to the suburbs and climbs a small hill with a 2.5-mile-long slope. And every time, he sprints in the last few hundred yards to train his body's ability to overcome pain.
Rice's ability to consistently perform well in the tiring fourth quarter is inseparable from his years of training in this way.
Now, on that long slope, there is still a 49ers player's silhouette, but it is no longer the number 80 jersey from the past, but the number 14 jersey now.
That number 80 jersey was officially retired at Candlestick Park in 2010.
Before this week's home game against the Buffalo Bills, Lu Ke, as always, started his training for the day with a 10,000-meter interval run. That sense of excitement is still there because Lu Ke is now increasing the frequency and rhythm of the intervals to further challenge his body's limits. This has gradually become Lu Ke's way of warming up.
By chance, Lu Ke met Jerry Rice.
Rice, who just turned 50 this year, is still full of energy and diligently completed the hill sprints, as if his retirement in 2005 was just yesterday.
What was surprising was that this was Lu Ke's first official meeting with Rice. And it was Rice who initiated the conversation, which really startled Lu Ke. At that time, Rice said with a smile, "Keep breathing, keep breathing. The training is more important. We can talk slowly after we get to the top of the hill."
After the warm-up run ended, Lu Ke and Rice stood on top of the hill, facing the city that stretched out below them. The two of them just chatted like ordinary friends, as if the topic of the 49ers didn't even exist in their dictionary. In the end, it was Lu Ke, being relatively younger, who couldn't contain his excitement.
Lu Ke took the initiative to bring up Randy Moss. He didn't know how to cooperate with Moss or how to communicate with him, which has become a big problem in the team now.
Rice didn't answer Lu Ke's question. He just said with a chuckle, "Randy is still Randy. He has never changed. He was like this before, and he is still like this now. Do you know? He once told me to my face that the Super Bowl was nothing at all, and he didn't need a Super Bowl ring to prove his greatness. A touchdown was enough."
"Two years ago at Candlestick Park, after my jersey retirement ceremony, he told me he regretted it. Maybe that was the only time he showed weakness in front of me," Rice added later.
Lu Ke seemed to understand what Rice was saying, and yet he didn't. It wasn't until today that he truly understood.
Moss is still Moss, but the fact is that this year, Moss is only 32 years old, while Rice was still able to have a 1,000-yard receiving season when he was 38.
Talent often fades with age, while hard work can bring wisdom with the passage of time.
Perhaps Moss has never changed. His style of play, his personality, his way of doing things—none of it has changed. But at the same time, his desire for victory has not changed, and his desire for the Super Bowl is also the same. This is the reason he chose to come back, and it is also the motivation for him to stand on the field again.
So, Lu Ke said what he said earlier.
Moss's temper finally vented, and Lu Ke spoke again, "My goal is the Super Bowl. I know that all 32 teams in the league have the Super Bowl as their goal, but the difference is that I'm ready. My teammates and I will go all out, one step at a time, toward victory. The question now is, are you ready?"
Not just ready to make a comeback, but also ready to change.
"If you are ready, there will be a tactical meeting for the quarterbacks and wide receivers tomorrow morning. It's not organized by the team; I organized it. If you want to, come to the training facility at 7:30." After saying that, Lu Ke ignored Moss and walked away.
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