There was silence, looking at each other in despair.
The atmosphere in the entire "Joe's Bar" was solemn and depressing. The bitterness of falling short and the frustration of encountering a decisive victory were so heavy that they weighed heavily on my chest, making me almost breathless. Failure always has the power to destroy everything.
"A group of idiots! A group of cowards! A group of losers!" A voice suddenly sounded, breaking the silence and depression in the bar. Everyone looked over reflexively, and it was Jonathan Baldwin standing in the center. His body burst out with incredible energy.
"Are we cowards who can only accept victory but cannot bear defeat? Failure is always a part of competitive sports. If you only like victory and refuse to admit defeat, you will never make progress and will always just live in an ivory tower. Snow White!" Jonathan stood there and faced everyone's gaze calmly, "We are 49 people. In the past eight years, we have been used to failure! But today, today is different!"
Jonathan pointed to the TV set on the wall, "In today's team, I not only saw the dawn of victory, but also saw them fighting until the last moment! That stubbornness and determination that never gave up and refused to admit defeat. , how long has it been since we saw it? Yes, we failed, but we can hold our heads high and tell everyone that this is competitive sports and we can afford to lose because we will win again!"
Turning around, Jonathan strode to the side, looked at Cliff Hart, and then pulled up the big flag, "Guys, more importantly, we have gained a leader. , a true leader! Have you seen it? Have you seen Bambi’s performance on the court? Even in the face of collisions again and again, even in the face of teammates’ mistakes again and again, he never gives up and bites. Ya, led the whole team to fight until the last moment!"
"Can he be our second Joe Montana? I don't know, but I know he is a 49er, a 49er with red and gold blood flowing through his bones! I don't care if he is an undrafted rookie, I don’t care if he is a Chinese player, he doesn’t even care if he has never started a game in his college career, I just know that he deserves my respect and my support!”
"This is the first time in eight years that we have seen the hope of the playoffs! So, I will not be depressed, and I will not be angry. I will raise my chin high, drink the beer in my cup in one gulp, and then Go to the airport and welcome our warriors back! Cheer for our warriors! Tell that young man that he has my support! I am willing to follow him and take a risk!"
Jonathan Baldwin, the Jonathan who has been pouring cold water on him in the past three weeks, the Jonathan who has been sarcastic and ridiculing, was the first to stand up at this time and raised the "King of the Bay Area" high. A flag, an unswerving and impassioned expression of one’s support and recognition, and a loud and clear statement!
Those simple words, without the modification of complicated adjectives, made Jeff Locke's blood boil. He recalled the last two games in college. He recalled the times when he was able to escape from desperate situations again and again. He also recalled Lu Ke's general style at critical moments.
In just six games and ten months, Jeff truly witnessed the rise of Lu Ke. He was so solid step by step and so exciting at the same time. At this moment today, Jeff's soul is trembling slightly, as if he can clearly see that the mark belonging to the 49ers is slowly falling, because of Lu Ke, and because of the San Francisco 49ers led by Lu Ke!
"Bambi!" Jeff jumped up excitedly, then raised his right hand high. No more words were needed, this was enough.
Then, Danny Reese, Nate Chandler, Chris Wilson and others all stood up and shouted the same name, "Bambi!" That nickname represents innocence and weakness. Sometimes it is passionate, full of hope, and full of beauty, connecting everyone together, and truly feeling the resonance deep in each other's hearts.
Cliff carefully raised the flag, and Noah stepped forward tactfully, pulled up the flag, swung it vigorously, and then shouted in unison, "Bambi! Bambi! Bambi!"
Gradually, the dullness in the bar began to subside, and the gurgling enthusiasm and excitement began to heat up; finally, everyone stood up, everyone joined in the cheers, and everyone roared crazily, the thick and loud The shouts echoed loudly throughout the bar.
Chris raised the beer glass in his hand. His voice was already hoarse, but he didn't care at all. He roared with all his strength, "For Bambi!" Then, he raised his head and poured all the beer in the glass down his throat. During the process, he finally placed the beer glass heavily on the bar counter, making a muffled sound.
"For Bambi!" Everyone in the bar raised their glasses high, even Anthony who was standing at the bar, and then everyone raised their heads and drank all the beer in their glasses. , put the wine glasses on the table one after another, and the "bang bang" sound came one after another, like a drum, rumbling.
"Let's go!" Danny was the first to stand up, "Let's go to the airport now!"
After saying that, Danny was about to leave the bar, and everyone else followed him, but Anthony kept a trace of reason, "Wait!" He stopped everyone in their tracks in time, "We need to come back from Philadelphia. It’s a six-hour flight, and the team still needs to be interviewed and relax after the game. It’s probably going to be midnight when we arrive in San Francisco.”
"Then... what should we do?" Danny was also confused. He actually forgot about it.
Anthony pondered for a moment and glanced at the familiar faces in the bar, which reminded him of the years when his father was still running the bar. "Let's go back, say hello to our families, and then gather all the fans we know. After confirming the time for the team to land at the airport, we will go together to welcome our heroes back!"
"The team needs to be united, and the fans also need to be united! Tonight, let the 49ers' flames reignite this city!" Anthony's plain words made everyone's blood boil, so Dan Ni was the first one to roar, "Ahhhh!" The other fans followed suit and started howling like ghosts and wolves. The surging passion reawakened the heat wave of midsummer.
Unprecedentedly, San Francisco echoed the same call again. The football market, which had been dormant for eight years, woke up again after a loss and burst out with long-lost blood!
…
After leaving Lincoln Financial Field, before meeting reporters, Lu Ke was the first to see Lech.
Lech stood at the entrance of the players' tunnel, leaning on a cane, and seemed to have been waiting for a while. Under his gaze, Logan and Marcus all said hello and moved on, leaving Lu Ke and A little space for your own agent.
"Are you okay?" This was Lech's first question. The two sacks in today's game were too brutal, even tougher than last week.
Lu Ke couldn't help but smile.
Suddenly there was an agent who cared about him all the time. To be honest, Lu Ke still didn't feel comfortable with it. But after the conversation last week, Lu Ke knew that Laihe's concern was sincere, so he stopped smiling. , nodded seriously and met Laihe's gaze, "Yes, I'm fine. I'll let the masseur massage to relax me a little later. I'll probably need some restorative training tomorrow."
Laihe did not speak immediately, but looked at Lu Ke's eyes seriously, and finally nodded to express his relief, "Remember to call home, your mother is worried."
During the game, after Laihe and the team doctor confirmed the latest news, he immediately called Jiang Youning to update the situation. After the game, Laihe also called Jiang Youning again to confirm Lu Ke's condition. However, he was an outsider after all, and Jiang Youning definitely still hoped to receive a call from Lu Ke.
After saying that, Laihe didn't stop, turned around and left directly.
Lu Ke, who was standing there, laughed dumbly, "Is there anything else?"
"We can talk about other things slowly when we get back on the plane. You can go over for the interview now." Lech's footsteps still did not pause, and he left the player tunnel unhurriedly.
Lu Ke chuckled and took a step forward, and then he could see the bustling reporters scattered all over the place, interviewing all the main players of the San Francisco 49ers. Almost everyone stood in front of three or three. Four reporters, so two hundred or three hundred people gathered in the entire space, and the scene was very lively.
Noticing Lu Ke's appearance, the reporters immediately surrounded him. A group of about ten or twenty reporters swarmed in like a tide, swallowing up Lu Ke in an instant. Countless recorders and tape recorders rushed towards him. He came up and almost hit Lu Ke on the head. The scene of successive attacks was like Asura's purgatory.
"Quiet, quiet, the questions need to be answered one by one, otherwise I won't hear them at all." Thinking about it, it seemed ridiculous. Lu Ke couldn't help but chuckle. After he stopped shouting, the commotion calmed down a little. After coming down, Patrick Willis, who was standing not far away, raised his voice and joked, "Hey, Bambi, so hot! Really hot!"
This joke was not a taunt, but a joke between familiar friends. It caused the other players to start booing. I don’t know who shouted in the corner, "I only have two reporters here, Bambi." , can you share some with me?"
"Are you envious of Bambi's handsomeness anymore? This is a talent advantage. You should just accept your fate. If you are ugly, you will be ugly forever." Logan's complaints followed, and everyone clapped their hands and laughed.
"Hey, Patrick, if you want, why don't you come over, I'll go back and take an ice bath first, and then we switch places?" Lu Ke also responded in a loud voice, and then saw Patrick's expression of fear of avoiding him, Flee in despair.
