Lu Ke, Lu Ke, still Lu Ke!
The successful defense of the Super Bowl allowed Lu Ke to truly stand at an unparalleled and difficult-to-replicate peak. Lu Ke’s name is resounding both inside and outside the league. Even ordinary people who have no interest in football have heard of it more or less. "Lu Ke" or "Bambi", even Hollywood is rumored to be planning to invite Lu Ke to guest star in the movie. The Miracle Season will have a miraculous ending, which is even more incredible than the Perfect Season.
Under the spotlight, all voices are discussing: the possibility of three consecutive championships?
In the 2012 and 2013 seasons, Lu Ke broke countless curses and wrote new history one after another. So, can Lu Ke break the league's curse again this time and change the history that no team has ever been able to complete three consecutive championships? ? There is no doubt that this is the absolute focus of the new season.
The season hasn't even started yet, and every move of the San Francisco 49ers has attracted countless attention and discussions. The faint craze is even more rampant and crazier than in the defending season. The pressure is everywhere and layer upon layer, which makes people feel uncomfortable. Breathless, this also destined that the next season will never be easy. In such a background, the 2014 season slowly opened.
Although it had been expected early that the season to win three consecutive championships would not be easy, or even severe, the cruel reality was unexpected, and the "three-year pain" seemed to be real.
You can feel the violent turmoil during the offseason - the objective existence of the hard salary cap has forced the defending champion San Francisco 49ers to make difficult choices.
Including Anquan Boldin, Donte Witler, Tarrell Brown, Jonathan Goodwin, Michael Weiholt, Eric Wright, Ted Ginn, Vernon David Sixteen players including Sri Lanka have all become free agents. There are six absolute main players, and as many as 11 regular rotation players.
Jim Hubble must make a choice: Who stays and who leaves?
Among them, Ted Ginn's contract is undoubtedly the most eye-catching. This once unknown but brilliant Super Bowl hero under Lu Ke has been ranked second among the San Francisco 49ers in the past three years. There are few players who can replace him at the receiver position, with his speed and routes.
But in the end, Ginn was not able to stay - he went to the Carolina Panthers and became Cam Newton's offensive weapon. This was obviously not a wise choice. How could Cam's passing accuracy compare with Lu Ke's? Woolen cloth? However, this is the professional league, and parting will eventually come.
Vernon Davis is also in the same situation. Due to injuries and condition, he has never been able to show his peak competitiveness. He was at a disadvantage in the head-to-head battle with Logan. In addition, Garrett Selleck With his rapid growth, his space for performance has been further squeezed.
After repeated consideration, Vernon chose to transfer and leave, going to the Denver Broncos to form a double tight end formation with Julius Thomas, who will soon become Peyton Manning's receiver.
If the transfer of Gene and Vernon is more or less related to injuries, and it is also the head coach's consideration of the tactical layout of the new season, then the transfer of center Jonathan Goodwin is a helpless choice. .
Goodwin, who is 36 years old this year, has entered the end of his career. He and Lu Ke both came to the San Francisco 49ers in 2011 and grew up with Lu Ke; his performance last season also declined significantly. Now it's time to say goodbye. He did not choose to retire, but returned to his "home team" the New Orleans Saints - he played for the New Orleans Saints for five years before transferring to the San Francisco 49ers. Year.
First, there was the retirement of David Akins, then the transfers of Ted Ginn and Vernon Davis, and then the regretful turn of Jonathan Goodwin. The comrades Lu Ke was familiar with were coming one after another. Leaving, even more sad than Randy Moss last year, set the tone for the season early, which is bound to not be easy.
What's even more sad is that the injured Carroll Rogers refused to retire and was released by the team. He had to return to the ranks of trial training and eventually went to the Oakland Raiders, but only played half a season. , after all, he still couldn't resist the injury and regretfully chose to retire.
Eric Wright, who performed well as a substitute on the Super Bowl stage, finally joined Akins after three months of deliberation and chose to retire as a player for the San Francisco 49ers. He also turned around and left. Entering the professional arena and starting a new journey.
Injuries and status, income and dreams, the reality of professional sports has reached an unprecedented height at this moment, and the San Francisco 49ers, who defended their title for the first time in nine years, have also become the target of poaching by the other 31 teams in the league. Therefore, Hubble It was during the repeated negotiations that we encountered difficulties.
Choices must be made after all; decisions must be made after all. Ultimately, this is a professional league and business matters.
Of course, behind the sadness and regret of parting, the team also received good news.
Logan Newman and Marcus Lynch both re-signed their contracts at the end of their rookie contracts, continuing their relationship with the San Francisco 49ers.
Among them, Logan even signed a contract that changed the history of the league: US$45 million over five years, with an average annual salary of US$9 million. This also made him officially the league's No. 1 tight end, highlighting his The San Francisco 49ers have major expectations for Logan, who will form the tight end lineup with Garrett Selleck in the new season.
At the same time, Hubble also acquired some outstanding players in the free market.
Traded veteran wide receiver Stevie Johnson from the Buffalo Bills, invited retired wide receiver Brandon Lloyd to come back and traded from the Indianapolis Colts. Two-time Pro Bowl safety Antoine Bethea, blah blah blah.
In addition, the San Francisco 49ers, who have 19 draft picks, fill the vacancies in the team through the draft. Trent Baalke and Jim Harbaugh mainly focus on the defensive team.
Because this defensive team is indeed riddled with injuries and problems, and it is bound to face more difficulties in the new season; in addition, there is always a wrong myth in the league, it seems that as long as the quarterback is good enough, they will There is no need to invest more energy in the offensive team——
What's more, the San Francisco 49ers offense has indeed shown great strength in the past three seasons, especially this season that just ended. Despite the shortage of personnel, faltering, and constant injuries, Lu Ke still led the team. The team completed the feat of scoring 50 points in four consecutive games in the playoffs. It is unprecedented and unprecedented. Such a historical record is unlikely to be surpassed. This also gives Hubble and Trent more confidence to concentrate on their mission. The ground made up for the deficiencies in the defensive team and completed the grand idea of completing the entire puzzle for the third consecutive championship.
In the draft, the San Francisco 49ers traded seven picks and selected 12 players. Only two players were on the offensive team, one center and one wide receiver, and the rest were all defensive players. To put it bluntly, This clearly demonstrates the team's firm determination to strengthen the defensive team.
Retirement, transfer, draft.
These are all choices made by the team and players actively or passively. Compared with injuries, they are all decisions that can be controlled and adjusted. Putting aside the sadness and regrets, the San Francisco 49ers are preparing for the new season in an orderly manner. Be prepared - but limited by the impact of the hard salary cap, Hubble also lacks big moves.
There is a little interesting thing in the series of actions of the San Francisco 49ers:
Fourth-year quarterback Brian Gabbert was officially waived by the Jacksonville Jaguars. He transferred to the San Francisco 49ers and served as Lu Ke's backup quarterback.
At the beginning, Gabbert and Lu Ke were one of the topics of discussion in the rookie training camp. The Fengdrick test scores of the two were among the top two of all players; last season, Gabbert and Lu Ke faced off face to face in the London Bowl. At that time, both men were starting quarterbacks and had established a good friendship in official activities.
Who would have thought that after going around in circles, two players of the same generation would meet again in such a way. This is indeed a wonderful thing.
Although Harper and Trent have been busy during the offseason, compared to other teams in the league, the defending champion is too low-key and has almost been forgotten. Even Logan signed News of the contract of the No. 1 tight end in history was drowned in the noise of the free market——
Just from the free market, you can feel the turbulent undercurrent, which is heading towards the 2014 season.
"Island King" Daryl Revis transferred to the New England Patriots, Aquib Talib transferred from the New England Patriots to the Denver Broncos, TJ-Ward (TJ-Ward) and DeMarcus - Two of Ware's top defensive players also arrived at the Denver Broncos to report, as well as Eric Decker of the Denver Broncos, Jimmy Graham of the New Orleans Saints, and Nick Folk of the New York Jets. ) also left their teams one after another.
These are blockbuster transfers that shocked the league!
Tight end Jimmy Graham joins the Seattle Seahawks. This is undoubtedly a crucial transfer, especially for the overall pattern of the National League West - the Denver Broncos are strengthening the defensive team, and the Seattle Seahawks are strengthening the defense. With a strong offensive team, coupled with the New England Patriots who have quietly strengthened their defensive team, these championship opponents are far more active and stronger than the San Francisco 49ers. They showed their ability early in the offseason. Super Bowl cravings.
What's more, these teams are not the only ones competing for the championship.
This also means that if the San Francisco 49ers want to complete an unprecedented three consecutive championships, they must use their own hands and feet to strive tenfold and a hundredfold. Amidst the disturbing news about the championship, the 2014 season is like this The curtain opened with a bang!
