"San Francisco 49ers Stick with Starting Quarterback: Lu Ke!"
"Alex Smith Returns from Injury, Becomes a Spectator as Backup."
"Chinese-American Quarterback to Continue Leading the San Francisco 49ers' Offense."
"San Francisco 49ers Starting Quarterback Competition: Lu Ke Wins Out!"
"Number 14 Will Continue to Write Miracles and Lead the Team in the Game."
"The Second Kurt Warner? Or the Second Tony Romo? Lu Ke Moves Forward Amidst Controversy."
"Undrafted Rookie Rises to the Top, the NFL's Cinderella Story Isn't Over Yet."
"Conservative or Bold? Jim Harbaugh Makes His Boldest Choice Since Taking Office."
"San Francisco 49ers General Manager Trent Baalke: I Support Jim's Decision."
"Continuing a Magical Journey or Showing His Rookie Colors? The San Francisco 49ers Chose Number 14 Amidst Attention and Disputes."
Extra, extra, read all about it! All media outlets were focused on the San Francisco 49ers.
Every week of the regular season, there were countless hot topics. There was always a lot of discussion about the previous week's games, the upcoming week's games, what happened on the field, and what happened off the field.
For example, the Indianapolis Colts lost again. Without Peyton Manning, they seemed to have fallen into a bottomless pit. Another example was Houston Texans quarterback Matt Schaub, who accused his previous opponent, the New Orleans Saints, of using dangerous blitzing tactics in their defense to maliciously attack him. The Saints, on the other hand, denied it, and a war of words broke out between the two sides.
Among countless hot topics, the San Francisco 49ers were undoubtedly the center of attention. An undrafted rookie, a Chinese-American quarterback, and a three-game winning streak. Any single one of these factors would be enough to get the media excited, let alone all of them combined. For reporters, it was like Christmas.
Faced with the choice between Alex Smith, the 2005 first overall draft pick, and Colin Kaepernick, this year's second-round pick, the coaching staff led by Jim Harbaugh ultimately chose Lu Ke. This news undoubtedly ignited all the discussions.
There were those who supported the decision, believing that the three wins had already proven Lu Ke's ability, and it was only natural for him to continue leading the team forward. After all, Lu Ke had done what Alex had failed to do.
There were those who opposed it. The lack of game experience and the inconsistency of a rookie were all reasons to choose Alex over Lu Ke. They believed Lu Ke was just a temporary quarterback, as was Alex, and that the team's future should be with Colin Kaepernick.
There were also those who were just observers. They were either waiting for a good laugh or hoping to see history being made. No matter what the outcome was, it was an exciting news story that they could talk about and enjoy. Their lives were great.
The Interesting Discussions in the NFL
Amidst all the hustle and bustle, the sudden rise of Lu Ke became a very interesting topic for reporters at other teams' press conferences.
For example, the New Orleans Saints, who were very close to drafting Lu Ke, and their quarterback coach, Joe Lombardi, had never hidden his admiration for Lu Ke. Drafting Lu Ke in a late round to be Drew Brees' backup would have been a good choice.
Unfortunately, they missed their chance. So, did they regret it now?
"I think it's a paradox," Joe Lombardi said openly during an interview. "If Lu Ke had come to the Saints, he could only have been Brees' backup. So, what his ability and strength would have been in three to five years is an unknown. By going to the 49ers, Lu Ke won the opportunity to perform and gained everyone's attention. So, this is a question that is destined to have no answer. However, I'm truly happy for Lu Ke. He is indeed an excellent player."
Another example was the Washington Redskins. They had shown interest in Lu Ke during the draft and then in his tryout during the offseason. They had missed out on Lu Ke twice. However, their current record was two wins and one loss, and they didn't seem to have any problems. Naturally, they didn't have any regrets.
The team's head coach, Mike Shanahan, answered bluntly, "No, I don't feel any regrets. We are in a good position right now, and we are full of confidence. Everything is great. We don't need to worry about our quarterback situation, and we don't covet other teams' quarterbacks."
Among all these topics, the St. Louis Rams were suffering.
As the San Francisco 49ers' division rival, the St. Louis Rams had been in a very bad situation recently. In their sixteen regular season games in 2009, they only had one win. After getting the first overall pick, they chose the Oklahoma University quarterback Sam Bradford, placing all their hopes on the 2008 Heisman Trophy winner.
In the 2010 season, Bradford immediately became the Rams' starting quarterback. With high expectations, his performance was not terrible, but it was inconsistent, just like all rookies. Their record ended up being seven wins and nine losses. By the way, in their divisional games against the San Francisco 49ers last year, they each won one game at home.
Then came this season. After some hesitation, the St. Louis Rams chose to trust Bradford and gave the rookie quarterback more time to grow. So, they didn't draft a quarterback, but they wanted to find a backup quarterback for Bradford during the tryouts.
During the tryouts, Lu Ke's performance was quite good, and he had practiced with the Rams for two weeks. But in the end, the team gave up on Lu Ke because of his rookie status. Instead, they chose a veteran, Kellen Clemens, who had joined the league in 2006.
They had missed out on Lu Ke.
In the preseason, the Rams had an impressive record of four wins and zero losses, and Bradford was highly anticipated for his second year. But when the regular season started, the Rams had a nightmare. Affected by an ankle sprain, Bradford's performance plummeted, and he only had two passing touchdowns in the last three games.
The St. Louis Rams started with three straight losses.
Now, everyone was talking about what the Rams' situation would have been like if they had chosen Lu Ke as a backup during the tryouts.
In response, the Rams' coaching staff all had the same answer, refusing to comment. "We won't answer hypothetical questions. It's pointless. All I can say is that during the preseason, everything was perfect, and everything suggested that we would have a great season. But the sudden injury affected our plans, and we can only look forward now, hoping to bounce back."
The Newfound Fame of "Luke Skywalker"
The San Francisco 49ers made their official choice to have Lu Ke as their starting quarterback, and as a result, the teams that had missed out on Lu Ke in the draft and the teams that had missed out on him during the offseason tryouts were all wondering: Why had they missed out on this quarterback?
It was like when Tom Brady rose to prominence, and the entire league was asking: What did Bill Belichick see that they hadn't? Why did Bill Belichick choose Tom Brady, while the previous 198 picks in the draft had all missed him? Brady was the 199th pick in the sixth round.
Even now, the league still keeps asking the same question. Today, that question was being asked about Lu Ke.
However, Lu Ke had only gotten three straight wins, not three straight Super Bowl victories.
So, they were still debating whether Lu Ke would be another Tony Romo—an undrafted rookie who became a starting quarterback and made a name for himself, but has yet to win a Super Bowl—or another Kurt Warner—an unknown who came out of nowhere and became famous. Even if he couldn't get into the Hall of Fame, he had left a huge mark in the history of the league.
Jim Harbaugh's decision sent ripples throughout the entire league.
After all, compared to Tom Brady, Tony Romo, and Kurt Warner, Lu Ke had a unique advantage that was unmatched: he was a Chinese-American quarterback.
As a result, from the East Coast to the West Coast, from newspapers and magazines to television programs, and from professional sports media to entertainment tabloids, it seemed that everyone had joined the discussion.
In a trance, everyone had heard that there was a Chinese-American quarterback in the NFL. Unlike Kai-lin Wang last year, this time, Lu Ke had truly entered the mainstream spotlight. Many people thought that Lu Ke was the first pure Asian player in the history of the league, and he was a quarterback, no less.
For the first time, the name "Lu Ke" was leaving the football field and starting to spread in other areas. The reason was simple: in a direct internal competition, Lu Ke had openly defeated Alex Smith to become the starting quarterback. It wasn't because of an injury or because he was a temporary replacement, but because of a pure contest of skill.
But, what was both unexpected and reasonable was that the nickname people knew him by was not "Bambi," nor was it the Chinese "Lu Ke," but "Luke Skywalker"—"Star Wars" was an irreplaceable part of American culture, and the name "Luke" had a very distinctive meaning. Just look at the headline of the entertainment magazine, "Vanity Fair":
"The Skywalker of the Football Field, the Dazzling Debut of the First Chinese-American Quarterback in History—
The San Francisco 49ers Are Writing a New NFL Record."
In the article, "Vanity Fair" described Lu Ke as the successor to Joe Montana. On one hand, it was because they both belonged to the San Francisco 49ers, and for non-fans, the connection of being from the same team was crucial. On the other hand, it was because both players were on the thinner side. And another reason was that a small number of fans and a small number of reporters were actually discussing this.
"Vanity Fair" said that when Montana first entered the league, he was not favored, but he came back and became one of the greatest quarterbacks in history. And now, Lu Ke has also entered the league as an undrafted rookie, and after three straight wins, he has successfully secured the starting position with his skills, paving the way for his own legend.
Unknowingly, the nickname "Skywalker" had begun to spread!
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