The cloudless sky is not covered by a trace, the blue sky can be seen to the end in a word, the lazy airplane clouds outline the vastness and emptiness of the sky with a few strokes, and the bright golden sunlight is sprinkled unscrupulously, all over every corner of the sight, falling on the surface of the skin, every inch of the skin that is exposed can't help but open, deeply breathing the dry oxygen mixed with the aroma of grass.

The training ground in front of me was empty, there was no figure, occasionally a lark flew over and landed in the grass, trying to find grasshoppers to fill its stomach, but the next second it was found that it was a sports field, and there were no small creatures at all, so he flew away happily.

Adam Klein sat alone in the stands, without the shade of the awning, the whole person was directly exposed to the sun, the black baseball cap must not have played much role at all, it seemed that the last time he wiped the sweat had not been long, and the sweat on his forehead began to slowly seep out again.

It's hard to imagine that many cities in the north are still snowing, but April in Los Angeles has opened its hearts and embraced the arrival of summer. In two weeks, the annual NFL Draft will kick off; In a few weeks, the university's selection of new football students will also begin; Then there's the in-house training camp for the professional teams, then there's the preseason, then there's the regular season.

It seems that the Super Bowl ended not long ago, and the new season has come to a corner. But when you think about it, the rookie boot camp was six weeks ago, and time seems to be flying faster than you think.

Over the past six weeks, the league has been busy, with 32 teams and more than 300 rookies running at a rapid pace like a big, sophisticated, intricate and cumbersome machine.

Those high-profile rookie players are gradually coming to the fore. Scouts and teams to further investigate and review and collect information; The major media and major columns have begun to predict: the team needs to replenish the positions of the players, the choices that the team may make, the selection of the 32 rookies in the first round, and the round in which the famous rookies may fall......

Among the many figures who are too busy to touch the ground, Adam is also one of them: some players need to repeat the assessment three or four times; Some players need to be re-evaluated in light of their performance in rookie camp; Some players have troubles and problems off the field that need to be checked again; Some players have problems with their private life and morality, and it is necessary to collect information; There are also players who need to be interviewed and reviewed by the team's decision-making team in person.

In a way, scouts and private investigators are just a thin line. After all the busy work was over, Adam made another revision of his scouting report and submitted it for reference.

However, every time he returns to Los Angeles, no matter how tired he is, no matter how busy he is, Adam will take a day out to come to UCLA again to watch Lu Ke's training. This is the last one, and all the other players' scouting reports have already been submitted, except for this last one.

In fact, no one is asking about Lu Ke's scouting report. The New Orleans Saints, who showed a lot of interest during their rookie training camp, were riddled with a defensive team compared to the quarterbacks and offensive team, and it was imperative that they absorb new blood for the defensive team.

It seems to be extremely lively and boiling, but in fact, there is no one who is willing to take a step.

First, Lu Ke's physical test results are indeed unsatisfactory; Second, the reference data of Lu Ke's entire career as a player is lackluster, and the reference value is too low to talk about those two games over and over again; Three, Chinese, quarterback, this can almost be said to be a taboo permutation in football, and there have been no Chinese players in other positions, how can it be possible to hand over the team's brain to Chinese players?

As a result, the excitement during the rookie training camp was only lively in California for a while in real life, and then gradually cooled down. No one cares, no one cares, and no one cares.

Even the scouts no longer cared – not criticism, not crusade, not contempt, but indifference, which was a more terrible status quo than a flood of bad reviews.

The reason why Adam didn't give up was just a gut instinct and persevered.

As a scout, he has spent thirty-six years, and the professional players in the league have gone through several waves, he has seen countless geniuses, countless fallen geniuses, and countless ordinary players who are not favored but burst out with amazing energy. He has a keen intuition, an intuition that he can't tell, can't see, can't tell.

In Lu Ke's body, he smelled a special temperament that he couldn't describe, but he hoped to be able to dig it out. So, he never gave up, even Blake Simmons gave up, but he still didn't. Now, he's the only scout keeping an eye on Lu Ke.

The footsteps of "popping" came from far and near, and Adam knew that the person who came must be Lu Ke.

In the past six weeks, Lu Ke has not given up, nor has he been abandoned. He's been working tirelessly to keep training and keep improving himself, and it seems that rookie camp hasn't disrupted his life, and it seems that the six-week silence hasn't made him give up. Even during spring break, all college students enjoyed the holidays, including the players who participated in this year's draft, and he continued to train without interruption.

At the same time, he's still trying to finish college, finishing his graduation thesis in the library every day, and the players who are committed to the draft have long since forgotten about their studies and credentials after they have achieved the NCAA requirements.

Sure enough, Lu Ke's figure jogged into the stadium, and after his feet ran onto the track, he suddenly began to accelerate with all his might, and increased his speed to the extreme in a 100-meter sprint; After crossing the 100 meters, slow down a little and adjust the corners before moving into the straight and entering the 100m sprint again.

This way of running at different speeds puts forward strict requirements for basic physical qualities such as physical strength, endurance, and explosiveness. Even in rookie camp, players who set their best 60-yard round trip are not always able to complete such a demanding workout. What's more, Adam knew that Lu Ke was now in a state after completing more than nine thousand meters.

I don't know if it's Adam's delusion, he feels that Lu Ke's speed has improved, and his recovery ability after the sprint is also increasing. Of course, he didn't hold a stopwatch and didn't know the exact data, it was very likely, just because of the intolerance and expectation in his heart, he vaguely hoped that Lu Ke's hard training would pay off.

After finishing the 10,000-meter run, Lu Ke gradually slowed down and began to do some simple relaxation exercises, adjust breathing, soothe muscles, and prepare for the next basic training.

"How's it going, how did you get from this business trip?" There was an inquiry, Adam turned his head, and then he saw the figure of Anthony Jefferson with a smile on his face, and it could be seen that he was in a good mood.

Adam shrugged, "Old, old. Those so-called talented players, if Lu Ke worked as hard as one-third, maybe this year's draft would be wonderful. ”

"But, that's life." Anthony let out a long breath, as if exhaling the turbid breath in his chest, "Are you still alone today?" Or are you waiting for someone? "For example, a quarterback coach or offensive coach on a certain team; Another example is the manager of a team, or a senior scout.

Adam didn't speak, just tugged at the corners of his mouth.

Anthony tapped the railing with his palm, showing a bitter smile, wanting to say something, but he still didn't say anything after all, "Later, I'll go down to help Lu Ke train." ”

For the past six weeks, the entire school has been in the offseason, with players and coaches on vacation. However, Anthony has been helping Lu Ke train, working hard and persevering silently in their way.

Watching Anthony's back walk off the court, Adam's smile was also a little bitter.

He didn't want to disappoint them, because they had been disappointed too many times, and Adam had been trying to match, hoping that a quarterback coach would come and see Lu Ke's training, not a physical test in the training camp, nor a simple test within those three days, but a real basic training.

However, nine times, a total of nine failures, five of them, in the phone nodding yes. But in reality, it didn't show up. Then call again, it's either voicemail or a whole bunch of excuses. Again and again, it was raised high and fell heavily, and this taste was unpleasant. Adam was well aware of this, too.

In fact, he made an appointment with an old friend today, made more than a dozen phone calls, and finally persuaded the other party to come to UCLA to see it in person. However, now he can't be 100% sure, what if after the exit, he is disappointed again?

In the sight, Lu Ke greeted Anthony's arrival with a smile, not at all depressed because of the recent downturn, nor did he give up on himself because of the gradually silent future, the high curvature of the mouth shone in the sun, blooming with vitality, the enthusiasm from the depths of the soul is so beautiful and so moving.

However, in real life, the living space of dreams is really too small and too small.

"Buzz, buzz", the phone in his pocket began to vibrate, Adam pulled out his phone, and picked it up, "This is Adam Klein." ”

"Hey, man, where the hell are you? I'm in the players' tunnel right now. The familiar voice made Adam stand up suddenly, because he was so excited, the notebook and pen on his knees were all scattered on the ground, but Adam didn't care at all, "Old guy, come out, I'm in the stands on the right hand side of the players' tunnel, and you can see me when you come out." ”

The footsteps got closer and closer, and then the fat man like a dwarf winter melon appeared in sight.