Twenty-one.
A rough glance showed there were 21 quarterbacks in the line, including Lu Ke himself. For the quarterback position, this was a bit crowded, and it's no wonder everyone said this year was a great quarterback year.
There were quite a few well-known quarterbacks like Cam Newton, Andy Dalton, and Jake Locker. In addition, there was another group of quarterbacks who were strong but not as famous, who could definitely serve as backups. In a seven-round draft, after all the picking and choosing, maybe only half would make it into the professional league. The other half would be eliminated. The competition was more intense than anyone could imagine.
As he looked around, he immediately saw Scott Tolzien standing in the crowd—the Wisconsin Badgers' quarterback, the Bruins' opponent in the Rose Bowl, and also a witness to the miracle that night.
However, Scott didn't seem to mind the loss that night. He had a big smile on his face, waved at Lu Ke, and came up to him. "Hey, are you in the draft this year too?" Scott seemed a bit nervous, and when he saw Lu Ke, he was visibly relieved. "I was just thinking, how could the Pac-12 not have a representative this year!"
"Haha, you can only say that between us. If anyone else heard it, I'd get beaten up," Lu Ke's humorous tone made Scott laugh happily.
The most anticipated player from the Pac-12 this year was undoubtedly Stanford's quarterback, Andrew Luck. In the Heisman Trophy voting, Andrew unfortunately lost to Cam Newton and was in second place. Many people were expecting a fierce competition between Andrew and Cam if they both entered the draft.
But surprisingly, Andrew, a junior this year, decided to continue his senior year and forgo the draft after careful consideration. As a result, Cam's reputation continued to soar, which led to the scene of a one-man cheering squad outside the stadium.
However, even if Andrew didn't enter the draft, the Pac-12 still had its star players. Jake Locker from the University of Washington was considered to have the strength for the first two rounds, and there was a high chance of him being selected in the first round. Compared to Lu Ke, a nobody, the level of attention was completely different.
This led to Lu Ke's joke just now. As he spoke, both Lu Ke and Scott looked at Jake not far away. The confused Jake looked back and gave a friendly nod. This made Lu Ke and Scott try even harder to suppress their laughter.
"It seems you have a sense of self-awareness." A voice from the side cut in, filled with teasing, mockery, sarcasm, disdain, and schadenfreude. Without turning his head, Lu Ke could recognize that annoying voice. If it wasn't Cam Newton, who else could it be?
Sure enough, Cam walked over to Lu Ke and Scott, his smile full of meaning. "Wait, does anyone know who this guy is? A quarterback? Jesus Christ, what team are you a quarterback for? I've never even heard of you. Did the committee make a mistake and let some hillbilly from a backwater town in? An Asian? Are you sure you know how to play football?"
Almost all of the 21 quarterbacks were starters for their respective college teams. The reason was simple: three or four years of starting games in college gave scouts enough time and space to gather information, which became their qualification for the rookie training camp. Even if they weren't starters, they had to be frequently-used backups or regular rotational players.
Among the 332 players in the rookie training camp, about 280 made it through this path, which was the most traditional and formal way. The remaining players were selected by the league through different channels, such as scout reports, coach recommendations, and school recommendations.
Players who weren't well-known before but suddenly emerged during the draft season did exist, but they were very rare. This was especially true for the special position of quarterback. Lu Ke was clearly one of these players, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. During the California state selection process, Lu Ke's scores were almost all just above the passing line, and he barely qualified for the rookie training camp.
"I can't imagine that we would see a player from the elite class among the rookies this year. It's truly rare." Cam had just used a word like "hillbilly" to try and insult Lu Ke, and Lu Ke chose to use "elite class" as a sarcastic retort. Most football players came from very ordinary backgrounds, including many from ghettos or rural areas in the Midwest. In fact, Cam himself came from a poor family.
In college, Cam attended the University of Florida, but in 2008, he was arrested for stealing a classmate's laptop. Considering it was his first offense, the prosecution did not press further charges, but Cam was still suspended from the school for life. He was forced to transfer to a junior college. Later, after a year, his outstanding performance on the field earned him the favor of another famous football school, Auburn University, which he chose, and so he made it to where he is today.
With a simple retort, Lu Ke easily put Cam in an awkward position. If someone with a motive were to use this sentence, Cam would fall into another controversy. But this was not the end. "What surprises me even more is that a player with a good elite education has no manners at all. Not only did he eavesdrop on other people's conversations, but he also interrupted them. What's wrong with the elite class today?"
Lu Ke said the last sentence to Scott, completely ignoring Cam. But the other quarterbacks around them all laughed without holding back.
Cam was furious. He walked up and pushed Lu Ke's shoulder, then used his size to get closer. "Who the f*** are you? You nobody, do you dare to say your name?"
"Who the hell wants to know?" Lu Ke did not back down. He pushed back with his feet, using the rebound to hit back. "Who the f*** do you think you are? You ask a question, and I have to answer? Do you think you're Jesus Christ?"
This completely ignited Cam's temper. His facial expression was a little distorted.
In early December, after the Heisman Trophy results were announced, Cam had the most glorious and brilliant time of his career. He defeated Andrew Luck, who came from an Ivy League school, and took home the most important award in college football. That feeling of finally achieving his dream made him very excited. In the draft, he was a deserving top pick candidate and didn't believe anyone could pose a threat to him, not even Von Miller, the linebacker from Texas A&M. He was having the best time of his life.
But now, he had suffered setbacks twice at the hands of this Asian kid, and it felt too frustrating. Involuntarily, Cam clenched his fists and said through gritted teeth, "Coward! Coward! What do you have besides a mouth? You probably don't even have a man's important parts!"
Lu Ke didn't get angry; he laughed instead. "I wonder who it is that keeps coming over to provoke people, and there's nothing to see besides a mouth. Did your mouth spend too much time in a whore's private parts last night? Is that why it stinks so much?" One after another, the words were like sharp thorns, hitting Cam relentlessly!
At the same time, Lu Ke's hands were also clenched into fists, ready to fight at any time.
"Shut up! All of you, shut up!" One person immediately rushed over, then turned back and shouted at the other quarterbacks, "Quick, pull these two bulls apart. If news of rookies fighting breaks out on the first day of the draft, our whole rookie training camp will be embarrassed. Do you think the media will let us off the hook easily?"
With the shouting, others swarmed over and separated Lu Ke and Cam.
Lu Ke remained clear-headed. Cam's words were not painful at all and had no power. His trash talk was not on the same level as Richard Sherman's from yesterday. So when the quarterbacks pulled him away, he took two steps back, then loosened his fists, showing that he was very calm and they didn't need to worry.
That effortless demeanor immediately infuriated Cam. He struggled hard twice, like the Hulk transforming, attacking indiscriminately, pushing away the quarterbacks who came to mediate. During his time at Auburn, Cam's nickname was "Superman" because of his superhuman physical fitness, and today this was confirmed again.
"What the hell are you doing!" Two staff members walked up quickly and scolded them sharply. "If you want to give up on the draft, get out now. If you want to be kicked out of the training camp, go ahead and keep misbehaving!" Not only the staff but also the other rookies looked over.
Cam's hot head finally cooled down. He glared at Lu Ke fiercely, then turned to the staff, and took a deep breath. "Nothing, just boys messing around. I've met a lot of old friends here, and it's inevitable to clash a little. After all, this is a football draft, not basketball." He even made a bad joke in passing.
One of the staff members rolled his eyes. "My favorite team is the Los Angeles Lakers."
Cam was rebuffed. He rubbed his nose but didn't say anything more and walked obediently to the side. The commotion had not even had a chance to start before it subsided.
Turning around, Cam pointed two fingers at his eyes, then at Lu Ke, as if to say: We'll settle this on the field.
Lu Ke raised an eyebrow slightly, pouted disdainfully, then turned his head and started chatting with Scott, as if he didn't even care about Cam. This action immediately made Cam grit his teeth again.
"You're really... bold!" Scott couldn't help but chuckle. "That's Cam Newton."
"What, does he have three arms? Or four legs?" Lu Ke's retort made Scott pause for a moment, then he burst into laughter. Indeed, he couldn't argue with that.
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