"Welcome. Welcome. Lu Ke hugged each other warmly, and then slapped the other party's back heavily, without retaining his enthusiasm and excitement at all, a full smile flowed from between his eyebrows, "God, I was still discussing with Patrick yesterday, if you don't come again, we will kill you." ”

"Why, without me, the team wouldn't be functioning?" There was also a smile in the eyes of the visitor, and he joked about it.

Lu Ke did not shy away from it, and nodded again and again in agreement, "Yes, we absolutely can't do without you." How, officially appearing at the training ground today, does it mean that we will continue to fight side by side this year? But, say it up front, David, I don't accept the answer of no. ”

Appearing on the training ground at this time was the captain of the special service team last year, David Akens.

Arkens is turning 38 this year, and after 14 seasons in the league, he is entering the end of his career.

Although it is said that in the 2011 season, Arkens set a new career high in various statistics, became the most consistent link of the San Francisco 49ers, was selected for the Pro Bowl for the third consecutive season, and was selected to the first team of the United States for the second time in his career; However, he missed a certain free-kick in the final of the federation, and the heavy blow of the defeat still made him depressed.

This offseason, Akens seriously began to think about the possibility of retirement.

All the players in the special service team are always the least valued, they can be laid off at any time, and they may not play at any time. performed well, and no one will remember their credit; Performance deviations immediately became the target of Chifu, who were always the most marginalized players in the team.

But no one can deny the importance of the special service team, which in many cases will determine the outcome of the game. New England Patriots head coach Bill Bilicek has never made a secret of his emphasis on the Secret Service, and he has always believed that for the top teams, the details are the difference between success and failure.

A kicker as good as Akens' is rare in the entire league. If he chooses to retire, it will be a significant loss for the San Francisco 49ers.

What's more, for Lu Ke, Akens and Willis are the most important partners in the team, and they can even be said to be spiritual pillars, as long as they stand on the field, Lu Ke is willing to believe in his defensive group and special service team, they are still fighting side by side, working together to win.

Seeing Akens again today, the joy and happiness in Lu Ke's heart are absolutely sincere.

"Yes. I'm going to try for another season and see. Akens' smile was also wide, he could feel the warmth of sincerity, and in the training camp full of unfamiliar faces, he once again felt like he had found home, "But okay, this time, I'm ready to hit the Super Bowl, are you ready?" ”

During Arkens' career, he followed the Philadelphia Hawks to the Super Bowl in 2004, but lost to the New England Patriots. While many pundits agree that Arkens will be on the verge of entering the Hall of Fame after retiring, he is still struggling to find his first Super Bowl ring.

"Well, we've reached our first consensus." Lu Ke said confidently, which made Arkens nod his head in agreement, "Are Luke and Sawyer all right?" And Halley? ”

These are the names of three of Arkens' children, whom they met together last Christmas; Later, after the Super Bowl, Lu Ke and Willis also worked together to place Arkens' home, hoping that Akens could accompany them to continue to play for another season. They were impressed by the three little ones.

"Ha, Luke is happiest right now, showing off all this offseason that he knows you and has the same name as you." "Sawyer was so jealous that he kept pestering his mother and asking why he couldn't be called 'Luke.'" After saying that, Akens himself laughed helplessly.

"Looks like I'm creating a trend." Lu Ke was not modest, but deliberately showed off triumphantly.

Akens chuckled and slapped Lu Ke on the shoulder twice with his fist, "Long time no see, I really miss the way you speak, and the bad jokes have become funny." ”

Then seeing that Lu Ke calmly accepted the "appreciation", Akens could only shake his head helplessly, and then remembered an important matter, his eyes flashed slightly, and he asked urgently, "By the way, has the investigation of the Saints been confirmed?" Are all those accusations true? Oh, God! I couldn't believe it was happening. ”

Lu Ke spread his hands, "You stumped me." My second official season hasn't started yet, and I really don't know anything about the league's secrets, shouldn't you tell me it's true? ”

What Akons said was the biggest scandal of the offseason, even overshadowing the transfer news of Payton Manning, sending shockwaves across the league and the aftermath affecting the entire league in every way. The protagonists of this scandal are none other than the New Orleans Saints.

The NFL has always prohibited teams from using extra bonuses to lure/guide players to take rough hitting motions on the court, and strictly speaking, it should explicitly prohibit any excessive impact methods.

But the problem is that maliciously injuring players and forcing the opponent to leave the field, especially the core key players, can often make the team directly benefit, or even win, so many teams have turned a blind eye to this, as long as there is no evidence, everyone can not pursue further.

The problem came from the 2009 Nations League Finals, when Minnesota Vikings players and coaches accused the New Orleans Saints of deliberately rough running out of the court in an attempt to knock the legendary Vikings' quarterback Brett Favre off the court.

Then in the 2010 offseason, an anonymous player reported to the NFL, not only Favre, but also Arizona Cardinals' quarterback Kurt Warner during the 2009 season.

As a result, the league officially launched an investigation into the incident, but the players and other related personnel who were questioned all denied it.

It wasn't until the end of the 2011 season that the investigative team made a breakthrough and finally found conclusive evidence of the existence of the bounty impact program, and informed team owner Tom Benson about it ahead of the New Orleans Saints' wildcard game against the Detroit Lions.

On March 2, 2012, ESPN was the first to break the news, and the alliance had determined that the evidence of the matter was established; The next day, the alliance officials also gave confirmation.

It has been verified that Greg-Williams, the New Orleans Saints' defensive coordinator, single-handedly orchestrated the incident between 2009 and 2011. As many as twenty-two to twenty-seven defenders were involved.

The players involved in the event and Williams use their own funds to build a prize pool, and during the game, the player who violently hits or even injures the opponent can win prizes ranging from $100 to $1,500, such as $1,500 if the opposing player is directly injured and cannot return to the court.

In the playoffs, that number can be doubled or tripled.

According to a detailed memo released by the league, not only Favre and Warner, but also in the 2011 regular season, Williams also instructed players to target Aaron Rogers, quarterback of the Green Bay Packers, and Cam Newton, quarterback of the Carolina Panthers; Furthermore, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck was also targeted in the 2010 wildcard game.

During the investigation, it was also discovered that New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton was fully aware of the matter, but did nothing to stop it, and tried to pull together to cover it up when the league launched an investigation; At the same time, he was involved to some extent during the 2011 season.

Regarding Sean Payton's involvement, Reggie Bush's name is once again in the spotlight.

Before the 2006 draft, Reggie Bush's parents were suspected of illegally accepting gifts and cash from agents in an attempt to interfere in the draft process.

After entering the league, Bush, who had attracted much attention, gradually became conspicuous and never performed well. This time, it appeared in the public eye in an inglorious way.

Before the 2011 season began, Bush's agent emailed Sean Payton the details of the plan and promised a $5,000 reward for injuring Aaron Rodgers in the opener against the Green Bay Packers.

In this regard, Sean Payton, as the head coach, not only did not stop it, but gave it a tacit approval.

Unfortunately, in the opener, the in-form Green Bay Packers still defeated the New Orleans Saints, and Aaron Rogers also escaped.

The above facts, after the in-depth exploration of the alliance's investigation team, have all obtained relevant evidence, confirming the ins and outs of the matter.

Immediately after the 2012 playoffs first-round wildcard game against the Detroit Lions, owner Tom Benson learned of the incident through an investigative team, and he immediately asked head coach Sean Payton and team president Mickey-Loomis to terminate the program. But the two of them still turned a deaf ear, and the yang and the yin disobeyed.

In the wildcard game, the Lions' quarterback Matthew Stafford was the new target.

At the same time, the assistant coach who came to supervise the defensive team coach Craig Williams also chose to shut up.

After a detailed investigation, the league determined that the team was involved up and down, which has also become a negative news that has caused a sensation in the entire sports world since the new century, following the "spygate" of the New England Patriots, which is called-

Bounty Gate.