Lu Ke, a Chinese who is about to turn 22 in three months, officially joined the San Francisco 49ers in August 2011 as a member of the team, becoming the first Chinese player in NFL history to join the official roster — and the first Asian player to achieve such a goal.

The dream has really come true!

Passionate emotions, surging excitement and surging joy rampaged through the chest, almost breathless, and the overflowing happiness brewed an impulse to scream, shout, and cheer. So, Lu Ke did just that.

Lu Ke clenched his fists, jumped high, waved his right fist, and pounded wildly in the air, using all his strength to vent the excitement and excitement in his heart; Every cell of the body roared, every muscle of the body celebrated, and even the fingertips began to tremble slightly, as if the blood flowing had reached a boiling point.

Not only in the past year, this long dream road can be traced back to the distant childhood, when he first stepped on the rugby field at the age of nine, from toddler to hardship, step by step, the hardships and sweat, struggle and hard work in the past 12 years, he finally knocked on this door!

He knew that the world behind the gate was more difficult, more cruel, more difficult; He also knows that this is only the easiest first step on the road to success. But, he is ready, he will continue to move forward with his head held high, nothing can stop him! Overcoming thorns and thorns, crossing mountains and mountains, riding the wind and waves, and moving forward!

Wantonly and arrogantly jumped high and fell heavily, and after a crazy celebration, Lu Ke realized that Tom was standing next to him, and his face couldn't help but show a little jerky. The release of excitement just now seemed to be a little carried away.

However, Tom didn't care at all, instead stood still and smiled, "The fans will love this way of celebrating, especially after you have a touchdown. ”

Although his chest was still impassioned, and although happiness was still tumbling and boiling, Lu Ke still forced himself to calm down and said with a smile, "The premise is that I can get the opportunity to play." "Substitute quarterback, after all, is still a substitute, in the senior season, Lu Ke sat on the cold bench for a whole season, and he is no stranger to this.

Such a joke made Tom smile. The rookie, who talks and laughs and copes with ease, believes that the media will like him too. Provided, of course, that he can play; Also, win the game.

"Where did we just go?" Tom gets back to business again, "That's right, lawyer. We must hurry over now. Tom beckoned Lu Ke into the elevator, and after pressing down the floor, he thought for a while, "The lawyers will answer the questions about the contract, and now there are a few things I need to know first." ”

"First of all, you're the third quarterback on the team." Tom didn't explain further, but Lu Ke nodded understandingly.

It's already clear that the San Francisco 49ers have decided to choose Colin Kaepernick as the team's main quarterback, and the next four preseason games will be Colin's best stage; Alex Smith, the team's second-quarter guard, doesn't seem to be as serious as the media reported, and during the regular season, Alex could be on the court at any time to regain his position as the main quarterback — largely depending on Colin's performance as a rookie quarterback.

Naturally, Lu Ke is the third quarterback, the alternative to the alternative.

"Secondly, what is your jersey number?" Tom asked, Lu Ke reflexively said "11", and then saw Tom shake his head, "Alex is number 11, you can only choose other numbers......"

Tom was also about to ask Lu Ke to go back and think slowly, but Lu Ke immediately added, "What about the fourteenth?" In addition to the number "11", Lu Ke's favorite number is "14", "1" represents "11", and "4" represents the "four ones" of the birthday number.

"That's the fourteenth." Tom made the decision on the spot.

Lu Ke couldn't help but think about it: At the beginning, the system asked for his jersey number, and he chose "No. 11", so now he has become "No. 14" again, is this a conflict? Or is the system's jersey number also adjusted according to his actual situation in real life?

However, the thought was only fleeting, and Tom continued, "Today is just a matter of reading the contract and explaining the contract, and it will not be officially signed. Tomorrow morning, you need to come to the team for a comprehensive medical examination, and wait for the medical report to come out before we arrange the official signing. ”

"Understood." Lu Ke has no objection to this, which is also the standard process for the team to sign.

"Also, the team's training schedule will be sent to your mailbox when the time comes, don't worry. But it's basically like this, Monday is off, Tuesday is to watch the video, and Wednesday is officially to the team base to report and start training. Of course, there may be changes depending on the team's playing time. Tom explained quickly.

In the official season, Sunday is the regular race day, and most of the games start on time in the afternoon; In addition, there will be Thursday Night Races, Sunday Night Races, and Monday Night Races, all three of which will be broadcast live nationwide, and each game will maintain an average of about 20 million or even 30 million viewers.

Training schedules vary from match day to match.

Then there was no stop, and Tom was a big one. "The training time is 9 a.m. every day, and we will notify you separately in case of special circumstances. Also, I will arrange for a dietitian or physical trainer to meet with you as soon as possible to arrange a recipe for you. However, that's all for later, so you don't have to worry too much. ”

"By the way, the last thing, your personal locker, your training items, your jersey and so on, these will be arranged tomorrow, you don't have to worry." After exiting the elevator, Tom's footsteps stopped, "So, do you have any other questions?" ”

"Can you give me a copy of your business card?" Lu Ke's answer made Tom smile with satisfaction, and took the initiative to take out a business card from his jacket pocket.

However, Tom did not hand it directly to Lu Ke, but explained, "Use the phone during work hours, use the email during work hours, emergencies, and my so-called emergencies include any accidents, for example, you get drunk in a bar, get jealous, and have a fight with others." Please be sure to give me a call. If you have an agent, then ask your agent to call me as soon as possible. ”

As a pre-reporter, Lu Ke understood better than Tom how the so-called "accident" should be defined, but he didn't say anything, just nodded, "Understood." Then he took the business card and looked up and down, he was still wearing the training jersey and had no pockets at all, so he could only hold it in the palm of his hand.

Tom pushed open the glass door in front of him and smiled, "That's the end of my job." See you tomorrow! ”

Entering the office behind the glass door, a middle-aged man in a suit and leather shoes took the initiative to greet him, "Good afternoon, I'm Jonas-Fish, the representative attorney of the American Football League Players' Union, and it's a pleasure to meet you." ”

In the United States, labor unions are a very important link. In the case of rugby, all the contracts, legal matters and personal interests of the players, except for the agents, the union will stand up and do everything in their power to protect the players and fight against the league and the team.

A nobody like Lu Ke who has no agent, no agent to check for him, and no lawyer to look at him, once he signs any unequal slave contract, there is no way to complain. In order to prevent this from happening, the league officials require that for new rookies and undrafted rookies, the team must have a union lawyer present when signing the contract, and other players who are not rookies can also apply if they need to.

"Lu Ke." Lu Ke also took the initiative to step forward and held the other party's right hand, and then Jonas said with a smile, "The next thing, don't open your mouth for the time being, leave it all to me, and if there are any problems in the future, we can discuss it with each other." So, Lu Ke did the same.

Interlaced like a mountain, for a prospective journalist, the letter of law is really not his area of expertise. After the official lawyer of San Francisco 49 came forward, Lu Ke handed over everything to Jonas, and the two sides exchanged legal provisions.

In fact, in order to protect the interests of rookie players, the league has clear regulations on the lower salary limit of rookie players, and specific to different rounds, the salary of first-round picks is naturally the highest; However, the alliance only stipulates the lower limit, and as for the upper limit, it depends on the broker's negotiation means.

Unsuccessful rookies are also included.

Basically, rookie contracts are official and there are some minor differences between teams. Despite this, Jonas still meticulously negotiated every detail, and it took about forty minutes before the negotiations came to an end for the time being. Then, Jonas borrowed a conference room and explained it to Lu Ke.

"Personally, it's best to read each item of the contract in detail, if you have any questions, write them in the email, summarize them, send them to me, and I will answer them." Jonas paused for a moment, most professional players don't like to deal with these things, it's too cumbersome and too brain-draining for them.

But surprisingly, Lu Ke didn't, and still listened attentively.

The corners of Jonas's mouth couldn't help but curl slightly, "If you don't have enough patience to read the entire contract, I have made a note here, these parts are closely related to your personal interests, I think you should be concerned." "In fact, many players won't even want to do that, but just sign it," and finally, the part about salary. 49 people gave a reasonable number, and I don't think there is a problem. ”

At Jonas's suggestion, Lu Ke looked down at the contract in his hand, and then saw a series of numbers, and his eyebrows involuntarily raised slightly.