Sitting on the chair in a regular manner, Lu Ke raised his head and looked at the people in the corridor, his sight was full of moving crowds, but there was no sound, only the trivial sound of footsteps moving on the carpet, when he staggered, he lowered his voice and said a simple greeting, or exchanged a look, and then hurriedly passed by, and continued to move forward, extremely busy.

It seems that as soon as you close your eyes and open your eyes, the night has passed, and the sunrise has come again. Today is the last day of rookie training camp, the day of the team's interviews, and now it's only 8:45, less than an hour after the interview starts, and the corridors of the Marriott Hotel are filled with rookie players, bustling and lively.

Not long ago, Lu Ke had just finished his first interview, Cleveland Brown, and the whole conversation lasted about eight minutes, the conversation was quite pleasant, and the atmosphere was quite relaxed, but there was not much substance. This is only the first time Lu Ke has had a face-to-face conversation with the team manager and team coach, and he has no way of judging whether the whole conversation is positive or negative.

Now, Lu Ke is waiting for the second interview, and after queuing for nearly thirty minutes, he is still on standby.

Waiting is always boring, and the nervous mood is amplified little by little, pulling the suit on his body, exhaling a long breath, and his beating heart calms down a little. I have experienced a big scene like the Rose Bowl and a large-scale interview scene when I was a reporter intern, but I didn't expect that the pressure brought by a simple interview would make people even more nervous.

"Suits are really suffocating, do you think so?" There was a half-joking voice on the right-hand side, but his voice was a little tight, and he could see him unbuttoning his suit nervously, and then buttoning it up again, feeling that something was not right anyway, as if his limbs were bound by the suit.

Lu Ke shrugged, "Compared to a suit, playing is much simpler." ”

"Hah, it couldn't be more accurate." The other party laughed dryly, "If I can, I'd rather go down and start bench press now." The atmosphere eased a little with the agreement of a small circle of people around him, but then there was silence again, and everyone was once again immersed in their own thoughts, so as not to disturb the ongoing interview.

The waiting time was so slow that it seemed like the hourglass could be heard, and another fifteen minutes passed, maybe twenty minutes, and the door to the room opened, and a staff member walked out, "Next." ”

Lu Ke stood up and nodded politely, "Lu Ke, quarterback, UCLA." ”

The staff looked down at the sign-in sheet in his hand, looked for it, and then nodded, "Yes, when the player inside comes out, you can go straight in." With that, the staff walked in again and closed the door.

About thirty seconds later, the door of the room opened, and the player walked out with a smile on his face, his eyes made contact with Lu Ke, and said in a friendly manner, "Good luck, buddy." ”

Lu Ke also smiled and nodded, "Good luck." ”

Pushing open the door of the room, Lu Ke took a deep breath, and then walked in, the scene of the room was in full view, in the center was a group of surrounding sofas, facing the door, on the couch with his back against the window, there were two middle-aged men in suits and leather shoes, and on the right hand side sat a woman who looked like a secretary, and the left hand side was empty.

When Lu Ke came in, a thin and tall middle-aged man walked out of the room next to him, walked to the vacant seat on the left-hand side, and then saw Lu Ke, his footsteps couldn't help but pause, revealing an indecipherable complex expression, "Pete, did John tell you about this?" However, no one looked up, and the middle-aged man, with gray hair, a hard expression, and a hint of elegance under his suit and leather shoes, said in a deep voice, "Sit down, George." We are pressed for time. ”

This is the interview room for the Seattle Seahawks, and the middle-aged man who spoke was Peter-Carroll, the team's head coach; Silent on the other end of the spectrum was the team's manager, John-Shneider, while the last to come in on the left-hand side was the team's quarterback coach, Carl Smith.

"Lu Ke? Have a seat. Pete spoke first, pointing to the couch across from them, with his back to the door and the window.

Lu Ke walked around and greeted politely, then sat down and introduced himself again, "Lu Ke, quarterback, UCLA." "I guess I have to say the same thing countless times today.

Pete frowned slightly, always looking down to read the information in his hand, and waved his hand gently, "We all know this." So, you're a quarterback in high school too? But the records in the file have not been found, what is going on? ”

"I attended George Washington High School, which is a public high school." Lu Ke explained simply, and everyone suddenly realized that the sports department of public high schools, the sponsorship fees are all from the state government/government, and they can rarely be vigorously developed, unless they achieve excellent results, most of the records are incomplete, and the attention of scouts is very limited. "In high school, I was the team's main quarterback......"

The introduction didn't continue, and Pete waved his hand again, interrupting Lu Ke's words, "High school is not very important. If necessary, we will follow up. Have you played any other positions besides quarterback? ”

"Yes, I tried the wide receiver position in high school, and I played as a sparring partner in the defensive team in college, and I tried it at both the defensive end and the center back position." Lu Ke told the truth and calmly stated the fact that he used to be a sparring partner.

"You must be kidding." Karl finally couldn't hold back, and blurted out in an exclamatory voice, "With your size and talent, you can actually play as a defensive end?" And the wide receivers? It's a joke, isn't it? ”

Pete and John both raised their heads and looked at Lu Ke, as if curious about Lu Ke's answer.

In the face of such aggressive words, Lu Ke raised his chin slightly, and said neither humbly nor arrogantly, "So I'm a quarterback, not a defensive end, or an outside receiver." I believe that this is the best position for me. ”

"You ignored the prefix, sparring." Carl was still unwilling to let go and continued to be aggressive. Lu Ke opened his mouth and was about to fight back, but Carl was strong and didn't give Lu Ke a chance to open his mouth at all - he was the interviewer, Lu Ke was the applicant, and he had an innate advantage, "Honestly, are you sure you can play rugby?" You're 6.33 feet tall and you're only 187 pounds, which is too light, it's really too light, and if you look at your physical test results, haven't you ever thought that maybe you're not fit for football, maybe you should give up. You know, after all, there is no one like you in the Alliance. ”

As a reporter, grabbing the topic and seizing the opportunity is not the only skill, and the anger rises little by little, and after reaching the extreme, he calms down. Lu Ke let Carl speak as much as he wanted, and Pete and John, who were sitting on the bevel, had no intention of stopping it, and the atmosphere in the whole room was not like an interview, but like an interrogation.

"What do you mean by someone like me? Mr. Smith, could you please be clearer? Lu Ke raised his chin slightly, he could hear the contempt and contempt in Karl's tone, and the whole tone was wrong, "Underweight player? A player with mediocre physical test results? Or a player who came to an interview only to be physically attacked? ”

A series of rebuttal words made Carl's cheeks flush slightly, as if he was drunk, and his anger ignited at once, "Chinese, I mean Chinese." ”

Lu Ke clenched his hands into fists, ignored Carl, and turned his head to look at John, not Pete, but John, "Mr. John-Schneider, is Mr. Smith questioning my personal ability, or is he questioning my skin color and race?" Is this racism? ”

This is not only a personal problem, but also a team problem, Lu Ke directly expressed his complaint and protest to the team manager, emphasizing the seriousness of the problem.

Lu Ke knows that his physical talent is insufficient, and any team has the right to ask questions; However, the way Carl asked questions and the tone of his voice were always in his words, alluding to Lu Ke's race, not his physical fitness.

"I just know that it's the player's ability that determines whether a player can play, not the race of the player. Half a century ago, white people thought that football was a high-intelligence sport that was not for blacks and refused to allow blacks to enter the professional league, but now blacks are the most important part of the league. So, are you questioning me now because of my ability, or because of my race? I need an answer. ”

is neither humble nor arrogant, but sharp. At this moment, Lu Ke is not a rookie player who came to interview, but a young Chinese living in the United States, fighting for his rights and interests.

John was slightly stunned. In recent years, black groups have gradually united to fight for their racial rights; Women are also united. However, the Chinese community has never been able to rise, and among the Asian immigrants, Indian immigrants, Japanese immigrants, and Korean immigrants have all found their own place and gradually gained a foothold, but they do not include Chinese immigrants.

Suddenly, "Is discrimination against Chinese also the same as racial discrimination?" This confusion caught them off guard.

"I'm just stating a fact." Carl felt Lu Ke's ignorance, and the anger that had accumulated in the past few days exploded at this moment, "Haven't you ever thought that Asians are not suitable for rugby?" ”

"It's like black people aren't good for math, not for art, not for reading, right?" Lu Ke didn't pause, and fought back strongly, Carl was speechless for a while, Lu Ke turned his head sharply, looked at John and Pete, who had always been silent, Huo Di stood up suddenly, "I will report this matter to the alliance!" ”

“…… It's not like this, it's just a misunderstanding. John finally came to his senses and tried to make amends, "We're just ...... Uh, just worried about your physical test scores. None of the test data is convincing......" John turned to Pete, asking for help.

Lu Ke didn't intend to sit down, and looked at John and Pete condescendingly, "Then, your way of expressing it is very unpleasant. I'm pretty sure if it were a black man sitting here, or a woman, you wouldn't have chosen it that way. It made me even more certain that I wasn't the one the Seattle Seahawks were looking for. ”

After speaking, Lu Ke slightly retracted his chin, signaled, then straightened his waist, turned around, and left the room without looking back.

Grass! In the depths of Lu Ke's heart, anger was rolling wantonly, and his hands were clenched into fists! He'll make them regret it.