Legendary Football Superstar

John spun around, shot a look at Luke, and frowned. He wanted to argue, but Luke's honest and sincere gaze made him back down. "You're nuts," he muttered, all irritated and gloomy.

"Yeah, call me nuts if you want," Luke said, strolling over with a football. "I'm nuts for dreaming of making it big on the field. I'm nuts for getting knocked around like a punching bag every day but still giving it my all, just hoping not to let my dreams die. I'm nuts for sticking with it for eleven years and still being just a practice player.

I'm definitely nuts. I'm at one of the top universities in the country, and my GPA is killer. You know, folks from Avalis are way smarter than you guys who don't hit the books. Studying's a breeze for me. After graduation, I could land a sweet job, but I ditched an internship at the 'Los Angeles Times' to be a practice player here.

So yeah, if you wanna call me a madman, I own it.

But deep down, have you given up? Don't you, like me, dream of stepping onto this field? Haven't you poured all your youth into football? Are you really cool with ending it like this? If so, then forget I said anything and just think of me as a lunatic."

After that, Luke ignored John, turned around, and headed towards the field. The basic training gear was still out, and Anthony was calling the practice squad and backups to clean up. Luke raised his voice, "Anthony, I'll stay and put away this equipment. I wanna train a bit more."

Anthony looked stunned, "This stuff?" The gear in front of him was for specialized skill training, which practice players didn't need. "You sure?"

Luke nodded seriously, "Yeah, if it doesn't break any team rules."

"It doesn't..." Anthony remembered Luke's impressive pass from yesterday. Before he could finish, the practice squad members cleaning up the gear started laughing, "What a nutcase, a practice player staying for extra training. People might think he's the school's starting quarterback."

"No matter how much extra training he does, if he can't make it, he can't make it. I've never heard of an Asian playing football. It's hilarious. That small frame would fly away with a light hit. Hahaha."

Seven or eight guys laughed together. Luke was about to snap back, but Anthony beat him to it, "Shut up!"

Asitle ̃assistantcoacht, iertationecrittersman' Sitif, Juchitlere were orny thee manir coaches: the head coach, the offensive coach, and the defensive coach. Besides them, Anthony was the most authoritative. Under his scolding, everyone shut up.

"If you don't wanna train properly, fine, but why rag on someone else for extra training? Or do you plan to stay and train together? Run 33,000 feet, 66,000 feet?" Anthony's stern scolding made the practice squad members look away, muttering but not saying anything clear.

Anthony didn't pay them any more attention. After thinking for a moment, he nodded, "After you're done with the equipment, go to the security room and call them. They'll come out to help. The field needs daily maintenance and security, so there's a four- person team for cleaning, organizing, and night watch."

Pausing, Anthony saw John walking over, "John, you joining too?"

John awkwardly turned his head, scratched it, and nodded slightly without answering, but he stopped not far behind Luke.

"Good luck! Don't push yourself too hard; getting injured would be counterproductive." Anthony said with concern, then turned and left.

The remaining practice squad members looked at Luke and John, grumbling and shouting, "John, you sure? You look like you've lost your mind. Wanna join us for a beer at the bar?"

John scratched his head, avoiding eye contact with them. After two years as a practice player, all his dreams and pride had vanished, and he was hesitant to face them again. "Yeah, just helping out a bit." John nodded, pointing at Luke, "Luke needs some help."

"Alright, it's your choice." The others didn't say much more. There was no direct competition or interest conflict in the practice squad, so naturally, there were no direct confrontations. They just occasionally complained and grumbled. After speaking, they left the field, laughing and discussing their plans for the night.

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After making sure everyone else had left the field, John finally looked up at Luke, "Alright, let's get started. What kind of training do you wanna do?"

"How 'bout we kick things off with some one-knee throws?" Luke grabbed a football from the cart, tossing it between his hands like it was second nature. For ball sports, getting the feel of the ball with both hands is key, and there's no shortcut-just years of catching and throwing.

Luke turned around and saw John looking all confused. "One-knee throws? Man, you really are nuts." This was a warm-up drill for quarterbacks, mainly to train them to use their core and arm strength to throw the ball without relying on their legs, fixing their throwing habits.

Luke didn't bother explaining. Instead, he summoned the system in his mind and started playing a demo video of one-knee throws. He then knelt on one knee, following the example, but noticed John was still standing. He signaled with his eyes, "You joining me or what? I'm ready."

Seeing Luke's serious face, John just smiled and shook his head. Then he knelt on one knee right across from Luke. Luke loosened up his arms and tossed the football over. John caught it effortlessly. This warm-up drill was super simple and familiar to him. He tossed the football back to Luke.

As they kept going back and forth, John found his rhythm and started reminiscing about his high school days. He couldn't help but pat his shoulder, "You gotta push from here, feel the power transfer from the bottom up." John demonstrated, patting his muscles and guiding Luke on the details.noveldrama

Luke was a quick learner, no doubt. He was eager to learn, ask questions, and make corrections. He soon got the hang of it, and the training flowed smoothly. Five sets of training, twenty throws and catches per set, with discussions, corrections, and practice in between. It took a bit longer, but the results were solid.

Next up were single-arm quick throws, then steady running passes, and finally quarterback footwork drills.

Before they knew it, an hour had flown by. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, John exhaled deeply. It had been ages since he felt this way, probably not since he started college.

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Watching Luke still focused on his footwork, John couldn't help but pause. "Luke, do you really wanna be a quarterback?" Even asking the question made John feel dumb. A guy from Avalis, a practice player, wanting to be a quarterback-it was the funniest joke he'd ever heard. So, John waved his hand dismissively, "Never mind, you don't have to answer."

"Really." Luke's response stunned John. He looked over, dazed, and Luke nodded seriously again, "Really, I wanna be a quarterback. Did you catch 'Inception' this summer? The movie says: If you're gonna dream, dream big." Seeing John's incredulous look, Luke couldn't help but laugh, "What, you don't believe me?" John shook his head, indicating he didn't.

Luke didn't argue further but instead asked, "If you could choose, which position would you play?"

"Wide receiver." John answered without hesitation, almost instinctively. A wide receiver's job is to catch passes during offensive plays. Unlike tight ends, their role is pretty straightforward: attack, attack, and attack.

"Then let's give it a shot. Maybe you could become an awesome wide receiver?" Luke walked over to the starting line for the 40-yard shuttle run. "40-yard shuttle run?" John didn't get it but just looked at Luke and then laughed. Giving up on arguing, he walked over, stood beside Luke, and got into a starting position. At Luke's signal, they both took off running.

The 40-yard shuttle run is a basic drill for wide receivers. It's not just about running back and forth over 40 yards. You start at a line, run 10 yards forward, then back; run 20 yards forward, then back; run 30 yards forward, then back. This drill is great for training quick stops and starts, as well as short-distance explosive power and sprinting ability.

Training as a wide receiver seems simple but is super challenging. Besides wide receivers, other offensive and defensive players also train with this drill, including quarterbacks.

Luke's basic stats included a speed of 65, acceleration of 61, and agility of 70-not top- notch. His catching skills weren't high either, so he wasn't necessarily cut out for a wide receiver. However, his short-distance, small-area shuttle ability gave him the agility to dodge defenders in the pocket as a quarterback. But his strength and muscle weren't enough; he could dodge but not take much contact.

As they ran, John gradually realized that Luke wasn't any worse than him.