Legendary Football Superstar

After a long day of training, the coaches' grind was far from over. They had to dive into tactics, scope out their opponents, and size up their own backup squad.

Back in the office, Rick plopped down behind his desk and waved his colleagues over. First thing out of his mouth was, "So, what do y'all think about Luke?"

After the scrimmage, they had to break down the highs and lows, and Luke was a standout in that short fifteen-minute game. Naturally, Rick brought him up.

"Man, he was on fire," Anthony jumped in. "The practice team won mostly 'cause of him-spot-on judgment, smart choices, killer long passes, and he kept his cool when it mattered. Plus, Luke's all about the grind. Outside of regular training, he's always working on his quarterback skills. The dude's got mad potential."

"But his short passes? Total garbage," Norm, the offensive coach, had the most say here. "Accuracy, power, judgment-he's missing all of it. And as an Asian, his physical limits showed big time in today's game."

Norm was Korean-American, but unlike Luke, he'd been in the U.S. his whole life. He was as American as apple pie and didn't feel a strong tie to Asia. Sure, he liked seeing an Asian face on the field now and then, but as a coach, he had to keep it real.

"Besides his weak passing game, he sucked in physical matchups," Norm laid it out. "His footwork in the pocket, passing on the run, dodging tackles-honestly, the list of his flaws is long."noveldrama

"But his game smarts are off the charts," Anthony couldn't help but argue. "In that fifteen-minute game, his read on the field, his opponent analysis, and his understanding of his own strengths and weaknesses were all on point. That's gold for a quarterback. The dude's got a brain!"

"I'm not saying he doesn't," Norm nodded. "But aside from that one long pass, he's lacking everywhere else." Seeing Anthony get all riled up, Norm raised a hand to calm him down. "I know he works his butt off. Over the past year, I've seen him grow. He's more focused and dedicated than anyone else on the team. If our main guys worked as hard as he does, we'd be crushing the NCAA games by now."

And then came the inevitable "but."

"But!" Norm continued, "Football isn't just about hard work. Sure, 99% of it is sweat, but that 1% of talent is the key. Without that spark, the hard work doesn't mean much. Remember? Why is Luke just a practice player and not even a backup? And why did he only make the practice squad in his junior year?"

Norm's words left Anthony speechless.

"So, Norm, what's the deal? Is he still not good enough?" Rick cut to the chase.

Norm paused. "Move him to backup?" Rick nodded. Norm didn't answer right away but thought it over. "Let's see how he does in the next couple of days." Deep down, his soft spot for Asian heritage nudged him a bit. "In training, we can let him run as quarterback. Based on that, we'll decide."

"Cool, let's roll with that," Rick said. It was just a "trial" for a practice player, no need to overthink it. They weren't picking the starting QB.

The UCLA Bruins were in a tight spot: the new season hadn't even started, and they were already dealing with injuries, including their number two quarterback.

Like league teams, college teams have a limited roster, usually rolling with three quarterbacks to get through the season and dodge injury issues. Only a few teams have four QBs, maybe putting the fourth on special teams as a kicker or something, just in case.

The UCLA Bruins had four quarterbacks. With the number two QB out, they still had three for the season.

But among those three, Darius was a freshman. He hadn't shown enough to start as a freshman. He was still learning the playbook and getting in sync with the team. It was a big question mark if he could step up if needed. Even if he did, whether he could handle the college game speed was another story.

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Kevin's now the team's number two quarterback, but let's be real-he's a senior and has never started a game. His whole college career? Seventeen pass attempts. That's it. So, yeah, having three quarterbacks sounds good on paper, but all the pressure's on Kevin Craft, the starting QB. Last year, under Craft's lead, the team had its best season in five years, so the bar's set high this year.

But what if Craft gets hurt? Or needs a break? Or even just tweaks something and has to sit out for a bit? Then what? Darius and Kevin are the backups, and that's got the coaches sweating bullets.

From that fifteen-minute scrimmage, it's clear Kevin isn't the perfect backup. It's not just about losing the game; his skills didn't blow Luke's out of the water. So, giving Luke a shot is a reluctant but necessary move.

The next day, Luke trained with the team's quarterbacks, not as a practice player but as a legit QB. First time in three years since high school he's had a coach's guidance, but for Luke, it wasn't as thrilling as he thought. He'd been grinding like this for a while, with the system in his head acting as his coach.

Whether it was knocking out the system's daily training tasks or doing what the real coach wanted, Luke did it all. The big win? He didn't need extra practice anymore; he could train openly as a quarterback. So, outside of his daily grind, Luke had time to hit up the coach with questions and sort out his training insights.

This was huge for Luke.

Training camp flew by, packed with daily drills. At the end of the second day, the first team and the second team had a fifteen-minute scrimmage, with the first team crushing it 21-0. On the third day, the first team mixed with the practice team, and the second team mixed with the third team for another scrimmage, with the first team barely winning 17-14.

And just like that, training camp was over.

Before heading back to L.A., the coaches gathered everyone to announce some roster changes: who from the freshman and practice teams made it to the backup roster.

"John Ward," Anthony called out first. No surprises there; John had been killing it. Everyone congratulated him. "Derek Bryant, Wade Yandell..."

Anthony paused, put away the list, and it seemed like that was it. Everyone looked shocked, glancing at Anthony and then at Luke, eyes full of regret and surprise.

Luke felt the eyes on him. Disappointed? Hell yeah. Frustrated and angry too. But deep down, he knew he had to keep grinding to be a solid quarterback. The system's scores had already given him a cold, hard reality check.

"Luke." Anthony's voice cut through the tension, making Luke look up, confused. Anthony chuckled. "Yeah, you're in too."

"Bambi!" John was the first to rush over, hugging Luke tight. "You did it! You did it!" John was shouting, more pumped than if he'd been picked himself. He knew he owed a lot to Luke.

Luke was stoked, feeling a rush of joy. But before he could soak it in, John's excitement made him laugh out loud. More than joy, it was just funny, and he chuckled.

Then came Derek, Wade, Tevin, and the rest of the practice team, all rushing over to congratulate him.

He finally made it to the backup roster. After three years in college, at the start of his senior year, he was officially part of the team! Now, he had one year left to see if he could make it to the draft and aim for the NFL!

No, scratch that he had only six months until the NFL rookie training camp. Time was ticking.