Chapter 177: 176 Peaks twist and turn
It was chaos, total chaos—
The Chicago Bears were in complete disarray during combat.
Immediately, they realized the crisis: what should they do if the Kansas City Chiefs chose their target keystone quarterback?
Of course, there were other quarterbacks to choose from among the rookies but the problem was:
This year was already a weak year for quarterbacks. They had repeatedly scrutinized, judged, and consulted, turning over every detail of the main quarterbacks inside out. Based on their system and their team configuration, they had finally decided on their draft target and identified their keystone quarterback.
This was Ryan Pace's second year as the Chicago Bears' team manager, still a rookie, still a newbie. The last thing he wanted was to repeatedly make foolish mistakes like the Cleveland Browns and become a laughingstock. Once he chose the keystone quarterback, he was ready to build an entirely new team around this rookie player.
Pace believed this quarterback was the dream lover of the Chicago Bears.
If their targeted man was snatched away by someone else, it was not just their draft plan that would be disrupted, but possibly the entire off-season's new team-building plan. Right now, switching to another rookie quarterback was absolutely not an option Pace wanted to consider.
Damn it!
Damn it damn it damn it!
Pace was completely flustered, "Does anyone know which quarterback Kansas actually wants to pick?"
A silence ensued; no one could provide an answer.
Until someone broke the silence and hinted quietly, "Kansas hasn't interviewed any quarterback at this year's Rookie Training Camp. What if they aren't planning to pick a quarterback?"
Pace's brow furrowed as he looked around, "If not a quarterback, then who are they planning to pick?"
Dead silence.
Defensive end? Cornerback? Safety? Or running back?
Pace tried his best to calm down, his brain rapidly processing, recalling each figure in a carousel of images, yet denying all of them.
Running back?
Ha, how could that be possible!
No, he cannot hesitate, he cannot doubt, he cannot falter like a rookie. With Cutler's departure, this also meant that the Chicago Bears were fully entering a rebuilding phase, a chance for Pace to take complete control in building a team that would mark a starting point for his own squad. He needed to seize the opportunity.
Resolutely, "Get me Brett Veach's phone number."
Pace made a decision.
…
"What's happening?"
"What is this situation?"
"Could Kansas have fainted from an overexcitement-induced cerebral hemorrhage?"
"After trading up and then no movement, what in the world is the Chieftain up to?"
"Could they be plotting some grand move?"
After dropping a bombshell that stirred up a storm, the Kansas City Chiefs remained eerily quiet, causing an uproar throughout the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Situations like this had occurred before, but not frequently. Now everyone was waiting, unable to suppress their curiosity.
At the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the front-line staff, who had neither decision-making power nor authority to confirm, could only maintain communication with the backroom war rooms and patiently wait; all real combat discussions and transaction haggles happened much farther behind the scenes, with no one knowing what was really happening.
However, such silence only intensified the waiting's agitation and suffering, as the scent of gunpowder in the air thickened.
The Little Green House was no exception.
To be precise, the Little Green House was where the real cremation was happening, the tense and scorching atmosphere was on the verge of explosion—
No one knew what the Kansas City Chiefs were actually planning.
For a moment, players who had interacted with the Kansas City Chiefs during the Rookie Training Camp now had myriad thoughts—perhaps they could become the top pick?
Throughout the entire process, players who had never been in contact with the Kansas City Chiefs couldn't help but wonder, would Kansas Stadium have a surprise in store?
Perhaps, Li Wei was an exception.
Donald looked at Li Wei, who was watching his phone with a calm expression, and couldn't help but call out, "Li Wei?"
Li Wei didn't look up, merely lifting his chin slightly as a gesture.
Donald peeked at the phone screen and was taken aback: Plants vs. Zombies? The Little Green House was almost about to explode, and Li Wei was playing Plants vs. Zombies?
But upon reflection, Donald realized that this was the Li Wei he knew, the big-hearted player from the final moments of the nationwide championship, whereas the slight nervousness before the draft was the unfamiliar part, inadvertently showing his twenty-one years.
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Just then, a wave of zombies was defeated, and Li Wei hit the pause button and looked up at Donald, "What's up?"
The concerns that had reached the tip of his tongue were swallowed back down, and Donald smiled, "Nothing, just seeing you not even as nervous as me, I felt a bit uneasy."
"Ha." Li Wei laughed out loud, "Right now, it should really be the quarterbacks who are nervous."
Looking up, he unexpectedly noticed Watson watching him intensely.
Suddenly caught, Watson's eyes flickered, trying to look away, but realizing this, he felt embarrassed and thus looked directly at Li Wei again with a calm face and no special expression, but the fire ignited in his bright eyes betrayed a hint of challenge and scorn.
"It's me."
Watson said.
Short, but clear.
Perhaps in the Heisman Trophy race, Watson lost to Li Wei, but entering the NFL, the value between a quarterback and a running back was incomparable.
Li Wei's mouth turned up slightly, casually replying, "Wait and see."
Then.
Rustling, rustling, a commotion stirred—
Goodell finally took the stage, with only a minute and forty-nine seconds left on the ten-minute countdown, Goodell finally appeared with an envelope.
"The Kansas City Chiefs just completed a trade, and now the Chicago Bears hold the top pick..."
What?
Inside the Philadelphia Museum of Art, there was shock, not even having processed it, Goodell's speech continued and already revealed the answer.
"Their choice is... Mitchell Trubisky, quarterback, University of South Carolina."
Buzz.
Agitation, commotion, chaos.
The brain couldn't keep up, wait, what just happened?
The Kansas City Chiefs had just traded for the top pick and traded it away again?
The Chicago Bears didn't choose Watson, but Trubisky?
What, what was this maneuver?
The Little Green House was also in shock, as like Li Wei, Trubisky had only one complete season—
Trubisky, redshirt in his first season, backup in nine games his sophomore year, and his only full season in his junior year, yet he beat Watson who had been a top three finalist in the Heisman Trophy for two consecutive years.
After a series of shocks, all the teams panicked, with only one thought in their minds: What's wrong with Watson?
Watson himself was also dumbfounded, what, what's wrong with me?
After the Kansas City Chiefs had traded up to the second highest pick, he could almost be one hundred percent sure he would have been selected second, but now what was happening?
Thoughts hadn't even had the chance to catch up when Goodell was already on stage again with an envelope, could it be... another trade of pick positions?
"Kansas City Chiefs, third pick, they choose... Li Wei, running back, University of Alabama."