Chapter 434: Preseason Game Against the Lions
Before the next day, not long after the Jets' training game ended, a large number of photos and videos of Zhao Dong in the training game began to appear on the Internet.
Then a reporter revealed that Carnegie Lewis was injured. He had a mild concussion and needed one to two weeks of rest before he could resume training.
Until the next day, the New York media was still hyping up the news about Zhao Dong. However, as the most powerful NFL team in the New York metropolitan area, the New York Giants did not receive as much attention as the New York Jets.
These two teams share a home stadium, the Metropolitan Stadium, also called Giants Stadium. Although one belongs to the American League and the other belongs to the National League, the market competition is very fierce.
The New York Jets only won the NFL championship once in 1969 and have not won it since.
The New York Giants have won six NFL championships so far, and have won nearly 20 NFL regular season championships. Whether it is the team's history or record, as well as the team's influence and market in New York, they far surpass the Jets. The team has more stars, the most famous of which is NFL defensive benchmark Lawrence Taylor.
In the past, the New York Giants attracted the most attention at this time, but this time the New York Jets had Zhao Dong, who immediately attracted the attention of the media and fans, even surpassing the Giants. This made The New York Giants are frustrated.
New York Giants star player and wide receiver Presco Burress complained in an interview with the media: "I think what we really have to focus on is the real football players, not those who come in and play. of great wealth."
Burris's sour words were immediately taken advantage of by some media, who began to stir up topics between the New York Giants and New York Jets, create confrontation, and continue to win the attention of fans.
After a day off, Karnes Lewis returned to the team.
He had no internal bleeding, he was just knocked out of breath, nothing serious.
His attitude towards Zhao Dong got even worse, but he didn't dare to offend Zhao Dong again. Even in training matches, he didn't dare to target Zhao Dong obviously. He wasn't stupid enough yet. He knew that he couldn't afford to offend Zhao Dong. He was caught on the spot. It's possible to beat him to death, and Venis is an example.
On the morning of July 21, the private yacht customized by Zhao Dong and Lindsay finally arrived in New York.
The two and their four sons welcomed their yacht at the private dock. They also invited reporters from all walks of life to take photos. They also invited most of the New York Jets players, as well as many friends from the NBA, as promised. Some guests from Lindsay's side.
"This is a true sea fortress!" New York Times.
This most luxurious and expensive yacht today has attracted all the attention of the media, with large photos of it on the front pages of many headlines.
“So luxurious!”
exclaimed Michael Jordan for the hundredth time as he took a spin on the yacht.
Buckley, who was invited, sighed: "This is the life of the upper class!"
Oakley said: "I'm not going to get off the boat today."
Larry Johnson said proudly next to him: "Feilong has promised me that he will prepare a fixed room for me here, and I can get on the boat at any time."
"damn it!"
The depressed Jordan cursed harshly.
He knew very well that the reason why Larry Johnson had such a good relationship with Feilong was because he had punched him for Feilong.
At the end of July, the half-month training for all members before the new NFL season ended, and the time came to August 2003.
After half a month of full-team training, Zhao Dong has made very good progress. After all, the advantage of physical fitness is there, and the early progress is very fast.
He himself feels that some technical improvements are very good, but due to the rules of the system, the technical level has not improved, such as catching the ball.
Now, he thinks his catching level is close to the first-class level, thanks to his long arms and big hands, as well as his height.
He focuses on his catching skills because he wants to play the outstanding positions of wide receiver, running back, and tight end.
His catching skills improved quickly because his physical condition is so good.
He has big hands and is very stable when catching the ball. His big hands can almost completely wrap the football.
Then his height, long arms, and his jumping ability give him a very advantageous high point advantage when catching the ball.
There are rules in NFL games that before the receiver catches the ball, the defender is not allowed to interfere with the receiver, including not touching the receiver, etc. Otherwise, it is a foul.
Under this rule, as long as he occupies the receiving position, it will be very difficult for the defender to intercept him.
After half a month, the 80-level ball is still 80-level.
Other skills below level 80 have been improved.
The long pass improved very quickly, rising by 3 levels to level 45.
The medium pass has been upgraded by 2 levels, reaching level 65.
In addition, the dodge and escape ability has been increased from level 71 to level 73, the pushing ability has been increased from level 70 to level 71, the passing ability has been increased from level 70 to level 73, the feint ability has been increased from level 70 to level 73, and the running interception ability has been increased from level 78 to level 78. The level has been raised to level 80, and the ability to retaliate has been raised from level 73 to level 75. The rest remains unchanged.
In addition, he already has three positions on the field, linebacker, tight end, and running back.
The linebackers have been upgraded from 73 to 78, the tight ends are now 75, and the running backs are 74.
At present, his technical level is still comprehensive and mediocre. In all three positions, he is above the third rate and below the second rate, barely a substitute.
There is one factor in this. In fact, some of his skills, demonstrated in training, have exceeded level 80. They are limited to system rules and have no recognition in actual combat, so they cannot be upgraded.
A large number of media are tracking and reporting on his performance in training every day. The evaluation is that his training attitude is very diligent, but his level is average and there are no highlights.
Some NFL stars have also expressed their opinions on this. Basically, they are not optimistic about his future in the NFL, which is similar to their previous opinions.
At the end of July, that night, Jordan called and said with a smile: "Feilong, come back. You can't succeed in the NFL. Everyone is targeting you."
Zhao Dong laughed and said with a smile: "It's not my style to quit before it starts. Michael, just wait. In the NFL, I can also make people worship me."
"Just blow it."
Jordan smiled and said: "Have you seen what the media and those NFL stars said about you? You don't have any highlights."
"I didn't have any bright spots when I entered the NBA." Zhao Dong said.
"Shet! You really don't know how to chat." Upon hearing this, Jordan was so angry that he hung up the phone.
It was this guy with no bright spots that forced him to retire before he reached retirement age. He could have played until he was 50 years old.
Zhao Dong smiled proudly and put down his phone.
In the past half month of full-team training, his most powerful collision ability has not been revealed. After injuring Lewis on the first day, he has restrained his ability in this area to avoid injuring his teammates.
There are still expectations for the team's performance in his rookie season in the NFL. He won the division championship last season, and he has to strive for the same result this season. He can't have his performance decline with his joining, right? Then the media will definitely target him.
The next August is the NFL preseason.
The preseason lasts for a total of five weeks, lasting until early September, and there is only one game in the first week, which is the Hall of Fame Game.
The so-called Hall of Fame Game is also the opening game of the preseason.
The Hall of Fame Game is held in Canton, Ohio, where the NFL Hall of Fame is located. This is the birthplace of the NFL.
This city of Canton is not far from LeBron James’ hometown of Akron, only 35 kilometers
Two teams are selected for the Hall of Fame Game every season, one each from the American League and the National League, but each team will not send its main players because this game is not the focus. The focus of the Hall of Fame Game is to announce the inductees into the Hall of Fame each year. 8 players.
However, Zhao Dong did not pay attention to the Hall of Fame Game because Lindsay was pregnant and he wanted to focus more on his family during this time.
Yang Yi has been staying in New York these days. There were originally Zhang Li and others, but they all returned to China yesterday, and now he is alone.
In fact, he has given up hope because others have returned to China, which basically means that the station will no longer broadcast NFL games.
Sure enough, on the morning of the 7th, a notice came from the station, officially deciding not to broadcast NFL games, which disappointed him so much.
At the same time, the station decided that he would follow and interview Zhao Dong alone without a camera team, which disappointed him even more.
However, he is still collecting all information about American football. As a person who does not understand football at all, he still hopes to become a qualified football reporter.
On the 8th, he contacted Zhao Dong.
Zhao Dong is not disappointed either. He can guess that CCTV will most likely not broadcast NFL games. This game is too unpopular in China and is completely inferior to the NBA.
"Zhao Dong, can you help me get an interview pass for your team?" Yang Yi asked on the phone.
"No problem, I'll let you know when it's done." Zhao Dong smiled.
"That's OK." Yang Yi smiled.
On August 11th, the real preseason began.
Each team has four preseason games, and the New York Jets' first is Sunday, the 12th, at home against the Detroit Lions.
The Detroit Lions are a team in the NFC North. They are in a different league than the Jets. Before the two major leagues in the NFL, the American League and the NFC merged, they won the NFL championship four times. After the Super Bowl in 1967, there was no such thing. Win another championship.
There are no weak teams in the NBA, and this rule is also true in the NFL. The Lions are very strong.
But after all, it is only a preseason game. Each team will not let the main players play for a long time, and sometimes they will not let the main players play at all. Therefore, the preseason games are similar to the NBA, and they are opportunities for substitutes to perform.
Not counting the Hall of Fame Game, there are a total of 64 preseason games. Only a small number of these games are broadcast live in the United States. Generally, only the games that are broadcast live in the United States will the two teams put some of their main players.
NFL games, including the regular season and playoffs, are not played every day. They are seven days a week. There are only games on Monday, Thursday and Sunday. There are no NFL games on the other four days.
There is one game on these three nights, and only one, called a night game, is all broadcast live across the United States. The remaining eight games every week are all concentrated during the day on Sunday, and most of them are not. Live broadcast across the United States.
Part of the reason for this arrangement is to stagger the time with other professional sports events. Another reason is that Friday is the high school football game day and Saturday is the college football game day. We cannot seize the opportunity of these leagues and seize the opportunity. Avoid.
So the three night games in these three nights are the highlight of the NFL.
This time, the New York Jets were favored by the broadcaster TNT cable TV station and were scheduled for a night game.
As the preseason draws closer, the media is paying more and more attention to Zhao Dong's performance in his upcoming NFL career. This is probably one of the reasons why TNT is willing to broadcast the New York Jets' preseason.
Starting at 8 a.m. on the 8th, the New York Jets began selling tickets for the preseason game on the 11th. What surprised the management was that all 82,500 tickets were sold out in just half a day. This was impossible to do so quickly in the past. After all, It's just a preseason game that doesn't count for results.
"This is the effect brought about by the flying dragon."
Jets general manager Maureen Phillippe enthused.
On the 12th, several preseason games were held during the day, while the Jets only conducted recovery training and waited for the start of the night game.
On this day, many NBA stars gathered in New York to watch Zhao Dong's first NFL game.
Jordan, Magic Johnson, Dream, Barkley, Oakley, Larry Johnson, O'Neal, Kobe, etc., there are thirty or forty people.
These people were very cunning. They didn't want to spend money, so they all contacted Zhao Dong. Zhao Dong arranged for them to stay in a hotel, taking care of their food and accommodation.
Even this year's NBA No. 1 pick LeBron James brought his brothers Anthony and Wade, as well as good brother Chris Paul, to New York, but these rookies are not qualified to hang out with a group of veterans.
James and Paul both played rugby, and eventually chose basketball for various reasons, but they still liked rugby very much, and because of Zhao Dong, they made this trip specially.
"Hey, Feilong, do you have a chance to play tonight? Don't let us make this trip in vain." Barkley called Zhao Dong and turned on the speakerphone.
It was afternoon, and Zhao Dong was still at the training base. He replied: "Listen, Charles, tonight I will appear in the special teams, offensive team, and defensive team. I will take on multiple positions. I have things you can't imagine." powerful."
"Ha ha……"
"He's bragging."
"Yes, Feilong, you may sit on the bench all night."
Opposite him, Barkley and the others laughed and joked.
On this day, the Detroit Lions also arrived in New York.
As the captain of the team, defensive end Harder McCas, nicknamed the Furious Lion, accepted interviews with the media.
"Lion, what kind of performance do you expect Feilong to perform in tonight's game?" a reporter from New York Sports asked.
Michaels snorted coldly. As a black man, he especially hated Chinese people.
Over the years, he has seen a Chinese become the first person in NBA history and the god of the NBA. All American players were crushed by a Chinese, so he is deeply ashamed of the NBA.
Now that Zhao Dong has moved to the NFL, he thinks the opportunity has come and he has the opportunity to teach the Chinese a lesson.
"I hope he has a chance to play. I will let him know what football is and what the NFL is. I want him to know that the NFL is not a sissy NBA. I want to tell him that he may die here." He shouted. The reporter growled lowly.
"Hey, Harder, okay, shut up, don't say that, you will be in trouble."
General manager Gambis Reed on the side quickly pulled away from the angry lion Michaels and whispered: "Don't be so explicit, don't get yourself into trouble. If you don't like him, just deal with him on the field. Off the field." Stop causing trouble."
"I'll take care of him."
Michaels shook his head and said viciously.
It didn't take long for what Michaels said to reach Zhao Dong's ears through the media.
Zhao Dong said in a telephone interview: "He is just an idiot and a piece of trash. The place he should go to is the garbage power plant. That is the best place for him to display his value."
"This bastard, how dare he call me trash?"
Under the provocation from both sides of the media reporters, Michaels soon learned what Zhao Dong said, and his anger almost broke through the Tianling Gai.