Chapter 1126: 1125 War of Words
In 2015, the Canadian tennis super sweetheart Eugenie Bouchard, ranked in the world’s top five at just twenty-three years old, slipped and hit her head after the second round of the US Open while going to the locker room for an ice bath, suffering a concussion.
This caused the career of this rising star to plumt, and she never managed to return to the top one hundred rankings.
Later, Bouchard filed a lawsuit against the organizers of the US Open—
After a prolonged three-year lawsuit, Bouchard won, and the court ruled that the US Open should bear 75% responsibility, with Bouchard bearing 25% responsibility.
Suddenly, Bouchard slipped into Gutekunst’s mind.
He realized that he might be able to use “Bouchard” to turn things around, not only to solve Rodgers’ ss but also to land a blow on the Kansas City Chiefs—
Look, this is his job, all the dirty work is included.
Even though Rodgers lost the ga, even though Rodgers was willful, in the end, it was still up to him to clean up the ss; yet Rodgers continues to do as he pleases, refusing to cooperate with his work, and even thinks he’s the one destroying locker room unity, without realizing who the real disruptor is.
Ha.
In his view, all these geniuses, all these stars are big babies. All of them.
Hurriedly, Gutekunst turned and left.
Rodgers and Lafleur stood at the locker room door, watching Gutekunst’s hurried departure, neither of them spoke, a brief mont of silence.
Lafleur didn’t forget his role, “Aron, you should know the team manager is also working for the team’s good, right? He’s also worried about you.”
Rodgers had a nonchalant expression.
Lafleur also knew the locker room matters are complex and can’t be rushed, so he didn’t continue to say more and was about to remind Rodgers to head to the press conference room.
Unexpectedly, Rodgers looked at Lafleur, full of sincerity, “Coach, can we reach the Super Bowl?”
This is a tricky problem.
Lafleur took a deep breath, “Aron, that’s the thing about climbing peaks, when we’re in it, we can’t see the summit or even see the path forward, we’ll face difficulties, fall into despair, might even stumble, retreat, but precisely these challenges make things interesting and precious.”
“When we finally reach the top, looking back at the twists and turns and trials along the way, they will all beco part of the reward, you need to believe in yourself, I’ve never doubted.”
A round of motivational talk, even though it didn’t directly answer Rodgers’ question, for Rodgers, this rhetoric is convincing—
If Lafleur really told him we can definitely reach the Super Bowl, like McCarthy, there constantly spouting slogans, Rodgers wouldn’t trust Lafleur.
Take a deep breath, then exhale all the pent-up frustration and gloom.
Rodgers looked towards the direction of the ho team’s locker room, “I want to face them in the Super Bowl.”
Calm, yet confident, his words revealed a firm determination.
Although he didn’t explicitly say, they all know who Rodgers ant by “them.”
The Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs are not arch-enemies nor have grievances, but from another perspective, the League has never hyped up a matchup between Rodgers and Li Wei.
From “Li Wei vs Brady” to “Li Wei vs Donald,” all sorts of matchups exist, yet never a “Li Wei vs Rodgers,” what does this an?
Is it because Rodgers isn’t qualified?
Clearly, this stings Rodgers’ pride; and after experiencing today’s ga, they finally have a “grievance.”
Lafleur solemnly nodded, “Then let’s keep climbing that peak.”
Lafleur patted Rodgers on the shoulder, using this gesture to express encouragent.
Motivational talk also has its techniques, just to the point is enough, one gesture made Rodgers stand tall again, regaining his confidence and composure.
Ultimately, Rodgers still attended the post-ga press conference, facing the dia barrage.
“Aron, we heard the visiting team locker room faucets in Arrowhead Stadium malfunctioned, causing a flood, nearly leading you to slip and get injured, is that true?”
The first question directly left Rodgers montarily dumbfounded: ???
What flood? What slip?
However, Rodgers, seasoned warrior, remained calm and composed, responded with a counter-question, “So, are you happy or disappointed that you didn’t see get injured?”
One statent, turned the situation around.
Yet, if anyone thinks things are that simple, they’re too young and naive—
That night, shocking headlines appeared on social networks.
“Rodgers: Kansas City Chiefs are very disappointed they didn’t see injured and leaving the field.”
“Rodgers: If they hope to create a Bouchard tragedy, they’re dood to be disappointed.”
“Rodgers condemns Kansas City Chiefs for playing dirty tricks behind the scenes.”
Each title more shocking than the last, more explosive than the last.
Everything, just as Gutekunst expected, dia reporters missed the Green Bay Packers collectively being late to the press conference or chose to ignore it, one after another stoking, trying to further ignite the mid-term Super Bowl hype.
Unfortunately, the Kansas City Chiefs didn’t take the bait.
Li Wei only said one sentence, “If they’re happy to consider themselves victims… sorry.”
Words, just to the point, but packed with power.
The subtext being, sorry we beat you; sorry we made you lose face, and like Bouchard, whining and crying; sorry we humiliated you, forcing you to find excuses to cover your own embarrassnt.
—In the Professional League, no one wants to be the victim. Victim is even more humiliating than failure.
Li Wei, truly Li Wei, with just one sentence completely changed the dynamic, resulting in the setup Gutekunst had ticulously planned, and putting the Green Bay Packers in a tough spot.
Gutekunst tried to stop the players from responding, but he was one step too late.
The Green Bay Packers locker room couldn’t accept the “victim” accusation, they didn’t want to beco “Bouchard,” even though Bouchard successfully sued the United States Tennis Association and received a huge compensation; among professional players, however, Bouchard beca labeled as a whiner, blaming others for her failures and frustrations.
No one wants such a label.
“No, the visitor’s locker room at Arrowhead Stadium had no issues, we were just careless ourselves.”
“No one got hurt. The key is, no one got hurt.”
Gutekunst: …
Yet, this is just the tip of the iceberg.
What is truly absurd is that even though Gutekunst shifted focus, even though the dia created an uproar, even though journalists attacked Rodgers with group mockery, the news headlines the next day were uniformly all about Li Wei.
Li Wei. Li Wei. Li Wei.
All you see is Li Wei.
Rodgers: …Damn it!
So, for the so-called team image engineering, he holds back in front of the dia, acts obedient while swallowing his pride, and what’s all that for?
Standing under the spotlight like a fool, becoming a joke, forcing himself to smile, and then… for what?
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