Chapter 973: 972 True Wisdom
Knock, knock.
The knocking broke the silence. Reed didn’t turn around; he simply said, “Co in.”
Veach entered the office, carefully closing the door behind him.
“Coach! Did you see that?” Veach could hardly contain his excitent.
Taking two steps in one stride, Veach reached the floor-to-ceiling window, his face full of delight. “Look, over there, Frank Clark.”
“I’d heard before that he’s a troublemaker, with a particularly bad temper. While he rarely starts trouble, if anyone provokes him even slightly, he’ll lose control imdiately—his fists always move faster than his brain.”
“In the Seahawks’ locker room, he clashed with Earl Thomas more than once. Even though people said Earl Thomas was the real problem, it’s always been a concern.”
From what the rumors suggest, Frank Clark is a man who believes in strength—
Or rather, his own fists.
Transferring from the rumor-filled, conflict-ridden Seahawks locker room to the Kansas City Chiefs, Veach couldn’t help but feel a bit uneasy.
Today, from one look, Veach knew Frank had co prepared.
Frank deliberately tid his arrival at the training field to the last second. Though he wasn’t late, being exactly on ti was an action worth analyzing in itself.
Coming from the drama-laden Seahawks to join the Kansas City Chiefs, Frank was fully aware all eyes were on him.
The Seahawks’ strategy of retaining Frank with the “privilege” label failed. Frank signed a five-year, $105.5 million US Dollar contract with the Kansas City Chiefs, comparable to the contract the Dallas Cowboys extended to defensive end Demarcus Lawrence during this offseason. This made him one of the top five highest-paid defensive line players in the league by average salary.
Notably, the Kansas City Chiefs had difficult contract renegotiation talks with Ford, which ultimately led to both last season’s starting linebacker Ford and Regland being traded. Ford went to the San Francisco 49ers while Regland joined the Detroit Lions. In return, the Kansas City Chiefs received a bounty of draft picks to plan for the future.
The key point: Ford signed a five-year, $87.5 million US Dollar contract with the San Francisco 49ers—
A figure lower than Frank’s.
Or more precisely, with less cap space taken up compared to Frank’s.
It didn’t take much thought to realize that so players within the Kansas City Chiefs were probably strongly dissatisfied with Veach’s decisions in these two trades.
At least, that’s what Frank assud. Having endured the tough and domineering atmosphere of the Seahawks locker room, he instinctively prepared for battle, clenching his fists and putting up his spikes even before stepping onto the field. That was his understanding of a locker room.
When he entered the training field, Frank’s deanor shifted into one of “stay away.” He scanned the field with a look that could only be described as soone coming for a fight. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say he seed ready to throw punches at any mont; the hostility in his eyes was undisguised.
His arrival alone subtly shifted the atmosphere.
Veach was already poised to step in. He didn’t want the defending champions to make tabloid headlines on spring training camp’s first day with so lodramatic brawl.
However, Li Wei stepped forward first.
Li Wei confidently approached Frank, introduced himself, pointed him in the right direction, and finally welcod him to the Kansas City Chiefs—that was it.
Just enough, while maintaining so distance.
Then, Li Wei turned and resud training, diligently sweating through the drills.
Frank stood still for a mont, caught off guard by such an interaction, clearly puzzled by the situation.
Remaining cautious and maintaining his distance, Frank stood there observing for a while. Gradually, the tension eased bit by bit. Although his expression still looked nacing, he eventually turned and headed toward the locker room to change into training gear. When he returned, he silently joined the drills.
The storm, it seed, had both happened … and not happened.
Veach exhaled a long breath.
At least they had avoided a ridiculous opening-day brawl scenario.
Following Veach’s gaze, Reed saw Frank silently warming up.
Jones approached as well, but didn’t speak. He simply kept a safe distance, warming up alongside Frank, indirectly bringing him into the fold.
Given Jones’s personality, he wouldn’t do this on his own—this must have been Li Wei’s instruction.
Frank joined the league in 2015, and Jones in 2016. They were close in age, playing the sa position. During the training camp, they would need to develop synergy.
Compared to Li Wei, Jones was the better choice to open his arms and welco Frank to the team.
Reed said, “Don’t worry. This isn’t Seattle. There’s no need to fret over our locker room.”
Veach let out a small sigh of relief. “Thank goodness for the rookie.”
“I just heard—the rookie arrived at the training field at 5:30 AM this morning.”
“Several of this year’s rookies wanted to leave a good impression. They arrived at the training field around 7:30 AM, about an hour and a half before our scheduled practice ti, thinking they’d have plenty of ti—only to be stunned.”
“Haha.”
“Even I didn’t expect the rookie to arrive so early.”
Reed said, “What if I told you the rookie did it on purpose?”
Veach blinked in surprise. “What?”
Reed explained, “I’m saying the rookie deliberately showed up at 5:30 AM today. He knows we had a turbulent offseason, with so internal discord among the players. Trouble at ho and pressure from outside—uncertainty looms.”
“So he ca early on purpose, wanting to set the tone in the locker room and refocus everyone’s attention from the offseason to the field.”
“Do you believe it?”
Veach paused, thinking seriously before answering, “I believe it.”
Though it seed far-fetched, if it were Li Wei, Veach was willing to believe.
After all, this was Li Wei.
Reed chuckled. “You know what this ans.”
Veach glanced at Reed, confused. It took him so thought before he realized, and then he exhaled gently. “I know. You said it back then, Coach. The rookie might beco our team leader. If we miss out on him, we’ll regret it.”
Reed chuckled softly. “Which is why the rookie is the real smart one.”
What’s that supposed to an?
Veach struggled to keep up with Reed’s non-linear thought process. What do leadership traits and intelligence have to do with one another? What’s Reed getting at here?
He hesitated for a mont, then it clicked.
Li Wei was killing several birds with one stone. Most importantly, once again, Li Wei proved his value—not just on the field, but off the field as well.
If Veach wasn’t a fool, he shouldn’t overlook Li Wei so easily.
The real subtext of Li Wei’s actions was clear: it’s ti for the team to show their sincerity.
This approach was far more effective than an agent’s embellished pep talks and negotiations.
And indeed, Reed and Veach couldn’t ignore Li Wei.
Now, a very small handful of people across the league had begun to sense that behind the Kansas City Chiefs’ stormy offseason, a major move was brewing.
The prevailing speculation was that the Kansas City Chiefs were preparing to extend Mahos early. After all, no team would let their franchise quarterback slip away.
These speculations were half right and half wrong.
True, Veach needed to secure Mahos. But the Kansas City Chiefs’ top priority this offseason was actually to lock in Li Wei.
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