After leaving Warner Studios, Dwayne Johnson received a very important task. Before filming began, Duke required him to beco even more muscular, to appear terrifying like a monster.
Although he and most others already considered him to have a perfect physique, Dwayne Johnson went ho imdiately and enlisted a nutritionist and personal trainer to create a strict and scientific regin for himself.
To perform in this movie, from the day he received the notification, Dwayne Johnson began adjusting his diet and training his body. For the next two months, he would not only continue but also put in even greater effort.
According to the plan set by his nutritionist and trainer, Dwayne Johnson had to eat the equivalent of twelve people’s als each day, spread across seven als to supply the large amount of protein his body required. The diet’s highlight was sturgeon.
"In Hawaii, there is a term called ’mana,’ which refers to ’spirit.’"
During a dia interview, Dwayne Johnson specifically spoke about his dedication: "’Warrior mana’ is my foundation. My tattoo depicts the core symbol of this story. My mana is my DNA; it gives a muscular body and keeps hungry. Find your own ’mana,’ follow its guidance, and inspired by it, tomorrow you will be better—yesterday is already the past."
While Dwayne Johnson worried about becoming more muscular, Duke, who gave him the order, was also troubled.
"This is a joint suppression by the elites. They’re bullying us newcors!"
In the seaside garden of Duke’s estate, Leonardo DiCaprio sat at a wicker table, visibly agitated: "The Raiders won back-to-back Super Bowls, making those old-tirs feel threatened. They don’t want to see a new dynasty erge. That’s why they’re using these thods!"
Compared with Leonardo, Duke appeared calr. "Leo, it’s like Hollywood. Every circle has its own rules."
He pointed to an official NFL report on the table. "Relax. They have no solid evidence. Even if they wanted to manipulate things, they wouldn’t go too far. This is a ga—they have to maintain the appearance of fairness and justice."
The new NFL season’s regular gas were about to begin. The NFL officially released an adjustnt report targeting the Los Angeles Raiders, the back-to-back Super Bowl champions.
After last season’s Super Bowl, dia and teams jointly revealed that during the AFC Championship, the ho team, the Los Angeles Raiders, used under-inflated ga balls. The opposing Indianapolis Colts formally lodged a protest with the league. The investigation continued until now.
The dia dubbed this incident "Deflategate."
In that ga, the Raiders had swept the Colts 45-7 at the newly completed Lambeau Stadium, delivering a huge blow. By the third quarter, with the Colts far behind, officials complained to the referees that the Raiders’ ga balls were under-inflated. The referees then took two balls for inspection, triggering a chain of events that led to this investigation lasting over six months.
According to NFL rules, for outdoor gas, the ho team must provide 36 balls. Two hours before the ga, referees test the balls’ pressure to ensure compliance.
The NFL rulebook clearly specifies the acceptable pressure and weight for the balls.
The rules also stipulate that the offensive team can request "available balls" suitable for "wet, muddy, or slippery fields."
This 243-page investigation report on "Deflategate" concluded that the Raiders’ locker room staff and an equipnt assistant were more likely than not to have deliberately deflated the balls after the referees’ inspection.
The report also focused on the Raiders’ core and offensive leader, Tom Brady, stating it was more likely than not that he knew about the improper deflation and recomnded heavy penalties for both the Raiders and Tom Brady.
Whether the Raiders actually deflated the balls to make them easier to catch, Duke did not know, nor did he want to. As a team owner, in such a case, one must protect the team’s interests.
Most NFL team owners have held their teams for over ten years, often as inherited family property, much like the major Hollywood studios with DreamWorks. They dislike outside forces.
Duke and Leonardo had just joined this ga. Normally, this wouldn’t matter, but the Raiders had won the Vince Lombardi Trophy for two consecutive seasons. Clearly, they beca a thorn in many people’s sides.
This was certainly an action targeting the Raiders. As long as Tom Brady received a long suspension, the team’s performance would inevitably decline.
Indeed, the Raiders may have deflated balls, but they were neither the first nor the last to do so.
Anyone with basic knowledge of competitive sports knows that beneath the guise of fairness and justice lie countless unspoken rules.
In North Arican professional sports leagues, deflating balls is almost common. After the "Deflategate" results ca out, dia outlets cited several famous examples and dug up old cases.
In a 1986 interview by veteran NBA journalist Sam Smith, legendary NBA coach Phil Jackson admitted that the New York Knicks had indeed deflated balls at that ti.
"We would try to let so air out of the ga balls. As you know, they are generally inflated to 7–9 psi. We’d use a needle to let out so air, making the ball a bit softer," the newspaper quoted Jackson. "This helps our offense because we are a team that prefers passing over dribbling. The amount of air doesn’t matter much for us, but it slows down the opponents, especially teams that like to dribble, since the ball won’t bounce back quickly."
The report also ntioned that in the 1970s, the New York Knicks played at a slower pace and did not have physical advantages, but they used their own characteristics to win two NBA championship trophies, relying on passing and ball sharing.
Interestingly, after his old actions were dug up, Phil Jackson responded via social dia, writing: "The fun of Twitter is correcting mistakes. The Knicks used deflated balls? That’s wrong! The ga balls are supposed to be 7–9 psi. We wanted 7 psi, that’s not a violation!"
However, journalists were unconvinced. According to modern basketball rules, the balls should be 7.5–8.5 psi, so Jackson’s requested 7 psi was clearly illegal.
They mocked, "Unless the rules were different back then."
In addition, so Arican reporters revealed that "the Strategist" Pat Riley and veteran coach Jerry Sloan were also skilled at deflating balls.
Once so tacit rules are exposed, there must be consequences.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell subsequently issued a statent: "We will discipline the Los Angeles Raiders and make necessary changes to the ga rules to prevent such incidents in the future. At the sa ti, we will continue our relentless efforts to protect the fairness of competition and always advocate fair play."
Duke was never the type to passively take a beating.
At that ti, the head referee submitted a report, which was disclosed by Warner’s TMZ website.
"There is no evidence proving that other Raiders personnel participated in or knew about violating ga rules or intentionally circumventing the rules ntioned in the report. I particularly believe that the Raiders’ players and head coach, compared to other coaches, had no improper behavior or knowledge of improper behavior in this investigated incident."
The head referee’s report was undoubtedly more persuasive. While it could not prove the Raiders did not deflate the balls, it was enough to demonstrate the innocence of the players and coaches.
Having struggled and fought in Hollywood until now, Duke knew that compromise was not necessarily weakness. Compromise is an art and a ans to achieve goals. As long as the league did not go too far, he could accept the Raiders receiving so punishnt. But if they tried to suspend Tom Brady or other key players for a long ti, he had ample ti and money to play along with the NFL officials.
For this reason, Duke also issued a strongly worded statent to warn certain people not to go too far.
"During this nearly six-month investigation, we have cooperated and patiently waited for the results. Disappointnt and anger cannot express our response to a report that contains no irrefutable or strong evidence proving we deliberately deflated balls in the AFC Championship. Arica is a country with a sound legal system; you are innocent until proven guilty!"
Imdiately afterward, Duke’s spokesperson Panny Kallis announced that they had commissioned a legal team, known as the "NFL’s official nesis," to serve as the Raiders’ attorneys, showing their determination to fight a prolonged federal lawsuit against the NFL.
Not only that, Warner-affiliated dia quickly followed, releasing reports claiming that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s negligence and vengeful ntality allowed this trivial matter to escalate rapidly.
Many dia outlets dramatized that even if "Deflategate" were true, it was rely that, before an AFC Championship, a minor Raiders staffer brought ga balls into the locker room and used a needle to let so air out.
In reality, it was just a ridiculous little trick that slightly violated ga rules.
If proven, this behavior was indeed wrong and deserved punishnt, but there was no need to spend nearly half a year and millions of dollars investigating, nor to exaggerate, be indignant, or follow rigid legal procedures.
The Los Angeles Tis even directly criticized Roger Goodell: "The Raiders are not a terrorist organization. Do you really have to act like the White House in charge?"
...
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