Dominate the Super Bowl

The drizzle was relentless, and a fine mist enveloped the city outside the window. Although it was already April, the cold was still piercing to the bone, like a sharp wind playfully drilling into one's neck.

Li Wei's gaze drifted beyond the car window, where the urban landscape of Philadelphia spread out before him, shrouded in greyness, every corner bearing the traces of a steel city's past history.

Among the series of big cities on the East Coast, Philadelphia was not very conspicuous; cities like New York, Boston, Miami, and others easily garnered attention. The understated and ancient Philadelphia, therefore, was forgotten.

But in fact, Philadelphia played an important role in the history of the North American continent. In 2015, Philadelphia became the first city in the United States to be included as a World Cultural Heritage Site, highlighting its profound legacy.

The NBA's Philadelphia 76ers, NFL's Philadelphia Eagles, MLB's Philadelphians, NHL's Philadelphia Flyers, this city is one of the few to have professional teams in all four major sports leagues due to its large market and deep heritage; not only that, it even has a soccer team, Philadelphia Union, leading by far in terms of diversity and range.

That's why, this year, the NFL draft returned to Philadelphia for the first time since 1961, leaving New York and about to commence here.

The live broadcast of the NFL draft was, without a doubt, a nationwide focus, attracting over fifteen million viewers every year. Based on a series of evaluations, the league would invite around thirty-six players to the Little Green House on-site, waiting patiently for teams to announce their draft selections.

Occasionally, players would refuse to attend and choose to wait at home.

But Li Wei couldn't do that. Even if Donald agreed, Goodell wouldn't. They needed Li Wei to be present at the event, regardless of whether he would be selected in the first round or not, as the league needed him to boost viewership ratings in Asia—

History could be written at any moment.

Most players would go to the Little Green House with their parents' company, but Li Wei knew his parents wouldn't be comfortable there. Waiting for three or four hours in the Green Room was torturous enough, being surrounded by countless cameras and scrutinized down to every move was even more excruciating.

So, accompanied by Donald Yee, Li Wei arrived in Philadelphia.

Donald turned his head, observing Li Wei calmly admiring the scenery outside the window. Although he had grown accustomed to Li Wei's usual composure, Li Wei was still a college student after all. To remain so calm at such a destiny-defining moment was surprising to Donald. "Aren't you nervous?"

"No, I'm incredibly nervous," Li Wei replied with a smile on his face.

Donald was momentarily taken aback, unable to discern whether Li Wei was serious or joking.

Li Wei chuckled, "I'm serious. I've already put in all the effort I could. Now, I must entrust my fate to others; it's impossible not to be nervous."

"Moreover," he continued, "there are more than a few players who have waited in the Green Room until the end and weren't called. Rodgers could drop to twenty-fourth in the first round, Henry could only be selected in the second round, and Brady wasn't picked up until the sixth round. Anything could happen."

Indeed, all the attention was on Li Wei now, and from every angle, it seemed like everything was falling into place. But reality was not so simple.

Firstly, Li Wei was Asian, and so far, the NFL hadn't drafted an Asian player in the first round.

Secondly, Li Wei was a rookie, having only entered the football field for a short year.

Lastly, Li Wei was a running back. Regardless of his personal performance and abilities, the stark reality of running backs in the entire league could not be ignored.

These factors objectively existed and could cause Li Wei to fall out of the first round; it wasn't impossible for a shocker to occur, leaving Li Wei undrafted—after all, his destiny was no longer in his own hands.

Surprises are always a highlight of the NFL draft.

In fact, among all the players considered to be the strongest contenders in history—Joe Montana, Dan Marino, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, as well as the current top of the league's pyramid, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, and others—only Manning was the number one pick. The rest didn't even make it into the first ten of the first round.

This is the NFL Draft.

Who knows which player or which team might become the protagonist this time?

Donald knew Li Wei was right, and he was nervous as well, but curiously, Li Wei's calm and composure had a calming effect on him.

"I believe in you," Donald said.

Li Wei revealed a smile, "Do you believe I can be chosen to enter the League, or do you believe that no matter what round I enter, I can prove myself?"

The corners of Donald's mouth lifted slightly, "Both."

Philadelphia Museum of Art, the 2017 NFL Draft is about to be held here. Stay tuned with empire

When Li Wei arrived at the scene, he could immediately feel the overwhelming heat hit him—

In the center of the venue, the tactical tables of thirty-two teams were neatly arranged, with team representatives taking their seats; the restructured spectator stands were filled to the brim, with fans from all thirty-two teams represented inside the venue, not to mention the fans waiting outside, which was simply a sea of people.

Throughout the venue, large screens, cameras, and microphones were everywhere, as if they were under a microscope, with every move visible.

The entire atmosphere was exhilarating and tense.

Then, Li Wei saw his fellow draft classmates, members from the Crimson Tide Storm like Allen, Foster, Humphrey, Howard, and others, all invited to the Little Green House, undoubtedly one of the colleges with the most players present at the venue today; also, there were familiar faces like Mahomes, McCaffrey, Fournette, Garrett, Watson, and so on.

Compared to Li Wei, they were much more nervous, infected by the atmosphere at the site.

Here, the Philadelphia Museum of Art was ready to burst with energy.

Over there, the real nerve center was the large rear guard of the thirty-two teams.

Team managers, head coaches, offensive coordinators, defensive coordinators, salary cap analysis assistants, and so on, all gathered in the war room, analyzing and making decisions based on every dynamic at the front.

Strictly speaking, it was calm here, but even more tense and busier than the frontline.

One would assume the team managers had already made their decisions; but in fact, even now they were still deliberating, weighing, and calculating—this was the norm.

Teams were still probing and trading with one another, and this morning was busier than any before.

The Baltimore Ravens were no exception.

Harbaugh was watching game footage, over and over again, so much so that when team manager Ozzie Newsome came in, he didn't notice.

Newsome glanced at the computer screen without conveying any change in expression, "John, can't you let go?"

Harbaugh didn't immediately respond, waiting for the current wave of footage to finish before shaking his head, "No, we've discussed it and made a decision, I'm not going to change my mind."

"Li Wei is good, Li Wei is very good, but the price is too high if we need to trade up, it's not worth it. I know the cost of building a championship team."

Harbaugh was conflicted and regretful, but he had to face the objective reality—

The Jacksonville Jaguars, the Carolina Panthers, both expressing great interest in Li Wei, one with the fourth pick, the other with the eighth, and also the Cleveland Browns, who could go off the deep end at any time. If the Baltimore Ravens wanted to snatch him, it would cost too much.

After weighing their options, they reached a consensus to focus on the defensive group first.

Just then, someone pushed the door open and spoke directly.

"... Coach, Andy Reid is on line three."