Allen, as the first gate in the Defensive group, was already prepared and didn’t rush forward like a naive rookie. Instead, he bent his knees to lower his center of gravity and slightly adjusted his steps to warm up his body.
"Attack!"
The moment Li Wei started, Allen stepped diagonally inwards, pouncing forward like a tiger descending the mountains. He felt he had the upper hand—
because in official games, the Defensive group emphasizes coordination while the Offensive group emphasizes blocking. In other words, there should have been someone covering the running back, making a coordinated play; but Li Wei had none, which meant there were no barriers between Li Wei and Allen, allowing Allen to intercept him directly.
Allen: Sorry, rookie. Bear with me; I’ve got a lot of strength.
With one step forward and a cruel smile on his lips, he spread his arms, leaned forward, and pressed down hard as he pounced fiercely.
However.
In his eyes, a figure could be seen accelerating, accelerating, and then accelerating some more.
Whoosh.
Turned into a streak of light and dashed out of sight.
What happened?
Allen hadn’t even had time to react, still caught up in his joy, when he lunged at nothing. Due to the ferocity of the forward lunge, he lost his balance and tumbled forward like a somersaulting onion.
Missed?
He actually missed!
Allan, with a face full of perplexity.
Li Wei continued moving forward.
Directly ahead, about three or four steps behind Allen, were Foster to the left and Humphrey to the right. They appeared directly ahead.
Both were black, but unlike Allen, their heights and builds were similar to that of Li Wei, with Foster being slightly bulkier, though not noticeably so.
From their footsteps and movements, it was evident that they were much more agile than Allen. However, they both thought that Allen’s block was enough to trouble Li Wei. Even if Li Wei could change directions and dodge Allen, he would need to take a roundabout route, so they blocked the path one on either side.
But they hadn’t expected Li Wei to opt for a frontal breakthrough, forcibly speeding through.
Not only that, but he also succeeded.
In a moment of carelessness, Foster was a half-beat slow to react. Just as he was beginning to move, the silhouette in his pupils had already accelerated out of the speed zone, reaching top speed and completing an evolution, growing bigger as it passed by the field of vision to take the lead, and then continued to enlarge. He stood no chance.
Damn!
Realizing he had been slow to react, Foster stopped in frustration and didn’t pursue any further, but saw Humphrey determinedly chasing after Li Wei.
From the positions on the field, Humphrey’s explosive power and acceleration were indeed superior. Although he, like Foster, had underestimated the situation and was slow to start, he didn’t give up on following up.
In his view, Li Wei accelerated in a burst, shaking off Allen, then used sheer speed to break through the sandwiched defense of Foster and Humphrey.
Everything happened in the blink of an eye.
Sprinted.
With a light step, he shook off Jackson’s desperate hands, the path ahead now completely clear, no longer blocked by any obstacles to Li Wei.
All the way, he ran wild.
Burns watched as Li Wei unreservedly unleashed his speed, Foster had just drawn close, not yet within embrace range, and then could only watch helplessly as Li Wei ran faster and faster.
The distance widened visibly.
A long-distance raid.
And just like that, he entered the end zone—
Touchdown.
Li Wei stood in the end zone, turned around, gently tossed the football into the air, then stylishly caught it again, his face bearing an expression of easy grace:
Is that all?
Looking ahead, Foster gave up the chase, Jackson and Allen both fell to the ground, and Humphrey floundered for a while, rolling on the ground before he managed to stand up again, scattering debris all along the way like broken metal.
The entire field was astonished.
All noise disappeared.
Saban turned to Burns, "Is that what you saw just now?"
Bursting power?
Not just that. After the initial burst, there was also a second burst of power and, in terms of restarting after an emergency break, he delivered a top-level answer.
Simply put, it was a domination by speed, an overtaking by sheer power.
Of course, the underestimation by the four defensive players was also a very important factor; they had completely not anticipated Li Wei’s astonishing vertical speed, and one by one they collapsed; despite that, Li Wei’s capability was beyond question.
But in Saban’s words, amidst the surprise, there was also some disappointment—
If that was all, it wouldn’t be enough to make Li Wei a top running back.
Absolute speed is very important, crucial even, but in the sport of football, confrontation is more important, and relying solely on absolute speed cannot solve many problems.
In the history of the NFL, there have been running backs with impressive forty-yard dash times, competitive even in the Olympics, but could those running backs become top players?
It’s difficult.
Even if Usain Bolt came to the football field, he wouldn’t be able to become a top running back.
That is to say, Li Wei’s performance was a pleasant surprise, but still not enough.
Burns looked at Saban, his smile at the corners of his mouth already uncontrollably curling up, then he shook his head, "No, this, I saw it for the first time today too; it’s a surprise for me as well."
Saban gently raised an eyebrow, things, it seemed, were getting more interesting.