Kobe Bryant said, "Do you know what Los Angeles looks like at four o'clock in the morning?"
Everybody knows that athletic sports require talent.
But in fact, talent is just the threshold. Every player who can enter the Professional League is a genius. Don't think they seem like rookies on the professional field; actually, without exception, they are all geniuses—major geniuses, minor geniuses, once-in-a-decade geniuses, once-in-a-century geniuses.
A bunch of freaks.
If you want to stand out, hard work and struggle are the only ways.
Success is made of ninety-nine percent perspiration plus one percent inspiration. Usually, the one percent of inspiration is the most important; however, the threshold of the profession has already filtered out that one percent of inspiration, leaving the remainder to depend on the ninety-nine percent of perspiration, depending on who knows what Los Angeles looks like early in the morning.
Of course, Li Wei hadn't yet decided whether to go professional. The short three weeks of spring training camp had opened a door, allowing him to glimpse a whole new world; but there was no need to rush into a conclusion. Nevertheless, Li Wei admitted that he had become somewhat curious and had slowly begun to explore.
From intramural games to warm-up matches, Li Wei was understanding the charm of football in all aspects, and involuntarily, he began to develop a faint anticipation for the new season.
The Football Training System sent out reminders every day, urging Li Wei to complete his daily training; it also alerted Li Wei to the daily upper limit of his training—
Not to overtrain beyond capacity.
If he could persist in completing the daily training, the progress bar would gain extra reward boosts, moving towards the one hundred percent indicator at a faster pace.
It must be said that after the system quantified everything, not only could he clearly see the gains from each day's training, but there was also a mysterious reward waiting ahead. It felt like leveling up in a game after defeating monsters. The monotonous daily training became full of anticipation, motivating him each day.
Now, it was only May. There were four whole months until the unveiling of the new season in September—
Four months, enough to change many, many things.
Li Wei thought that his secret weapon had already been exposed. Someone must have begun to study it, believing they had understood this secret weapon in all aspects. By the time he displayed a brand-new performance, giving everyone a surprise, it would be interesting to see the expressions of those Black-faced Yamas in the Defensive group.
A mischievous and delightful psychology became an additional motivation for Li Wei to persist in completing his daily training.
However, as of now, the first wave of rewards had already arrived.
At 5.9 feet (180 centimeters) and 210 pounds (95 kilograms), McCoy seems almost miniaturized among the strongmen and giants of football, even more slender than Li Wei, but such running backs have their own place in the Professional League; speed and agility are their professional skills.
In fact, if anyone underestimates McCoy because of his "short and skinny" appearance, then McCoy would use his fleet-footed skills to give them a good lesson.
McCoy is a typical "scatback" style running back. Players of this sort are often shorter and thinner; they are used to making the most of their size, speed, and agility advantages, making it difficult for defenders to catch them and easily breaking away from tackles or outpacing them with sheer speed.
Furthermore, McCoy is exceptionally good at dodging left and right, considered to be a simplified version of the Hall of Fame legendary running back Barry Sanders. McCoy admits that he regards Sanders as his idol, grew up watching Sanders' games, and consciously imitates Sanders.
After joining the Professional League in 2009 and after two years of brief adjustment, McCoy underwent his transformation—
Except for the 2012 season, when he missed most of it due to a concussion, he was selected for the Pro Bowl in 2011, 2013, 2014, and 2015, without a doubt one of the most popular running backs in the League at present.
During which, in 2011 he led the League in touchdown rushes, in 2013 he led in rushing yards, and he became the Philadelphia Eagles' all-time leading rusher.
It's clear that McCoy, like Adrian Peterson, is in his prime and is one of the top and most outstanding running backs in the League.
So, what are the differences between the two?
Peterson excels at changing directions, breaking tackles, and even has the ability to push forward forcefully amidst strong opposition.
McCoy excels at speed, relying on speed to break away, and finding gaps in tight defenses to advance.
At least from the current stage, Li Wei's playing style is more similar to McCoy, tending to rely on speed for breaking away and penetration even if, occasionally, he can also draw inspiration from Peterson's games to find game-changing routes; however, for now, his ability to resist tackles and break away still needs further improvement.
That's precisely why, in the warm-up match against the Tigers, his two successive sideline breakthroughs were so astonishing, earning him the nickname "Edgerunner".
Speed. Agility. Gaps.
These are what Li Wei is most familiar with and best at.
From now until the new season kicks off, Li Wei needs to boost his competitiveness in a short time, and starting with his strong points would be the most effective and immediate.
Using the Peterson template for training, there were still many things that Li Wei only half understood and couldn't see the big picture, but the McCoy template should be much easier to work with.
Li Wei couldn't help rubbing his hands together, ready to take action immediately and enter the template training mode.