Chapter 1413: The Eye of the Storm
"Haha, the Golden Boy is truly the Golden Boy. 'You earn the money, I maintain my good looks,' right?"
"He's clearly there, yet not there. Can anyone tell me how this whole thing operates? Waiting online, urgent."
"So, in the end, he's still living off his looks, isn't he?"
"Starting today, the League's quarterbacks now have a third category: the model-type quarterback. Specialty: good looks that are completely wasted under a helmet; but miraculously, his tall frame and dashing silhouette still make the entire League chase after him."
"Can anyone tell if Jimmy Garoppolo played in this game or was sidelined due to injury? I'm a fan of his looks and didn't see him in the highlight reel, getting a bit worried."
"Does he even remember his job?"
"Sorry, but I'll no longer insult Russell Wilson and Cam Newton as running backs. After all, they at least contribute something, while Jimmy Garoppolo probably didn't even break a sweat during a whole game, and his jersey must still smell fresh."
"If a quarterback can't pass or run, why is he even on the field, wasting a spot?"
"When other players celebrate victory, it's because they gave it their all. So when Garoppolo celebrates a win, what exactly is he celebrating?"
Criticisms, accusations, sarcasm, jokes, attacks.
Everything under the sun is there, filling the entire view.
"When you become famous, you invite trouble," just like the Kansas City Chiefs back then and other outstanding teams. Now the San Francisco 49ers have risen to prominence this season, attracting envy. Naturally, no one wants to miss the opportunity, and a flood of negativity pours in.
Moreover, Garoppolo indeed gave netizens a reason.
Not just attacks, all sorts of jokes came endlessly. This time, Garoppolo truly tasted the flavor of being the "League's First Man."
"From the division games to the conference championship, the number of pass attempts gets fewer and fewer! So, in the upcoming Super Bowl, will Garoppolo's pass attempts reduce to four times? Oops, sorry, my math is off, should be three times!"
"Indeed, the Master of Lying Win lives up to the name. Back in the New England Patriots, he earned two championship rings from lying back, even Peyton Manning only has two. Jimmy Garoppolo stands shoulder to shoulder with legends! Now continuing to win by default in the San Francisco 49ers, he is undoubtedly the greatest Master of Lying Win in NFL history!"
"Throwing eight passes in a game, given Garoppolo's salary, that averages two hundred thousand US Dollars per throw—well, accurately, nineteen thousand dollars; if we account based on game time, he's earning six thousand Dollars per minute on the field. Wow, is this not the easiest job in the world?"
Jokes come one after another, with all kinds of quips and banter, truly showcasing the expansive imagination of netizens.
The experiences in the New England Patriots unexpectedly play a crucial role in outlining the "Master of Lying Win" theme, becoming the main ingredient and evidence, seemingly embedding itself as a keyword throughout Garoppolo's professional career, with netizens exclaiming "inherited tradition," "luck written in the genes."
It wasn't just text, memes too.
The images from Reeves Field during the last moments of the conference championship, with the camera focusing on Garoppolo, erupted over social media as screenshots and gifs.
For example, Garoppolo counting down, "One hundred Dollars! One hundred Dollars! One hundred Dollars!" it's as if he's calculating his salary, with a special effects gilded coins jumping continuously in the meme GIFs.
Or say, Garoppolo raising his arms with joy, with captioned memes saying, "Oh yeah, another win by default, time for a hot spring soak later!"
Jokes here have taken on new styles!
Moreover, as it develops further, it slowly spirals out of control, capturing attention outside usual circles. Even netizens who know nothing about Football or the conference championships join this creative competition, with Garoppolo receiving unprecedented attention, causing bystanders to marvel—
Finally! Finally, a topic character emerges who can compete with Li Wei! and it's a handsome fellow, the "Golden Boy"!
These bystanders are entirely unaware of the sarcasm behind the term "Golden Boy." They are all eager, expressing anticipation, looking forward to the Super Bowl witnessing a peak duel between two handsome guys, but little do they know, their words hit the mark again, becoming new material for seasoned fans to joke about.
Endless!
Originally, it was just a minor thing, but it quickly transformed into a significant event shaking the entire league, even a treatment that Li Wei never enjoyed.
After all, Li Wei's on-field performances never gave those critics a chance.
The topic of "Garoppolo's Lying Win" trended on social media for a whole week, showing no signs of dying, and even after dropping off the trending list for two days, it resurfaced due to the approaching Super Bowl, clearly becoming the hottest topic of this Super Bowl season.
But clearly, no one envied Garoppolo this time.
Sweeping tides of attacks threaten to lose control, and Garoppolo surprisingly becomes Li Wei's rival in a baffling manner.
Scandalous or not, it's still attention.
"Garoppolo vs. Li Wei," this matchup dubbed as the "Battle of the Golden Boy"; meanwhile, Brady plays the role of the bridge between the two Golden Boys, with topic popularity continuing to soar, easily surpassing "Brady vs. Li Wei," "Donald vs. Li Wei," and other topics meticulously brewed by the League, becoming the most wildly trending matchup of the past three seasons.
Goodell never could have foreseen this.
Despite orchestrating all this, the resulting storm's scale exceeded expectations.
This again proves an eternal truth: Looks are justice.
For those bystanders, those netizens completely unfamiliar with and uninterested in football, looks offer far more conversation than football does, who wouldn't want to see two attractive guys wrestle in the mud?
Even though these netizens have no idea that Li Wei and Garoppolo are both offensive players and would never face each other directly on the field; this does not stop outsider netizens from chirping away with imagination, the topic's momentum soaring uncontrollably, expanding all over.
This storm vortex is now beyond anyone's control.
Social media provides a platform, allowing everyone to hide behind the network and express their opinions with blatant disregard, revealing their darkest sides.
But this time, quite rare, criticism from professionals was even more exaggerated than from netizens, impossible to isolate completely even by covering ears.
The reason is very simple.
It turns out that the professionals who once questioned top running backs and now vehemently condemn Garoppolo belong to the same group.
Whether it's Bell, Li Wei, Henry, Barkley, these top running backs, or the present Garoppolo, the basis of skepticism remains the same:
They believe that modern football is a passing game, the quarterback is the team's core.
Therefore, they do not believe top running backs like Li Wei can change a game; likewise, they hope quarterbacks like Garoppolo will present more active, outstanding, commendable performances, because quarterbacks are the core of victory.
Everything comes from the same principle.