Dominate the Super Bowl

Chapter 775: 774 Never Rest Until Death
 

Abuse, curses, humiliation.

It was overwhelming.

The situation was gradually getting out of control; this was another side of competitive sports, dirty and ugly, violent and twisted, it was not beautiful.

Perhaps there was no grievance between the two cities, perhaps the fans were complete strangers, perhaps away from the team everyone was just an ordinary person like you and me in real life, yet because of the wins and losses in sports, they stood in opposition, wishing they could tear each other into countless pieces.

Verbal attacks were still minor matters—

Just block it, as long as you don’t look at social media, the world would quiet down.

However, physical attacks were another matter entirely, and the situation was escalating.

A group of New England Patriots fans arrived in Kansas City five days in advance, clearly jobless vagrants who didn’t need to work, those idle people. They sneaked into the Kansas City Chiefs Training Facility’s parking lot and vandalized three team buses of the Kansas City Chiefs with paint, eggs, and wet tissue.

As a result, the security guard noticed the scene through surveillance footage.

The security guard appeared, tried to expel them but was knocked down and beaten by six New England Patriots fans, punched and kicked, and they laughed wildly.

In the end, the security guard suffered severe injuries, including fractured ribs, a broken arm, and internal bleeding. If it weren’t for the stadium security discovering him in time and calling an ambulance, the consequences… could have been unimaginable, with life at risk.

The Kansas City Chiefs immediately called the police, who accurately arrested the six suspects through the parking lot surveillance footage, ready to prosecute.

Clearly, the situation had seriously crossed the line.

Upon learning this, Li Wei was uncontrollably angry, rarely seen so enraged.

“A bunch of cowards.”

“If you had the guts, you should’ve come for me, I don’t denounce you for ganging up. You know my residence, my workplace, you’re always welcome to visit,” he said.

“A group of people attacking an unarmed ordinary man over fifty just shows your cowardice and incompetence. If you’re scared of losing the game and want us to go easy, just say it, I won’t mock you,” he said.

All barrels blazing.

Anyone who knew Li Wei could see that he was furiously angry.

And it wasn’t just Li Wei.

The entire Kansas City Chiefs organization was uncontrollably angry, even Reed, typically all smiles when meeting people, rarely issued a formal denunciation in front of the media—

Stern condemnation.

Such incidents were not uncommon in the United Kingdom; football hooligans were notoriously infamous. Whenever seeing football hooligans rambling in the European Championship or the Premier League, North American media buzzed with strong condemnation and proudly emphasized that the Big Four leagues in North America did not have such thugs.

They never expected that this time they would be so embarrassingly proven wrong, and with such a malicious incident, UK media one after another couldn’t wait to kick them while they were down using their mockery skills, even emphasizing that the New England Patriots were the most successful NFL team since the millennium, essentially the face of the league—

Now, not only the media was shame-faced; the league officials were also furiously indignant.

Swipe, swipe, swipe.

All arrows pointed at the New England Patriots.

For a moment, the New England Patriots were like rats crossing the street.

Knowing they were in the wrong, Belichick and Brady also publicly stated their strong condemnation of such behavior, absolutely refusing to condone or shelter the culprits.

However, apologies were of no avail.

On social media, the exchange of insults continued to escalate. New England Patriots fans showed no remorse, even cheering for the mob, adding fuel to the fire, or believing that the parking lot incident was a setup—a conspiracy—

“Someone wants to harm me.”

Ferocious, ugly, distorted—various opinions swirled around the internet.

Whether it was the fans’ personal behavior or Li Wei’s response, all was seen as targeted attacks, “You are targeting me,” leading to an all-out war between the fans of the New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs, using the internet as their battlefield.

The situation escalated beyond the scope of just a game.

Undoubtedly, it had evolved into a do-or-die situation, extending from the game itself to the fans and even the entire cities involved, everything had entered a state of high tension.

Although the meeting between the New England Patriots and the Kansas City Chiefs didn’t need any provocation to be tense; now, things were clearly out of control, and the sparks and smoke between the two teams continued to intensify.

Comparable to a powder keg.

Of course, the National Conference championship game was no less intense.

The New Orleans Saints and Los Angeles Rams had an even longer history.

In 2002, the league restructured its divisions, resulting in the current divisional alignment; before that, the New Orleans Saints and Los Angeles Rams were both part of the National Conference West Division, rivals for half a century with countless high-profile face-offs in their history.

After the league’s restructuring, the two teams belonged to different divisions, but their grievances remained a significant topic in the league.

Let’s set aside the on-field matters for now; off the field, the two teams were also constantly entangled.

In the 2012 season, the Los Angeles Rams—then still the St. Louis Rams—secretly contacted Gregg Williams, the defensive coordinator of the New Orleans Saints, attempting to poach him; but unexpectedly, just a week later, the NFL exploded with the shocking “Bountygate.”

The main characters behind “Bountygate” were New Orleans Saints’ head coach Sean Payton and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, offering bonuses to defensive players to deliberately injure opponents, with Gregg Williams believed to be the main conspirator.

The incident shocked the entire league, representing behavior utterly void of sportsmanship and professional ethics.

Eventually, Gregg Williams was suspended indefinitely, and Sean Payton was also suspended for a year.

Among New Orleans Saints fans, it was rumored that the St. Louis Rams, unable to successfully poach Gregg Williams, spitefully blew the whistle—

Of course, there was no evidence; but that didn’t stop New Orleans Saints fans from slinging all the mud at their former rivals from the same division.

Moreover, even more bizarrely, two years later, Gregg Williams, after persistent appeals, was finally reinstated; his first job back was as the defensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams.

New Orleans Saints: …

Other teams and fans in the league: …

Now, the New Orleans Saints were about to face the Los Angeles Rams, noteworthy that this was only the second postseason meeting in the history of the two teams.

The previous occurrence was during the 2001 season, at the peak of the Los Angeles Rams era, just two years after their Super Bowl victory, and they were heralded as “The Greatest Show on Turf”; however, the New Orleans Saints delivered a stunning upset over their arch-rivals in the wildcard game, winning the team’s first-ever playoff victory in its history.

Seventeen years had passed, and although times had changed, the enmity between the arch-rivals was not forgotten. The New Orleans Saints and the Los Angeles Rams were both sharpening their knives, with only one expected to leave standing.

The air was thick with tension, ready to ignite at any moment.

The National Conference had its historical roots, and the American League had its own grievance-filled rivalries, but undoubtedly, both Conference Finals would be anything but boring, with everyone grinding their teeth and sharpening their knives, all set to go.