Larry Brown Sports

Between video from practice, preseason games, and media conferences, football fans have seen plenty of Andrew Luck over the past month. Fans should continue to see plenty of him during the course of the football season, but one place you won’t see the Colts rookie is in commercials. That’s because Luck made the conscious decision to avoid endorsement deals during his rookie season.

Luck decided he already had enough going on and told The Indianapolis Star last week that he wanted his primary focus to be on football, not making money on the side.

“I really didn’t have much time,” Luck explained to Bob Kravitz. “And I wanted to make sure I had time to handle the stuff that mattered, whether it was moving into an apartment, finishing school or learning the playbook. There was so much going on, I figured the less time I spent promoting myself or doing ads, the better for me. I figured I’d wait and hopefully, at some point, a big fish will come along.”

Luck’s approach has been the opposite of Robert Griffin III, who beat Luck to win the Heisman Trophy, and then was selected one pick behind the Stanford product in the NFL Draft. RG3 is omnipresent thanks to his deals with Subway, adidas, and Gatorade, among others. But just because their approaches are different doesn’t mean Luck thinks Griffin is going about it wrong.

“And really, to each his own. I don’t necessarily think my way is the right way. It’s what’s best for each person. It’s fun to see Robert capitalizing on his situation.”

Luck says he may reconsider his stance after the season, but he believes now is not the right time for him to do endorsements.

Even though the Colts quarterback is choosing not to pick up extra income for the moment, he might not be losing money in the long run. If he has a breakout season, he could be even more in demand after the year, and then he would command more money from potential sponsors.

We think his decision is admirable. As long as you’re taking care of business on the field, things will usually fall in place off of it. The converse usually is not true.

H/T Black Sports Online

After missing OTAs to finish up his degree at Stanford, Andrew Luck on Tuesday finally got back on the practice field with Colts teammates. And according to Luck, he found it hard to focus on his studies during the final few weeks of school. Very understandable. Almost everyone who’s ever been to school can relate to Luck’s motivational struggles in the classroom. But at the same time many won’t be able to relate to what Luck was keeping himself distracted with.

“I’ve managed to learn the playbook, so I don’t think I’m starting at zero,” Luck said about his five-week absence, according to the Indianapolis Star.

“I’d wake up in the morning and have a serious lack of motivation to go to class,” Luck added. “Then I’d work out, do football stuff until lunch, then go to afternoon classes and go from there. It was tough … My mind has been in Indianapolis the last couple of months.”

This probably makes Luck the first person whose Senioritis didn’t include watching YouTube videos or playing Doodle Jump during lectures. And that’s good news if you’re a Colts fan.

H/T Pro Football Talk
Photo: Brian Spurlock-US PRESSWIRE

Stanford no longer has an offensive coordinator position. Nope, thanks to an anonymous donor, the position has been renamed “The Andrew Luck Director of Offense,” after former Cardinal four-year starter and current Colts quarterback Andrew Luck.

“It is a huge tribute,” said Luck of his named Directorship. “To have anything endowed in my name is a complete honor. I feel very fortunate to have come to Stanford, and I have always enjoyed representing the University. The offensive coordinators I’ve had here helped me not only in football, but also to grow so much as a person. To be a part of that leadership and position is a very proud legacy for me.”

Luck ranks first on Stanford’s career list for wins, winning percentage, touchdown passes, completion percentage, and efficiency, and he’s second in career passing yards. It’s no wonder the position was named after him, though you have to wonder how another former Stanford quarterback feels about things.

If the quarterback coach position gets renamed “The John Elway Quarterback Guru” by an anonymous donor, be leery; the money either came from old number seven, or Ted Danson.

On a serious note, this sets a precedent that will likely be duplicated throughout college football. You know how things run in trends. When one school announced a “coach in waiting,” several others followed. Same with all the schools giving their Heisman Trophy winners statues. Just wait til you see this trend proliferate.

Helmet knock to Around the League

There’s no greater reward for being picked No. 1 overall in the NFL Draft than getting reminded by a late-night TV host about all the pressure you’ll be facing. That’s what happened with Colts quarterback Andrew Luck, who was interviewed by David Letterman on Thursday night. Keep in mind that Letterman is a big Colts fan, so ribbing Luck about replacing Peyton Manning was a natural topic. It’s just that Letterman does it better than most.

H/T Sports Grid via Lost Lettermen

Over the past few weeks, we have heard so many different opinions about what the Colts should do with their draft pick in April that it is just about time to stop listening. Most people seem to believe Andrew Luck is the obvious choice and a quarterback that could contribute almost immediately in Indianapolis. At least one former Colts coach believes Robert Griffin III is the better choice and would have more to offer an NFL offense. Former NFL quarterback Joe Theismann is a member of Team Luck, but for a slightly more dramatic reason.

“First of all, if you’re the Indianapolis Colts, you have to draft Andrew Luck,” Theismann said during an interview with SiriusXM’s Mad Dog Radio on Friday. “He’s as complete a package as you are going to get coming in to professional football. Andrew Luck, if you have him available and you are the Indianapolis Colts and you saw what happened when you lost Peyton Manning, you have to go draft him. Dan Orlovsky, Curtis Painter are not the future of the Indianapolis Colts. So I think you have to draft him irrespective of what gets worked out regarding Peyton.

“I hope (Manning) does come back, but I would say right now on this show, I don’t think Peyton Manning will be back in a uniform to play football, for his health and for his safety. Ever again. I mean, he hasn’t practiced. He hasn’t taken a hit. You’re rolling the dice on $28 million for him to take a hit. Would you do it?”

Manning returned to throwing toward the end of the season, but his future is up in the air.  History tells us he’ll do everything he can to get back into playing shape over the offseason, but if he’s at risk of seriously injuring his neck Theismann could be right.  Colts fans aren’t yet ready to face the possibility of Manning never playing again because it came on so abruptly, but unfortunately it isn’t that far-fetched an idea.

With the 2011 NFL regular season in the books, the Colts have secured the first overall pick in next year’s draft. Now the question becomes what they will do with it. At this point it looks like the most likely scenario will be the Colts selecting a quarterback. Unless Peyton Manning can prove that he is 100 percent healthy and can give Indianapolis a reason to believe he’ll be around for 4 more years, they aren’t trading down too far. With that in mind, it all comes down to Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III.

Earlier in the season, Luck was the obvious choice. One Heisman Trophy and a bunch of eye-popping athletic plays later and the decision isn’t as clear-cut. In fact, former Colts coach Tony Dungy told the Dan Patrick Show on Wednesday that he would take RG3 over Luck.

“I haven’t seen enough of everybody but I like those mobile guys,” Dungy said when asked who he would select with the top overall pick. “The way the game is and the guys that bring that extra dimension — I love Aaron Rodgers now and I’d take (him) over Brady and Brees for the pressure he puts on the defense with his running ability. I just see these guys like Griffin and Russell Wilson and they’re intriguing to me. I like Robert Griffin.”

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Can you say awwwwwkward? In a column at Yahoo! Sports, Jason Cole says Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck is expected to choose Peyton Manning‘s agents to represent him. Luck is expected to be the top pick in the NFL draft, although some teams reportedly prefer Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III. We’ve already heard that Peyton Manning may try to force a trade if the Colts drafts Luck, so this makes matters even more complicated.

Tom Condon and Ben Dogra at Creative Artists Agency (CAA) may end up in a messy situation. If they sign Luck as a client, they’ll try to get him drafted first overall. They’ll also try to negotiate the best possible contract for him, and they might prefer that he begins playing immediately. Would that motivate them to push for Peyton to be traded? I would think so.

You can say that Luck should just choose another agent to avoid the conflict of interest, but why should he have to choose different representation because of the circumstance? Perhaps the only way around this potentially awkward scenario is if the Colts win two more games and don’t get the top pick in the draft.

H/T Evan Silva