INDIANAPOLIS – NFL Drafts have served as dawns of new eras in many of the 76 previous sessions held in league history.
The Colts used the 77th annual process to select quarterback Andrew Luck from Stanford to address the start of a new era at the position. Luck authored a storied career at one of the nation's most prestigious universities, and he is joining a franchise with a rich heritage.
Here are notes, quotes and anecdotes on Luck and his movement to the NFL and the Colts.
31 QUARTERBACKS TAKEN WITH FIRST OVERALL PICK
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Year, Player, College, NFL Team
1944, Angelo Bertelli, Notre Dame, Boston
1946, Frank Dancewicz, Notre Dame, Boston
1948, Harry Gilmer, Alabama, Washington
1952, Bill Wade, Vanderbilt, Los Angeles
1954, Bobby Garrett, Stanford, Cleveland
1955, George Shaw, Oregon, COLTS
1958, King Hill, Rice, Chicago Cardinals
1959, Randy Duncan, Iowa, Green Bay
1962, Roman Gabriel, North Carolina State, Oakland (AFL)
1963, Terry Baker, Oregon State , Los Angeles
1964, Jack Concannon, Boston College, Boston (AFL)
1970, Terry Bradshaw, Louisiana Tech, Pittsburgh
1971, Jim Plunkett, Stanford, New England
1975, Steve Bartkowski, California, Atlanta
1983, John Elway, Stanford, COLTS
1987, Vinny Testaverde, Miami, Tampa Bay
1989, Troy Aikman, UCLA, Dallas
1990, Jeff George, Illinois, COLTS
1993, Drew Bledsoe, Washington State, New England
1998, Peyton Manning, Tennessee, COLTS
1999, Tim Couch, Kentucky, Cleveland
2001, Michael Vick, Virginia Tech, Atlanta
2002, David Carr, Fresno State, Houston
2003, Carson Palmer, USC, Cincinnati
2004, Eli Manning, Mississippi, San Diego
2005, Alex Smith, Utah, San Francisco
2007, JaMarcus Russell, LSU, Oakland
2009, Matthew Stafford, Georgia, Detroit
2010, Sam Bradford, Oklahoma, St. Louis
2011, Cam Newton, Auburn, Carolina
2012, Andrew Luck, Stanford, COLTS
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TOP PICKS BY POSITION (includes AFL choices): Quarterbacks, 31; Running Backs, 23; Defensive Linemen, 13; Offensive Linemen, 6; Wide Receivers, 6; Linebackers, 3; Defensive Backs, 1.
The last four overall top picks in the draft have been quarterbacks, and quarterback choices represent five of the last six, 10 of the last 12 and 12 of the last 15 (since 1998 choice of Peyton Manning) top overall picks. This is the second-longest streak of quarterbacks being chosen first in draft history, with the longest stretch being five straight drafts from 2001-05.
TOP OVERALL PICKS FROM STANFORD: Bobby Garrett (1954, Cleveland); Jim Plunkett (1971, New England), John Elway (1983, Colts); Andrew Luck (2012, Colts).
COLTS TAKEN WITH FIRST OVERALL PICK
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Year, Player, Position, College
1955, George Shaw, Quarterback, Oregon
1967, Bubba Smith, Defensive Tackle, Michigan State
1983, John Elway, Quarterback, Stanford
1990, Jeff George, Quarterback, Illinois
1992, Steve Emtman, Defensive Tackle, Washington
1998, Peyton Manning, Quarterback, Tennessee
2012, Andrew Luck, Quarterback, Stanford
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COLTS QUARTERBACKS TAKEN AMONG FIRST 10 OVERALL PICKS
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Year, Player, Overall, College
1954, Cotton Davidson, Fourth, Baylor
1955, George Shaw, First, Oregon
1973, Bert Jones, Second, LSU
1982, Art Schlichter, Fourth, Ohio State
1983, John Elway, First, Stanford
1990, Jeff George, First, Illinois
1998, Peyton Manning, First, Tennessee
2012, Andrew Luck, First, Stanford
ANDREW LUCK ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Luck directed Stanford to an 11-2 record in 2011 and a second straight BCS Bowl appearance. He completed 288-of-404 passes for 3,517 yards and 37 touchdowns.
For his career, Luck completed 713-of-1,064 passes for 9,430 yards, with 82 touchdowns and 22 interceptions. He set school marks in touchdown passes, completion percentage (68.7), passing efficiency (162.76) and total offense (10,387), while ranking second in passing yardage. Luck earned a 31-7 starting record at Stanford, including a 24-5 conference record and an 8-3 mark against Top 25 teams. His career wins and winning percentage are school marks at his position, and he led Stanford to three bowl appearances as a starter. Luck helped Stanford to three consecutive seasonal scoring records (461, 2009; 524, 2010; 561, 2011) and to 40-plus points 17 times. He hit for three or more touchdowns in 15 of 38 starts and for four scores in seven outings. Luck also rushed for 957 yards and seven touchdowns during his career (first among school quarterbacks), including three rushes longer than 50 yards. With Luck at the controls, Stanford spent 29 consecutive weeks in the AP poll, including 22 straight ranked in the Top 10. The Cardinal had seven consecutive losing seasons prior to Luck starting in 2009. The school then posted 8-5, 12-1 and 11-2 records.
Luck is one of the most decorated collegiate quarterbacks in history. This past year, he earned Walter Camp Football Foundation Player-of-the-Year honors, won the Maxwell Trophy as the nation's top player and earned the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Trophy. Luck was a two-time Pac-12 Offensive Player-of-the-Year and twice finished second in Heisman Trophy voting (behind QBs-Cam Newton and Robert Griffin III).
COLLEGIATE HONORS: 2011 – First-team All-America (AFCA, Walter Camp)…Maxwell Award winner…Walter Camp Player-of-the-Year Award winner…Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award winner…Heisman Trophy runner-up…Davey O'Brien Award finalist…Manning Award finalist…Academic All-America-of-the-Year (CoSIDA)…Pac-12 Offensive Player-of-the-Year…First-team All Pac-12…First-team Pac-12 All-Academic Team…Pac-12 Offensive Player-of-the-Week (10/17)…Orange Bowl Most Valuable Player. 2010 – Heisman Trophy runner-up…Maxwell Award finalist…Davey O'Brien Award finalist…Manning Award finalist…Second-team All-America (AP, Walter Camp, SI.com, CBSSports.com)…Pac-10 Offensive Player-of-the-Year…First-team All Pac-10…Second-team Pac-10 All-Academic Team…Orange Bowl MVP…Pac-10 Offensive Player-of-the-Week (11/8; 11/22). 2009 – Freshman All-America (The Sporting News, CollegeFootballNews.com, Scout.com)…Honorable Mention All Pac-10…First-team Pac-10 All-Academic Team.
PAC-12 RECORDS
Highest single-season completion percentage (71.3, 2011)
Highest career passing efficiency rating (162.8)
Highest career completion percentage (67.0)
STANFORD SINGLE-SEASON RECORDS
Most touchdown passes (37, 2011)
Most total offense (3,791, 2010)
Highest passing efficiency rating (170.2, 2010)
Highest completion percentage (71.3, 2011)
Most yards per attempt (9.0, 2010)
Most rushing yards by QB (453, 2010)
STANFORD CAREER RECORDS
Most touchdown passes (82)
Most total offense (10,387)
Highest passing efficiency rating (162.8)
Highest completion percentage (67.0)
Most yards per attempt (8.9)
Most rushing yards by QB (957)
Most starting wins by QB (31)
Highest winning percentage by starting QB (81.6)
NOTABLE ACCOMPLISHMENTS/ANECDOTES
Luck (9,430) ranks second to Steve Stenstrom (10,531, 1991-94) in Stanford career passing yardage.
Luck (3,338, 2010; 3,517, 2011) is one of four Stanford QBs in the 3,000 seasonal yardage club (3,627, Steve Stenstrom, 1993; 3,242, John Elway, 1982; 3,092, Todd Husak, 1998), while being the only multiple-season performer in the category.
Since 1942, Luck is among approximately 20 Stanford quarterbacks* *drafted into the NFL. Luck joins Bobby Garrett (1954, Cleveland), Jim Plunkett (1971, New England) and John Elway (1983, Colts) as Cardinal quarterbacks taken with the first overall pick. John Brodie was the third overall pick by San Francisco in 1957, while Frankie Albert was the 10th overall choice by Chicago in 1942.
Luck and John Elway are the only Stanford quarterbacks to win outright the Pac-10 Offensive Player-of-the-Year award that was established in 1975.
Luck attended the Manning Passing Academy in Thibodaux, Louisiana for the past two summers and served as a counselor in the 2011 camp. He attended the camp while in high school and Archie Manning commented on Luck in 2010, "Andrew is a very talented young man. He is so accurate with his throws. He has good passing techniques, and he is so smart throwing the ball down field. That is such a huge element of playing the position. Andrew can make all the throws necessary to be a really top-flight quarterback in college and the pros. I was extremely impressed with him. Andrew came here to the camp as a high school quarterback about four or five years ago and you can see he is much stronger, and he has a chance to be a real special football player."
Oliver Luck and Archie Manning were NFL teammates with the Houston Oilers in 1982-83.
Andrew Luck owns a Honda Accord, but typically uses a bicycle to get around campus.
Andrew Luck was born in Washington, D.C. He was one-year old when his father, Oliver, was hired as general manager of the Frankfurt Galaxy. Luck spent the first 11 years of his life growing up in different parts of Germany and London while his father was an executive in the World League of American Football and NFL Europe. He attended kindergarten in Frankfurt, Germany, first and second grade in London and half of fourth grade in Frankfurt (Los Angeles Times).
Oliver Luck coached his son in Pop Warner football but never past the sixth grade. Once Andrew was playing for school teams, Oliver left the coaching to others.
Luck finished second in Heisman Trophy voting in consecutive seasons (2010, 2011), losing to Cam Newton and Robert Griffin III, respectively. Luck is joined in that achievement by HB-Glenn Davis (1944-45, Army), RB-Charlie Justice (1948-49, North Carolina) and RB-Darren McFadden (2006-07, Arkansas), however Davis won the trophy in 1946. Other quarterbacks who finished as high as second in voting without ever winning the Heisman Trophy include Bob Griese (1966, Purdue), Mike Phipps (1969, Purdue), Joe Theismann (1970, Notre Dame), John Elway (1982, Stanford), Steve Young (1983, Brigham Young) and Peyton Manning (1997). Former Colts running Marshall Faulk (San Diego State) finished second in 1992 voting.
Luck led Stanford to consecutive BCS games for the first time in school history (Orange Bowl, 2010; Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, 2011) and to three consecutive bowl appearances for the second time (1933-35), and Stanford had not appeared in consecutive bowl games since Rose Bowls in 1970 and 1971 with Jim Plunkett.
Peyton Manning supplanted Jim Harbaugh in 1998 as the quarterback of the Colts. Harbaugh had played for Indianapolis from 1994-97. Harbaugh coached Luck at Stanford in 2009 and 2010. Luck succeeds Manning with the Colts in 2012.
Luck is the son of Oliver Luck, currently the athletic director at West Virginia, where he played quarterback from 1978-81. Oliver Luck was the 44th overall selection in the 1982 draft by Houston, the third quarterback taken (Art Schlichter, fourth overall to Colts; Jim McMahon, fifth overall to Chicago). Luck played for Houston from 1982-86, starting nine of 20 appearances and hitting 233-of-413 passes for 2,544 yards, with 13 touchdowns and 21 interceptions. He was a Rhodes Scholar finalist who graduated magna cum laude from West Virginia in 1982. He practiced law in Germany before serving on the club level and as league president with the World League of American Football. Luck served more than 10 years as vice president of business development and president/CEO of NFL Europe. He also worked as CEO of the Houston Sports Authority overseeing facility planning and construction.
QUOTE-UNQUOTE ON ANDREW LUCK: DAVID SHAW, Stanford coach (on Andrew Luck during the 2011 season) "Every week I have to answer Andrew Luck questions, and I'm running out of things to say. I don't want to build him up too much, but the problem is there are not a lot of flaws. There are not a lot of things that you'd want to change, that he needs to get better at. And that's the difference between him and every other quarterback I've been around. You get tired of saying, 'Nice throw.' You get tired of saying, 'Good read.' You get tired of saying, 'Nice job in the pocket.' And he gets tired of hearing it. So you get to the point where I try not to compliment him much. You just move on. His mentality is, 'OK, what's the next play? What do I need to be ready for?' It's, 'Don't pat me on the back. Tell me what the next thing is coming down the pike.' " SHAW(on Andrew Luck during the 2011 season) "He's like a vitamin – once a day he does something that just makes you say, 'Wow!' And it's been once a day for four years. Every single day he makes a throw that you just go, 'Wow' and move on to the next play. You look at film that night and he's moving to his left, throwing 30 yards across his body. It's just stuff that other human being can't do. He just does it and comes back to the huddle and says, 'What's the next play?' " SHAW(on Andrew Luck's offensive grasp) "There was one day in practice – and Trent Dilfer was there watching – Andrew was finishing his sophomore year, and he marches us down the field, no communication from the coaches, no game plan, nothing, just marches us down the field calling all the plays. We stood there in awe. I talked to Trent afterwards. He said, 'I've never seen a young quarterback do that. To have that kind of command of an offense, and at that age.' It was like a symphony. It was perfect." SHAW(on Andrew Luck) "He's not interested in fame or money. He just wants to be good – great – at what he does. You'll see off the field, he's a homebody. He wants to sit on the couch, either watch movies or study his playbook. He's not a partier. You'll see him out and about having dinner, but that's it. He's not a real complex individual. He just loves football. He's coming to work with the idea of putting something on the field the people of Indianapolis will be proud of."SHAW(on having no doubt Andrew Luck will be unfazed in the transition from Peyton Manning) "No doubt. None, because he won't replace Peyton Manning. He won't try to replace Peyton Manning. … I've told Andrew he will be compared to Peyton's rookie year, he'll be compared to Peyton Manning this year, he'll be compared to RGIII and he'll be compared to what Cam Newton did last year. But he knows none of that has anything to do with doing what he has to do, and that's become as good a football player as he can become." JIM HARBAUGH, former Stanford coach (on Oliver Luck's guiding of Andrew as he formed) "Oliver and I have had several conversations since Andrew's been at Stanford, but they've all been initiated by me – just to talk about things. His (Oliver's) restraint is remarkable. He appears so calm at games, like he's watching Andrew play in junior high. I remember being a big games and my dad's mouth so dry he couldn't even talk. … One of the good things is that Oliver didn't over-coach him as a quarterback. He didn't coach the naturalness out of him. He let him play soccer, play basketball, be a natural athlete. The majority of high school coaches over-supervise – most dads do it, too. You have to let them be athletes." HARBAUGH(on Andrew Luck's style) "The cool thing about Andrew is that he makes himself small and builds up everybody else around him. Of course, by doing that, he makes himself huge." HARBAUGH(on Andrew Luck's style) "What he does on the field – he's an assassin." HARBAUGH(on Andrew Luck) "He's exceeded some very high expectations. What makes a kid this good? Mom, dad, God and a really strong work ethic." HARBAUGH(on Andrew Luck) "Have you ever played spades? It's a trump game. He's (Luck) holding a lot of aces in a lot of suits." HARBAUGH(on Andrew Luck) "He's got all the qualities, really, mentally, physically. He's as prepared as anybody you're going to find. That's my opinion. He's really good. He has a lot of talent." HARBAUGH(on if it will be fair or unfair the scrutiny Andrew Luck will be under) "Fair or unfair, it's the nature of the business. He's very quick to deal with it. He's very mature." HARBAUGH(on Andrew Luck's growth) "There are many things. He's one of the finest football players I've ever been around. He's an even better person, one of the top five guys I've ever been around. He was a joy to coach. I'm not going to like playing against him. I'm not going to like that." JIM PLUNKETT (on if Andrew Luck is the best-ever Stanford quarterback) "We all like to think we were pretty good. (Luck) has accomplished a lot, but so have a lot of other kids. If he's not the best, he's certainly among the best." PLUNKETT (on Andrew Luck) "He's got a dad (Oliver Luck) who played in the NFL and in college. He kind of reminds me of the Manning kids, Peyton and Eli, almost groomed to do what he's done. In my opinion, he's the most NFL-ready quarterback in college." PLUNKETT (on the history of Stanford quarterbacks) "The quarterbacks who have done well at Stanford could have played well in any era. The design and concept is different, but I think we transcend all that." TODD HUSAK, former Stanford QB (on if Andrew Luck is the best-ever Stanford quarterback) "He's not the most accomplished. Obviously, Jim Plunkett won the Rose Bowl and Heisman Trophy. But I think (Luck) is the best. … I think he would break every record in Stanford history (if he stayed), and probably take down a few Pac-10 records along the way. … I remember coaches saying he was NFL-ready last year. It's not his physical attributes alone, his approach and maturity is what really separates him. … I think Andrew is that sort of special talent. His biggest flaw is he makes things look too easy." JOHN ELWAY (on if Andrew Luck is the best-ever Stanford quarterback) "He just makes great decisions with the ball and when he makes his decision, he puts the ball in the right place for the receivers to catch it and leads them to where they can get yards after the catch." ELWAY (on the history of Stanford quarterbacks) "When you talk about the history of quarterbacks at Stanford, there are some pretty amazing men who have played the position. Guys like John Brodie, Frankie Albert, Jim Plunkett were all tremendous. You have to add Andrew Luck to that list." MONTE KIFFIN, USC defensive coordinator and 26-year NFL coaching veteran (on Andrew Luck) "He's very smart, very good at reading the field. It seems like he's been in the league (NFL) for six or seven years already." ELLIOT ALLEN, Stratford High School Head Coach (on Andrew Luck) "Everybody wants to talk about what he can do athletically but with Andrew, the 'it' factor is his knack for making people better, making them want to follow him. He wants his teammates to have success, wants them to get the credit. I've never seen anybody like him in that respect." ALLEN(on Andrew Luck's mental ability) "(The idea was to spoon-feed the offense to the sophomore), but he picked it up so fast that after four or five games, we just put in the whole playbook." MIKE MAYOCK, NFL Network analyst (on Andrew Luck) "I don't care how great the physical skill set is, if you don't have football IQ and work ethic in this league, it's way too complicated. I can't believe what they're asking these kids to process and assimilate…in, like 1.2 seconds. … He loves it; he's grown up with it. He sees the field; he anticipates. The ball gets out quickly. He knows what he's doing and why he's doing it. Whoever gets him will be getting a franchise quarterback. The owner will love him because he'll be the face of the franchise. The general manager will love him because he's such a safe pick, and the head coach will love him because he won't get fired." JON GRUDEN, ESPN analyst (on Andrew Luck) "He's built like a linebacker but with tremendous movement for a big guy. And he plays in a pro system with so many plays that the center has to wear a wristband so they can write them all down. But the think I really like about Andrew is his work ethic. He's always looking for a way to get better – reading defenses, finding the receiver or taking care of the ball. His passion for the game blows me away."
*Note: Some information contained in the story came from publications covering Luck's collegiate career or the draft proceedings. *
