INDIANAPOLIS – After an offseason of traveling, working and a bit of relaxing, Andrew Luck is less than a week away from beginning his third NFL training camp.
Luck's offseason began following his second Pro Bowl selection and he headed to Europe to site see and work a football camp.
His return to the Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center ramped up in April when Luck began the Colts nine-week offseason program.
When minicamp wrapped up in mid-June, Luck began the final break before training camp by taking in the World Cup.
Throughout the offseason, Luck talked about his trip to Europe, broke down his goals for the 2014 season and also was a guest speaker for the Jim Tunney Youth Foundation out in Monterey, California.
Below are some of the more interesting stories that Luck told during a Q & A session earlier this offseason.
Luck told those gathered about his freshman year of high school football when an imposing offensive coordinator taught the future No. 1 pick some valuable lessons.
"I had never been yelled at like that in my life and I started crying on the field. I started crying on the field and I was so happy I had my helmet on because I didn't want anyone else to see me crying.
"Eventually, I realized there was nothing personal about him yelling at me. That was his coaching style. I got so much better from having a coach put pressure on me to do something. I'm embarrassed that I cried but now I talk to him once a month and still ask him for advice and realize that when someone yells at you, it doesn't necessarily make it personal. That was a big sort of "Ah" moment in my mind that there's different ways to motivate different people and Coach Green's way was he was going to yell. He wasn't saying anything nasty. He wasn't saying anything rude, it just happened to be really loud and in your face."
Speaking in an area with many Stanford fans, Luck talked about his college decision and how grateful it was to have his parents play such a big role in his future. Luck met a wide range of people from all over the world and that appealed to the teenager who grew up in Europe.
"It seemed like every social demographic was represented and I thought, 'What a neat, diverse locker room. I want to be around these guys.'
Of course Luck was asked about "replacing" Peyton Manning. Luck told a great story on how he was immediately accepted into a franchise that knows how to win.
"I know the first day I walked into the locker room, Dwight Freeney, one of the all-time great defensive ends, arguably the best of the last 15 years, said, 'Hey rookie step into my office.' He says, and I'll paraphrase here, 'You don't worry at all about the guy who was here before you. You're not going to worry at all about the guy who's going to be here after you. You just got to be worried about yourself. We are all in this together. Let's just go try and win football games.'
"For the team leader, the stud, the Pro Bowler, the Hall of Fame guy, to go out of his way to get the rookie quarterback in his locker and sort of make me feel comfortable, that meant a lot. It really did because it makes it so much easier when you're doing something or struggling with a bunch of other people and you don't feel alone. I'll always be forever indebted to Dwight and all the other guys for helping me with that."
A member of the audience inquired Luck about life after football. Luck majored in architecture at Stanford and while his football career is priority No. 1, he has thought about life after football.
"You think about it. You definitely do and that's what's fun about the offseason and the way the NFL is structured. I went to a bunch of German lessons with my old German professor at Stanford. I work out at the weight room at Stanford and we would go back three times a week and have an hour of tutoring."
"Hopefully play as long as I can and I'd love to do something in architecture. That would be great."
