Andrew Luck Q&A: Colts QB Isn't Letting the Hype Get to Him

ANDERSON, Ind. — Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck enters his fourth NFL season in an interesting spot. The Colts have made the playoffs and improved their playoff finish in each of his first three years. They reached the AFC Championship Game last season, and the expectation for this year is obvious.

The Colts are a team with serious visions of playing in the Super Bowl, particularly after continuing to build their offense this offseason, with the additions of running back Frank Gore and wide receivers Andre Johnson and Phillip Dorsett. 

With that in mind, Luck spoke with Bleacher Report on Monday:

Bleacher Report: Sort of absurd question to start—If Jim Harbaugh were not a coach, he would…?

Andrew Luck: If Jim Harbaugh was not a coach … hmmm, he would still be leading a group of people doing something.

B/R: Something violent?

Luck: No, not necessarily violent, but something hard. He relishes in challenges and hard things, forging groups into doing something.

B/R: I was talking to Toby Gerhart, and he said that Harbaugh wouldn't allow the players at Stanford to do the midnight tradition in the quad where you kiss your girlfriend. Gerhart said Harbaugh's explanation was simply, 'No debauchery.'

Luck: Yes, no debauchery. No debauchery on the team.

Paul Sakuma/Associated Press

B/R: So Jim Harbaugh really said, 'No debauchery?'

Luck: He pulls out some good phrases. He'll quote Emerson, Thoreau, Hemingway (laughs).

B/R: And always from memory. It's all off the top of his head.

Luck: Oh yeah.

B/R: He must have been fascinating to play for. Did you ever try to figure him out?

Luck: No, he's the coach. You just do what you're told, especially in college. That's the coach-player relationship.

B/R: I've asked you this before, but now that you're a few years into this, I wonder about your perspective. The fact that your dad, who played quarterback in the NFL, didn't go to your practices when you were in high school and college seems to have some value for you now. It allowed you to own this activity yourself. True?

Luck: Yes, he didn't go to practices, and I definitely do realize the value and appreciate it. He has always been there for a question or a pick-me-up, you know, a keep your head on straight moment. I never had to worry about coming home and being berated for throwing a pick in a high school game or a college game or an NFL game.

And now, being a pro, and having to do it—I don't want to say on your own, because you still have people you rely on—it was very helpful that he sort of let me be me, let the coaches coach and never muddied that line about what to do. He never gave contradictory [advice] about what a coach said. I think that makes it so much easier on a player.

B/R: The reason I ask is that John Elway had a very similar relationship with his father, who was a coach but never actually coached his son at any level. It seemed to really help Elway in his development. It's like every Friday night in high school, before John would head out for pizza, he'd spend the first half-hour with his dad.

Luck: Hear him vent a little [laughs]. Yeah, it's that father-son relationship time. It makes sense to me. I don't think there are specific instances with me where it shows itself, where I can say, "Yeah, I'm doing this because my dad stayed out of the way."

B/R: When you talked to your dad about football, would it be about technical stuff or would it be about how you led the team, more of the philosophical side of the game?

Luck: Both. But it was more listening. After a high school game, I'd say something like, "Man, I shouldn't have thrown that pick." He'd say, "Yeah, you shouldn't have thrown that pick." He'd leave it at that. He wouldn't [get too deep] about it. He was just there to reaffirm things and didn't get too technical or too philosophical. It was 99 percent completely positive, like "What a great screen play you guys ran." Even now, he'll say, "That was a sweet play you had there" or "What a great run Boom [Herron] had. You could see guys setting it up." He keeps it very positive.

Darron Cummings/Associated Press

B/R: When I have talked to you about football in the past, you seem to have it in a certain place in your life. It's important, but it's part of perspective. You don't seem to define yourself by the game. Am I on the right track?

Luck: Bruce Arians used to say this, and he's as much a football guy as there is, will be or has been. Football is what you do, but it's not who you are. It's a big part of who you are. Part of who you are is you're a football player. It's your profession. It's a game you love to play. It's a game I love to play. But you can't sacrifice relationships because of it. You can't let it define everything about you for life. I love the game to death, and I wouldn't want to do anything else by any means, but you can strike a balance.

B/R: Could you walk into Comic-Con and not be noticed? Would you want to do that?

Luck: Yeah, I could see doing that. Expanding your horizons.

B/R: You have all these weapons now. You have added Andre Johnson and Phillip Dorsett and Frank Gore. Donte Moncrief and Coby Fleener are going to improve. Dwayne Allen is working to stay healthy. T.Y. Hilton is already established. You have a lot of guys who may not necessarily demand the ball, but they certainly command it. How do you balance that out?

Luck: You look around and we have Andre Johnson, T.Y. Hilton, Frank Gore, Boom Herron, Donte Moncrief, Coby Fleener, Dwayne Allen…all these guys who have had multi-touchdown games, big years, been No. 1 receivers, No. 2 receivers, who are used to getting the ball, which is great. It means they know how to get the ball and what to do with the ball.

As a quarterback, I learned very early on that the plays will take care of themselves and you trust your read and throw to the open guy. In this offense, we ran [the second-most plays in the NFL] last year. There's enough balls to go around, and if you start getting in the game where this guy needs this and this guys needs that, that is a slippery slope down. I learned that very quickly, and guys on this team and coach [Chuck] Pagano preaches this constantly—that when you win, there is enough credit to go around. I firmly believe that to 100 percent of my being. Winning takes care of all. There will be enough balls to go around the way this offense operates.

AJ Mast/Associated Press

B/R: The turnovers from last year—it seemed there were times you were holding the ball too long. Is that true? What did you see when you looked back at last season?

Luck: A number of things about the interceptions. First, a number of them you can't avoid. Tipped balls, things like that—a couple of those, you don't lose sleep over. What you do lose sleep over and what I had way too many of were bad decisions—holding on to it too long, forcing it into a tight spot on second down in the red zone. It's too tight a window. Throw it away, live to play on third down, don't lose points. Bad decisions in that sense and then bad misses, inaccurate with the ball. Putting the ball high and behind a running back. They're runners, not necessarily professional catchers. You need the ball here for them.

B/R: Obviously, it looks like you guys have a chance to be in the top two or three in the league in scoring again. Does that mean that you could play a lot faster tempo to allow your defense to gamble more on turnovers to steal possessions?

Luck: That's a good question. I think you use tempo when you need to use tempo. I think guys are in condition to do it. [Offensive coordinator] Pep [Hamilton] has always said this: Don't try to define ourselves on offense, just do what it takes to win a game. At the end of the day, if that calls for tempo, OK. But just figure out ways to win games.

B/R: Playing fast on offense and forcing turnovers on defense were key to how New Orleans won a title in 2010, and you guys look like a very similar team.

Luck: I think you can still play fast by huddling. You can still put pressure on the defense that way.

B/R: You have a very squeaky-clean image, which seems to be accurate. But I do know that you swear on occasion.

Luck: Don't tell my mom.

B/R: How much of that do you enjoy and how much do you roll your eyes at the perception of who you are?

Luck: I think that, for better or worse, a lot of people's images are based on the first things that are written about them. You can't control what people write about you, so—good or bad—I have never lost sleep about it.

B/R: OK, but you get tired of the Settlers of Catan image that is constantly projected? Everybody paints you as this high-brow character. While you're intellectual, you're still a jock, too, and you enjoy it.

Luck (laughing): I really don't care. I learned—and I think having a dad who played and is in the sports business—I learned that people write what they write, and it's not a bad or good thing. If someone perceives me as something and they write about it, fine. That's their prerogative. I get asked a lot of questions about Settlers of Catan and flip phones, but that's all right.

Jason Cole covers the NFL for Bleacher Report.