2012 NFL Draft: Andrew Luck Looking to Play, Not Sit

Andrew Luck is willing to be a backup…or so he tells us.

The undisputed best player available in the 2012 NFL Draft is in Indianapolis looking for housing errr I mean training at the Gatorade Sports Science Lab before watching this weekend’s Super Bowl, and told Will Brinson of CBS Sports he has no issues of holding a clipboard early in his career:

"

I think like any competitor you want to play. But if that's what the situation calls for, then put your best foot forward.

"

You would expect him to say that.

A guy who has never played a down in the league doesn’t have the authority to demand a starting position right off the bat.

Yet the first sentence in that statement is all we need to know about how he really feels. With more polish than seemingly any other prospect in the last decade, he doesn’t need to wait. Call it being a “competitor”, or call it being confident in your abilities, but Luck is going to be incredibly angry if he isn’t under center for the first snap of the Colts’ 2012 season.

Luck enters the NFL after having one of the most storied collegiate careers in history, and has been fawned over by NFL analysts for almost 12-straight months now. Despite hearing all of the glowing remarks about him, Luck has stayed humble, and more importantly, hungry:

"

It's nice when someone has a good opinion about you. But it's just an opinion. It doesn't mean you've done anything yet by any means. So you sort of take it for what it's worth. Not to disrespect the people who make the opinions, but you put your head down, work hard and control what you can control.

"

And control he will.

With the imminent announcement that the Indianapolis Colts will cut Peyton Manning, it’s becoming more and more clear that Luck will be the starting QB Week 1.

He’ll never have to worry about potentially being a backup.