Andrew Luck to the NFL: U Can’t Touch This!
BY CLIFF BRUNT
ISL Editor
After I left the interview scrum around Reggie Wayne in the Colts locker room on Sunday, I walked towards the exit and saw a tall, impressive physical specimen who looked like a linebacker.
It was Andrew Luck. We will refer to this freak of nature as “The Prodigy” or “Hammer” for the rest of this piece. It will all make sense in the end.
Sunday was the Colts’ Salute to Service, and The Prodigy had just run into a serviceman. The serviceman introduced himself, and The Prodigy extended his right hand and simply said “Andrew Luck,” as though he was John Doe and this guy had no clue who he was. It was so genuine and real that it was astonishing. Most athletes are decent guys, but most have a pretty good idea of how their importance is perceived. Luck probably gets it, but you’d never know it by watching or listening to him. How The Prodigy balances this aw-shucks everyday guy with the Stanford graduate/legend in training thing is impressive and bewildering at the same time.
The Prodigy made a much splashier introduction about an hour earlier. An introduction to the NFL MVP race. His performance in setting the NFL rookie-record with 433 yards against the Miami Dolphins was nothing short of epic. With all due respect to RGIII, Luck is the best rookie quarterback in the NFL. Actually, he’s already one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, period. He’s got the numbers and the wins to prove it.
The Prodigy has set the team rookie passing yardage record twice in his first eight games. The first time was in a duel with Aaron Rodgers that he won, in case you forgot. He threw for 362 yards against Green Bay, then blew that record off the map against Miami. Bear in mind that rookies named Unitas and Manning played for this franchise.
It’s not just the production, it’s how he does it. I sat with two writers from the Miami Herald on Sunday as The Prodigy shredded a normally decent secondary, and whenever Miami’s defense would pressure him, the writers, truly fascinated by what they were witnessing, kept saying, “They can’t touch him.”
That’s right. U Can’t Touch This. Give him some parachute pants and call him Hammer. Now, Hammer, Please Don’t Hurt ‘Em.
Speaking of hurting, Jacksonville might be in for it on Thursday night. The Prodigy seems like a nice guy, but start talking about wins and losses and the Eye of the Tiger surfaces. No matter how calm he seems, it’s pretty clear he hates losing more than most people. He despises it. Team success consumes him, and any individual stats he gets come from a tireless pursuit of victory. Jacksonville got away with one in Indianapolis. The Prodigy is ticked off after the last loss. He’s had more time to study the Jaguars and there’s a lot to play for.
Plus, the Colts just won the Madden Most Valuable Protectors Award from John Madden for doing the best job of protecting the quarterback last week. This is the same offensive line that was considered possibly the worst in the league at the start of the season. The Prodigy is getting protection now. But even if his protection breaks down, he just goes Hammer on ’em and dances out of the way.
The Colts aren’t even pretending that The Prodigy is not special. Normally, veterans hold back on praising rookies to keep them hungry and humble. The Colts don’t even bother with all that. Wayne, a veteran who isn’t easy to please, has been only complimentary.
I had an up-close view of Manning for years, and I never took him for granted. On some of those throws The Prodigy fires into ridiculously tight windows, those throws where only the receiver can catch the ball, those passes over outstretched hands that might get a mortal benched, it’s impossible not to think of No. 18.
But there’s more.
When The Prodigy moves around, it’s easy to recall the pocket presence of Dan Marino. When he takes off and runs, he looks like a right-handed Steve Young (except he slides and runs out of bounds to avoid concussions). When he zings the ball downfield, John Elway’s arm strength is on display. When he leads his team on another game-winning drive, we see shades of Joe Montana.
I’m serious. There has never been one like this guy. It’s not even fair.
For all those people who questioned whether the Colts made the right decision not to keep Manning, I understood it. Nostalgia is a big part of sports. We get attached to heroes.
But people are getting over it. I made it a point to look around the stadium with my binoculars to see how far this Luck-mania had spread. It was hard to tell that some guy who wore No. 18 ever played for the Colts. There are very few Manning jerseys around the stadium anymore. It’s all about No. 12 now. The people like No. 18 but don’t miss him because The Prodigy is that good. In half a season, he has made Indianapolis his town. That might be his most impressive victory yet.
Stop. Hammer Time.
