Andrew Luck biography

Synopsis

Early Years

Andrew Austin Luck was born in Washington, D.C., on September 12, 1989. The son of former Houston Oilers quarterback Oliver Luck, Andrew Luck spent his early childhood years in London, England, and later Frankfurt, Germany, where his father worked as the general manger of two World League of American Football teams.

After the Lucks returned to the United States and settled in Houston, Texas, Andrew started playing Pop Warner football, taking up the position of defensive end. He eventually switched to quarterback, which became his full-time position by the time he started at Houston's Stratford High.

By his senior year at Stratford, Luck was drawing national attention, with some scouts ranking him as the fifth best prospect in Texas and one of the country's top 50 overall high school players.

His traditional drop-back approach, matched with an impressive ability to run, made college scouts gush over his potential, while his numbers (2,684 passing yards and 19 touchdowns his senior year) enhanced his allure.

In the classroom, Luck was equally impressive. When he graduated from Stratford in 2008, he served as class valedictorian.

College Career

In the fall of 2008 Luck enrolled at Stanford University, where he majored in architectural design. For a top-level high school prospect, Luck's decision to spurn scholarship offers from other universities seemed curious. After all, the Cardinals were coming off a 1-11 season and the school was generally seen as having one of the worst programs in college football.

But Luck admired Stanford's academics, and it didn't hurt that the program had a relatively new head coach in ex-NFL quarterback Jim Harbaugh.

Under Harbaugh's tutelage, Luck excelled for the Cardinals, quickly restoring a program that had churned out NFL greats such as quarterbacks Jim Plunkett and John Elway. After redshirting his freshman year, Luck stepped in as the team's starting quarterback in 2009.

Over the next three seasons Luck led a vaunted offensive attack, propelling Stanford to three straight bowl games, including the 2011 Orange Bowl and the 2012 Fiesta Bowl. During his college career Luck was twice named the Pac-12's Offensive Player of the Year, and was a two-time Heisman finalist.

Following his junior year, speculation swirled that Luck would cut his college career short and enter the NFL draft as one of the league's top picks. Instead, Luck chose to finish his degree and return to the Cardinals for his senior season.

Despite the risks Luck ran in damaging his draft prospects by getting hurt or having a poor year, the quarterback turned in another stellar season, passing for 3,517 yards and 37 touchdowns.