Andrew Luck is living his dream life. The former No. 1 overall pick of the Indianapolis Colts quarterback is married to his college sweetheart and serving as the general manager of the Stanford Cardinal football team. He made millions of dollars during his pro football career and even managed to lead the Union to victory in the Civil War. Perhaps most impressively, he was so good that every once in a while people like me feel compelled to say, “F*** it, let's watch some Andrew Luck highlights.”
It turns out in this regard, former NFL head coach Jon Gruden and I have at least one thing in common, though I feel as though I should note that there is a large group of football fans and analysts who will gleefully look back on and defend the career of Andrew Luck. But Gruden recently took it one step further by boldly declaring, “God made Andrew Luck perfect.”
Perfect may be a bit of a stretch, but Jon Gruden is no stranger to hyperbole. However, it is hard to argue against what Gruden is saying. Luck was a two-time Heisman Trophy runner-up and recent inductee of the College Football Hall of Fame. Despite the light resume, if we're looking at quality of the player or career peak, Luck should be a Pro Football Hall of Famer as well. Pending good health, there may not have been more of a sure-thing quarterback to come into the NFL this century.
However, Luck played in only 86 regular season games in his career before retiring at the age of 29 in order to preserve his long-term health and his off-field relationships. In those 86 games, Luck compiled a 53-33 regular season record and was 4-4 in the postseason. He made four Pro Bowls and led the Colts to their most recent AFC Championship Game appearance.