Indianapolis Colts seek to pick Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck – NFL News
There hardly come times when losing is at any team’s advantage. The unarguably worst team of the current National Football League season Indianapolis Colts, with no win so far, is now competing for...hold your breath...the last
place on the board. Yes, the last place. You read it correct!
Colts have faced humiliation ten times this season. With 13.1 points they are ranked at 30th spot in the league table and are at the bottom of the American Football Conference South division.
The reason why defeat is suitable for them is that the team with the worst record will have a chance to select Stanford University’s quarterback Andrew Luck, who is considered as the most highly regarded college passer since John
Elway in 1983. Experts believe that he will be the number one pick of the year 2012.
In 2010, Luck, 22, was declared the Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year and made his way to the All Pac-10 First Team besides being named as the Orange Bowl Most Valuable Player.
He was also projected as the number one pick in the NFL 2011 draft. However, he decided to finish his degree at Stanford first and was not available that season. This time around, it is widely believed that he will enter the 2012
drafts and play the NFL season.
Former Green Bay Packers Vice President Andrew Brandt thinks that Luck will be a valuable addition to any team not only because he plays well, but because it will be cost-effective to have him in the squad.
“Not only do you have this once-in-a-decade talent, but you have a drastically reduced financial obligation,” Brandt said in an interview. “It makes this pick extremely special. A team would normally have the value of a great pick,
but have incredible financial risk.
A per the league’s labour agreement, Luck will make around $24 million over four years as the top draft pick, which is a relatively less amount.
On the other hand, Colts’ owner Jim Irsay thinks that it is still too early to say that Colts will run after Luck and that the first round draft pick will depend on a few other factors.
"That's a really speculative question, because I think even if you look at November of 1997 and say would you take Ryan Leaf or Peyton Manning, who would you take, no one knew. We didn't know,” Irsay said when asked about Andrew
Luck.
Recently, Colts’s Vice Chairman Bill Polian hinted that he might draft Manning’s replacement in April 2012 if the ‘right person’ is there.
Peyton is currently suffering from a career-threatening neck injury, which came as a huge blow for Colts that initially found it difficult to adapt without the star.
In an attempt to recover quickly, Peyton reportedly adopted a quick and scary route in May this year undergoing a surgery that was expected to cure him within six to eight weeks. However, as the time passed, his pain increased,
signalling a threat that he could stay away from the game well beyond his expectations.
Peyton faced similar situation in 2008 as well when he missed all the training camp and preseason matches owing to a left-knee-surgery. However, he recovered well to play the season and won the third of his four Most Valuable Player
awards.
Many experts have suggested that Peyton should announce his retirement and abstain from playing more games keeping in mind that things could get worse for him if any untoward incident takes place.
Speaking to a local radio station, Polian refrained from discussing any specific name, but maintained that he had spoken to Manning about this decision and said that the player has no issues with it.
"The bottom line is that if the right person is there, and it has to be the right person, then now is the time to make that choice," Polian said on his weekly radio show. "Peyton and I have spoken about that, and he's OK with that."
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