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Retired quarterback Andrew Luck is making a return of sorts this fall, but not to the NFL.
Stanford football coach David Shaw shared on The Rich Eisen Show that Luck has returned to Stanford to attend graduate school during the fall semester.
“Yeah I don’t know if I was supposed to publicize that or not, but yes, he’s starting grad school this fall,” Shaw told Eisen while on the show on August 29. “He and his wife Nicole are coming back out this way, and he’s just going to be around. He loves the Stanford environment, and he and his family are going to spend some time here, and we can’t wait to be around him.”
Luck played football at Stanford for three years from 2009-11. He threw for 9,430 yards and 82 touchdowns versus 22 interceptions while completing 67.0% of his passes in 38 career college games.
His career at Stanford led Luck to become the No. 1 pick for the Indianapolis Colts in the 2012 NFL Draft.
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Luck Pursuing a Masters Degree at Stanford
Senior staff writer Jibriel Taha of The Stanford Daily reported Luck is attending Stanford again to earn a Masters of Arts in Education.
Fans who remember Luck’s reputation will not be surprised to hear the former Stanford quarterback is pursuing another degree.
Luck was considered the nerdiest NFL quarterback during his playing days and maybe of all-time in NFL history. During his career, Luck hosted a book club podcast, and he wouldn’t just read the typical entertainment novel or popular non-fiction books. Luck educated himself on all kinds of topics through his reading.
ESPN’s Stephen Holder revealed a story on episode 3 of The Andrew Luck Podcast from staff writer Zak Keefer of The Athletic that Luck once read a book about concrete.
“[The Colts] were on this road trip to Cincinnati, it’s a two-hour drive, so they just take the bus down. They’re on the bus, and they’re pulling into town, he starts telling all his teammates about how the buildings in the city were built with this particular type of concrete, which Andrew Luck could only possibly know,” Holder said. “He’s probably the only player in the NFL who would know this.
“And he’s going on and on about this, and they all have these blank stares on their faces like ‘Dude, we don’t care.’ He was literally, he had been reading a book about concrete. This was verified by two different players.”
A man who reads about concrete sounds like someone who would further their education with graduate school.
Luck’s Current Relationship With Football
Shaw said nothing about whether Luck will be involved with the Stanford football program while back on campus. Taha left the door open, reporting that it “remains to be seen” if Luck will become a graduate assistant.
But all indications are that while Luck still loves football, he is “at peace” with the game.
On The Rich Eisen Show, Shaw described Luck as feeling “very content” about his football career. On the final episode of The Andrew Luck Podcast from Keefer, former NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III, who was the No. 2 pick of the 2012 NFL Draft behind Luck, said Luck is “beyond happy” out of the spotlight that an NFL career provides.
“That was never something that he was always entirely comfortable with,” Griffin said about Luck, who just had his second child with his wife. “So now he just kind of gets to be a Dad and live the Dad life and tell Dad jokes.”
Keefer interviewed Luck himself for the podcast series. While the conversation remained off the record, Keefer shared his takeaways from the interview.
‘His football career very much felt in the past tense. It was apparent, he had moved on,” Keefer said. “He was excited about what’s coming next and at no point during our conversation did I ever get the feeling that a comeback was something he ever seriously considered.”
It seems unlikely Luck will play football again. While that doesn’t mean he won’t become a coach at some point, that’s not what’s next for the former Colts quarterback.
What’s next for Luck is another degree from Stanford.
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Former Colts QB Andrew Luck Making Next Career Move: Report