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INDIANAPOLIS—
On how much he differs from on and off the field:
“I don’t know, that is an interesting question. I think you have a little liberty to when you pull on a football helmet change into some sort of different person as a quarterback. I don’t think you get crazy in the helmet like some of the defensive guys and the linemen, but it’s nice to get out there and yell a little bit and get excited, but I try to stay consistent through football. In and out of football, I have a nice perspective on things sometimes.”
On being involved in the community:
“Absolutely, I’m in a very fortunate position and if I can help some people out through being in this position by being a quarterback on a great franchise, I think absolutely (I can help). I think it will be incredibly important and I know after getting to meet the team and the playbook, that’s definitely a top priority.”
On how close Andrew Luck was to choosing Purdue over Stanford:
“I went to a camp at Purdue. It is a beautiful school, great school, but it wasn’t the right fit for me.”
On looking into Purdue for college:
“I remember doing the camp. (They had) great facilities, great stadium. I know we stayed at the dorms right across the street from the stadium. It was a beautiful summer weekend. It was a nice place.”
On meeting with some of the other players:
“I haven’t. I think their mini-camp broke yesterday, so they all headed back to their respective homes or (on) trips. I didn’t get a chance to meet them. I know I’ve met Austin Collie at the Manning camp before, but I really am excited. That’s probably what I’m most excited about, the chance to be in a new locker room and meet some new guys.”
Owner & CEO Jim Irsay
On the similarities between the situations surrounding 1998 and 2012:
“There are really are a lot. I just remember, obviously, Peyton (Manning) could have come out his junior year, and probably would have gone to the Jets. He stayed. We struggled, lost to Minnesota. I came home and Arizona was playing in the late game, and Jake Plummer brought them back from nine points down with about seven seconds left, threw a touchdown, and I ran around the house like a madman and my family thought I had lost my mind. So I knew what it had meant when Arizona won that game. This time it was a little bit different, and it looked like we were going to have the number one pick. Then when we finally did, it was significant, because like I said, Andrew (Luck) has been the number one pick for several years. He has been elevated at a certain level. When you talk about people in the NFL, 99 percent would tell you that if they had the pick they would take them. So I think when I look back and have seen Peyton come in and looked to Andrew now, I look at the picture and I am older. I look how young Peyton was and look at Andrew come in and see his birth date, and I realize how time has passed. But it is really a blessing. In life and business and sports some good luck helps, so I think we were fortunate to have the stars align where Andrew was there when we had this pick.”
On the rule that keeps him from being allowed to participate now:
“Again, we continue to try and balance encouraging education, graduation and those things and also from a competitive standpoint not having rules that are to oppressive or whatever. But I think it is something that we continue to look at all the time. You know what you have to deal with going forward. Ultimately I don’t see it holding Andrew back. The way he picks up things and the amount of time we are going to have with training camp, preseason, etc.”
On feeling fortunate to have Andrew Luck:
“I really do. It was a very long and difficult three and a half months. It was, professionally, the hardest part of my career that I ever went through. You could see, if you were behind the curtain and had all of the facts, you kind of knew what you needed to do to go forward in the best interest of the franchise, but it doesn’t make it any easier. I feel really excited and blessed to have Andrew. If you look at teams, Denver, San Francisco, Dallas and other teams where they left that great era with the franchise quarterback, they got back to (being) competitive, maybe made the playoffs at 9-7, and fell back down, because they just couldn’t, even in a 20-year period, push back and get back to greatness because they couldn’t get that guy. I think it is really fortunate that we get to put the piece in place now and build around the franchise quarterback. But the biggest myth, whether it is Andrew, Peyton or whoever, you need the rest of the guys. When we look back, we started off 3-13 and we didn’t win a playoff game for almost six years. It wasn’t until Reggie (Wayne) came in, Bob Sanders, Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis where we were really a Super Bowl contender and not just competitive. So it takes a lot. This is just the beginning. I couldn’t be more excited about where we are to get back to greatness, but we have big decisions to make going forward in the next couple of years to achieve that, because it takes a lot to win it all. You just can’t do it without the quarterback.”
On how creative the team can get in trying to get Andrew Luck acclimated to the NFL with the rules prohibiting him while still at Stanford:
“I think you try to be as creative as you can be. I would help facilitate that if need be with planes or helicopters or what have you to get these guys together. We do what we can to do it within the rules and to be aggressive in terms of having guys get together. Having Reggie (Wayne) back and having Robert Mathis, Dwight Freeney, Adam Vinatieri and Austin (Collie), it is great having these guys going forward. Reggie (Wayne) has been great since we talked and got his deal done. It helps having those veterans that know how to work and know what it takes to win. I know Andrew will do everything he can to get ready.”