Luck talks success with DPU students

Saturday, April 25, 2015
Banner Graphic/Jared Jernagan Andrew Luck gave a presentation at DPU Friday evening.

'You don't do it by yourself'

In four years at Stanford University, Andrew Luck proved to be part of a dying breed -- a true student athlete.

While leading the Cardinal to 31-8 record in three seasons as a starter and twice finishing second in Heisman Trophy voting, Luck also earned a 3.48 GPA on his way to an architectural design degree.

So it was that on Friday that Luck, now a three-time Pro Bowler for the Indianapolis Colts, spoke not only about success on the field, but also in the classroom and in life.

Rather than a traditional Ubben "Lecture," Friday evening's event was a conversation with DePauw football coach Bill Lynch, himself no stranger to architecture programs as a former Ball State coach.

"In 11 years, I can count with one hand the number of players who could stay in that (architecture) program and play Division I football," Lynch said before asking Luck how he did it.

"You don't do it by yourself," Luck said, praising his coaches, professors and academic advisors.

"If you don't take advantage of the resources at hand, you're doing yourself an injustice and you have no right to complain."

Far from a deterrent to his studies, Luck said football kept him on task as a student

"If I hadn't had football, I don't think I would have done as well in school," Luck said. "It teaches you that time is valuable."

The quarterback explained that he saw his college experience as existing in three spheres -- sports, studies and social life. When one needed more attention, such as football in the fall, the other two had to be sacrificed. He said his social life became nonexistent while more rigorous courses were saved for the spring or summer terms.

Asked about mentors in his time at school, Luck again struck a balance, citing architectural design program director John Barton and David Shaw, who served as offensive coordinator and then head football coach.

Shaw's advice was always to "wring it dry," meaning for his players to get everything they could out of the prestigious school.

The quarterback echoed this thought when he told his audience to take advantage of college as a time to take risks and be unafraid to fail.

"I think being able to grow and take risks is one of the most important parts of college," he said.

With this positive attitude about being a student, Luck said he had no hesitation about staying in school to complete his degree, even after being projected as the No. 1 pick in the 2011 NFL draft.

"I just had it in mind that I was going to college for four years," Luck said. "I love college and I wasn't ready to leave. I didn't lose any sleep over the decision. I don't think I was ready to leave."

From the moment he was introduced by Lynch, Luck walked onstage and showed himself to be the same intelligent, engaging, self-effacing person he is in television interviews.

At one point, having just dispensed some solid advice about the college experience, Luck immediately took the wind out of his own sails.

"As far as advice, I'm only 25. I don't have any advice," he said to yet another round of laughs.

Luck found a fellow joker sitting across from him in Lynch and an audience enjoying the banter.

After Luck was greeted with a standing ovation just for walking onstage, the coach opened the conversation with, "I'm not sure who they were cheering for."

The QB was ready to give it right back to Lynch, commenting on the extended introduction the coach had given.

"That sounded like a eulogy," Luck said. "Thanks for bringing up my two Heisman losses."

Luck immediately got the Tiger faithful on his side in discussing his friendship with Will King, who played football at DePauw after backing up Luck at Stratford High School in Texas.

"He (King) has educated me on the finer points of DePauw football history," Luck said. "Most importantly, get the Monon Bell back."

While discussing the networking opportunities of any college or university, Luck took an opportunity to deride DePauw's Monon rival.

"There's a great Stanford network out there," Luck said. "I'm sure there's also a great DePauw network ... at least better than Wabash."

Of course, Colts football was also discussed, with Luck speaking on the difficulty of seeing Reggie Wayne released, the example of playing hard Robert Mathis provides on every play and even on the pitfalls of replacing a legend in Indianapolis.

"I'm not going to worry about replacing Peyton Manning," Luck told himself. "No one can.

"If I wake up every morning worrying about replacing Peyton Manning, I'll go crazy," he added.

It didn't hurt when Luck got some reassurance along the way, such as Dwight Freeney calling the new kid over to his locker on the quarterback's first day. The pass rusher's message was not to worry, the team was behind Luck and they were going to win some games.

And rather than trying to erase the memory of Manning, Luck tried to use his veteran teammates to learn vicariously from Manning.

"It's not taboo to talk about Peyton in the locker room," Luck said. "The Colts had been successful for a long time, so I'd ask Reggie, 'How did you guys do this?'"

Three years later, Luck has apparently learned something.

He's helped the Colts improve each season, from playoff qualifier to the divisional round to last season's AFC Championship Game. It's a trend he hopes to continue and even accelerate in 2015.

"Hopefully we take two steps this year -- get to the Super Bowl and win," Luck said. "I think it's a realistic goal for us. We have a team full of great players."

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