Andrew Luck is a special person. We all know of his accolades and accomplishments on the field -- they are, after all, pretty incredible -- but it's his mental approach and work ethic to the game that has blown away coaches and scouts across the country.
Luck currently spends his days working out, participating at camp and preparing to complete his degree in a couple of months. He could have easily bolted to the NFL, but he refused to end his collegiate career finishing in second place.
From Bruce Feldman's great article that'll appear in the August 22 edition of ESPN The Magazine:
After last fall, most NFL scouts saw Luck as a finished product worthy of the top pick in the draft. Luck? He saw two pieces of unfinished business. He placed second in the Heisman voting, and one second-half letdown against Oregon in October kept the Cardinal from winning the Pac-10. To remedy those issues, Luck is zeroing in on an individual goal of boosting his pass accuracy from 70.7 percent to 75.7 percent. "Completion percentage is a big thing," Luck says. That would put him a few great catches away from Colt McCoy's 2008 FBS record of 76.7 percent. And that individual goal might help Luck power the Cardinal to a championship.
Whether the Cardinal struggle this season, win the first Pac 12 title game, appear in a BCS bowl, or take home the national championship, they will know they did so with a phenomenal leader both on and off the field in Andrew Luck. The quarterback truly is a once-in-a-generation talent and he will have his team ready to play. The article continues:
He still has work to do, he says, and has spent the off-season reminding young players that Stanford hasn't always been a top-10 team with Heisman finalists. Back in Luck's redshirt year, as Harbaugh was watching a future star emerge in practice, Luck spent Saturdays watching Stanford go 5-7, with four losses by 17-plus points. "It's understanding that anybody can beat you any day," the junior says. "You have to bring it every day."
Something tells me he won't have any trouble bringing it every day.
Stay tuned to SB Nation Bay Area for complete coverage of Luck's quest for a Heisman. For more Stanford Cardinal coverage, be sure to check out Rule of Tree.