Retired Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck is returning to football, but not in the way many fans are hoping. Luck was recently named the general manager of the Cardinal football program at Stanford, his alma mater.
Luck will step into a newly designed role that will see him gain much more power than a traditional college GM. He will oversee everything related to football at Stanford, including managing the coaching staff and player roster while also taking on business-related duties like fundraisers, sponsorships, and stadium-related activities.
“I’m excited,” Luck said via ESPN. “I think Stanford is taking an assertive and innovative step. We’re undoubtedly the best athletic department in college sports. We have to re-prove it in football and are excited to be part of that challenge.”
Andrew Luck enrolled at Stanford in 2008 and spent his first season with Cardinal as a redshirt. He was the program’s starting quarterback in the next three years, including the 2011 season, in which he helped the Cardinal win the Orange Bowl while being the recipient of the Walter Camp Award and Heisman Trophy runner-up.
After his time with Stanford, Luck was largely viewed as a generational prospect and was drafted No. 1 in the 2012 NFL Draft by the Colts. Luck made Pro Bowls in all of his first three seasons with the franchise, but a series of injuries ended up derailing his promising career. He ended up deciding to retire in 2018 at the age of 29, citing the toll injuries took on his body as the main reason.
Luck has mainly stayed away from the spotlight since retiring. He will now step into a very much public role that comes with a large responsibility of turning around a struggling Cardinal program. Stanford hasn’t had a winning season since 2018 and has failed to win more than three games since 2020.
