By Jim Gehman, Engagement Insider
Of the 215 father and son combinations who have played professional football, only six spent any time as quarterbacks in the NFL. Bob and Brian Griese; Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning; Emery and Kent Nix; Phil, Chris and Matt Simms; David and Charlie Whitehurst; and Oliver and Andrew Luck.
With the then-Houston Oilers for five seasons, 1982-86, Oliver Luck feels that his son, Indianapolis Colts star Andrew, decided to follow the same career path on his own.
“We never raised him with the idea that one day you could play in the NFL; follow in his old man’s footsteps,” said Oliver. “We tried to raise all four of the kids with traditional values of work hard, follow your dreams and don’t give up.
“We’re delighted that he has a chance to do what he loves to do, which is play in the NFL. But we never raised him with the idea that the end all and beat all was to be an NFL quarterback.”
Given that, Andrew has become a Pro Bowl quarterback and the face of the Colts franchise. “Having played the game and being around professional sports for a number of years, you sort of know how important an NFL quarterback is to a team and how important an NFL team is to a city,” Oliver said. “I’m just glad he’s enjoying living here, which he is, and enjoying his teammates and coaching staff, and trying to be the best player, teammate he can be.
“Just having the opportunity to play professional sports is a rare thing for most people. So we’re certainly proud. And more than that, just grateful that Andrew’s having the opportunity to do it and is doing pretty well.”
Andrew is doing pretty well without having his dad be a constant Monday morning quarterback. They don’t spend time scouring game plans or viewing tape of Indy’s upcoming opponents.
“I try to avoid talking about X’s and O’s too much,” said Andrew. “I certainly ask for his advice on maybe things that surround football, the off-the-field things. But as far as on-the-field stuff, I try and keep that in a football coach’s realm and let him do the fathering stuff.”
“My assumption certainly as a pro and back to his time at Stanford, and a little bit back to high school, is he gets enough football talk,” adds Oliver. “If he brings something up, I’ll certainly listen because I understand it having played and all that. But I think he’d rather talk about a bunch of other topics other than football.
“It’d be like my wife, Kathy, who is a lawyer, as well. Early in our marriage, we were both practicing law; and we wouldn’t come home and talk about each others cases. You’re just tired of it. You want to talk about something totally different.”
Even though Oliver long ago took to watching Andrew’s games from the stands and not the sidelines, Andrew credits a large amount of his gridiron success to his dad.
“He taught me how to throw a football. He was very instrumental in me starting to play football,” Andrew said. “And I also think he’s done a great job of even when middle school football started with coaches at the school, he sort of stepped back and became just a dad. And I appreciated that.
“I didn’t have to come home from a bad game or a good game and worry about throwing an interception or something stupid. He always was sort of the same after every game and was just a dad, not a coach.”
Well, Oliver’s not just Andrew’s dad. After enjoying success as the athletic director at the University of West Virginia, Oliver became the NCAA’s executive VP of regulatory affairs earlier this year, and moved to Indianapolis where he’s currently also Andrew’s roommate.
“He’s been bumming at my condo while their living situation is getting sorted out,” said Andrew. “It’s pretty cool. My dad’s here. My mom and brother [Addison] are coming. They’re still in Morgantown [West Virginia] and letting him finish his senior year of high school. But it’s neat. It’s fun to come home and enjoy a meal and talk about the day.
“He means the world to me. Both my parents do. But like every kid, I think my dad’s the greatest in the world. I wouldn’t want to have any other dad. I love him to death.”