Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck has seemingly reached a Jedi Master level of trash talk by confusing the men who tackle him the hardest with compliments.
“In all the years I’ve played football I have never heard anything like it,” Washington Redskins linebacker Ryan Kerrigan told The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday. “Nothing even close.”
The newspaper’s investigation into the NFL star’s unique approach to punishing blows turned up stories of him saying “Great job!” and “What a hit” to those who pulverized him into the ground.
The Patriots’ Rob Ninkovich told The Journal that he was so perplexed by the behavior that he just said “Thanks for … uh … accepting that hit?”
Philadelphia Eagles defensive back Nolan Carroll recounted hitting the Colts quarterback on another team, only to hear “Great job, Nolan!” as he walked back to the defensive huddle.
“I’m like, ‘What’s going on? Aren’t you supposed to be mad?’” Carroll told the Journal. “So then I’m the one who gets ticked off because an upbeat attitude isn’t something you see.”
The newspaper talked to a dozen NFL players who have sacked Mr. Luck since he entered the league, and all of them had similar stories.
The Colts quarterback did not respond to the Journal’s request for comment, although former Stanford teammates said there is another possibility to his reasons for the compliments — he’s just a really nice man.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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