Hasselbeck opens up about relationship with 'grungy' Luck
Matt Hasselbeck spent three seasons backing up Andrew Luck with the Indianapolis Colts, so he was in a perfect position to learn everything there was to know about club's franchise passer.
Hasselbeck, who retired this offseason after 18 seasons and is now an analyst on ESPN, revealed Thursday on ESPN's "Mike and Mike" radio show that Luck hasn't changed much from his days at Stanford.
"He’s kind of like a college kid, still," Hasselbeck said, according to the Indy Star's Jim Ayello. "He takes pride in not showering, kind of a thing. ... He's grungy."
Luck's eccentricities are well known. Few franchise quarterbacks can be found reading books on the history of concrete, using "Lord of the Rings" audibles, or using a flip-phone.
But Hasselbeck said that nothing is ever calculated with Luck, that's just who he is - even in the privacy of the quarterbacks rooms.
"There’s definitely goofiness," Hasselbeck said. "I remember getting ready to play the New Orleans Saints or somebody (last season), and he wanted to talk about the political landscape in Europe for the first five minutes of the (quarterbacks) meeting. Something big was going on in Scotland. ... The conversations in our quarterbacks room were very different than the conversations in the quarterbacks’ rooms around the league, I'm sure."
Luck and Hasselbeck also hung out away from the team, with the young passer often joining the veteran for dinner at his house. Hasselbeck said that due to their difference in age (Luck is 26, Hasselbeck is 40), Luck would often spend more time with Hasselbeck's kids.
However, Hasselbeck used Luck's nerdy side to his advantage during visits.
"But it wasn't just Luck. We had like three or four Stanford guys (on the Colts)," Hasselbeck said. "And I had a little distribution list, and I'd send out a little math homework. I'll tell you what, in fifth grade, math gets kind of tough. And now these guys are spread out on other teams, so the distribution list is not changing. As we get older, the homework gets harder. I’m not afraid to say it, but my kids get upset - I think that was in the newspaper one time and teachers said, 'Hey, tell your parents that you can't get Andrew Luck to help you with your homework.'"