Andrew Luck is staying at Stanford for another year.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5995754
Stanford quarterback
Andrew Luck,
the odds-on favorite to be the No. 1 pick in this spring's NFL draft,
announced Thursday he will stay in school and play his redshirt junior
season.
"I am committed to earning my degree in architectural design from
Stanford University and am on track to accomplish this at the
completion of the spring quarter of 2012," Luck said in a statement.
The school announced Luck wouldn't be made available for comment.
His father, former NFL quarterback
Oliver Luck, said: "This is a win-win for him. He gets to spend another
year at Stanford, be part of team that will be highly ranked again next
year, finish his degree and enjoy Palo Alto.
"It's not like
the NFL is going anywhere, it's one of the best run leagues in the
world. It will still be there when he graduates."
The
Carolina Panthers
own the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft and indicated earlier this week
that they would be interested in drafting Luck if he decided to leave
school.
Luck's father, who's also the athletic director at
West Virginia, said the possibility of an NFL lockout or being selected
by the Panthers did not influence his son's decision.
"Call
him old school," Oliver Luck said. "He comes from a faction of people
who believe you go to college to pursue your degree."
Luck's
decision to stay at Stanford comes as coach Jim Harbaugh is being wooed
by NFL teams for a possible job. Harbaugh met Wednesday with officials
with the
San Francisco 49ers and was set to meet with
Miami Dolphins
owner Stephen Ross on Thursday in the Bay Area, two people with
knowledge of the situation said. Both spoke to The Associated Press on
condition of anonymity because the meeting was to remain confidential.
New
Denver Broncos chief football executive John Elway has said he hopes to interview Harbaugh for their job.
It's
unclear whether Luck's decision to stay in school will impact
Harbaugh's decision whether to leave for an NFL job this year. If
Harbaugh does leave Stanford, the opportunity to coach Luck next season
will likely make Stanford a plum assignment.<div ="mod-container mod-inline - mod-podcast right mod-no-er-footer">
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Luck was the runner-up this season to Auburn's
Cam Newton for the Heisman Trophy and will now be one of the favorites for next year's award.
Luck
was widely considered the top draft prospect after two spectacular
years at Stanford. His decision will be a blow to the Panthers, who have
the No. 1 pick in April's draft and are looking for a quarterback.
Luck
capped this season by completing 18 of 23 passes for 287 yards and four
touchdowns in the fifth-ranked Cardinal's 40-12 victory over No. 12
Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl on Monday night.
That helped
Stanford (12-1) extend its school record for wins in a season and has
the Cardinal poised to finish in the top five of the AP poll for the
first time since the unbeaten 1940 team finished No. 2.
Luck is a
major reason why Stanford has gone from a one-win team in 2006 before
Harbaugh arrived to one of the top teams in the country. He has led
Stanford to a 20-5 record in his 25 career starts, only missing last
season's Sun Bowl loss to Oklahoma with a broken right index finger.
One of Luck's teammates who won't be back is linebacker Thomas Keiser,
who told the Cardinal he intends to forgo his final year of eligibility
to enter the draft. He started all 13 games this season and finished
with 38 tackles and nine sacks.
Luck has completed 64.4 percent of
his passes for 5,913 yards, 45 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in his
career. He has also rushed for 807 yards and five scores. That
athleticism, along with his strong, accurate arm and on-field poise, has
had NFL scouts salivating at his potential as a pro.
Harbaugh, a former star quarterback at Michigan and in the NFL, has called Luck the greatest player he has ever been around.
Luck
set school records for TD passes (32), completion percentage (70.7
percent) and passing efficiency (170.2) this season. He is already being
mentioned alongside John Elway, Jim Plunkett, John Brodie and Frankie
Albert as one of Stanford's great quarterbacks.