STANFORD — David Shaw found out just like mostly everybody else on Saturday night that Andrew Luck, his former quarterback at Stanford, decided to step away from the NFL.

Tuesday morning at his weekly press conference on campus, Shaw attempted to put the news into perspective.

“I’ve had to do this for myself and I’ll do this for the room, also — he’s not dead,” Shaw said. “Everybody talks about him like these are eulogies. It’s not a eulogy. The guy is done playing football, he’s 29 years old, he’s got a lot of life to live. He’s got a lot to give this world. It’s not going to be on a football field, so with the appropriate amount of sadness that we don’t get to just see a virtuoso, which is what he is, but then also there’s eagerness and excitement to see what comes next for him.”

It wasn’t that long ago that Shaw spent time with Luck prior to his departure for training camp in Indianapolis. Their discussions is part of the reason Shaw “didn’t see it coming” in terms of the retirement.

“It’s rare to see him in that mode of, ‘Boy, I can’t wait to get going,’ ” Shaw said. “He was excited, raring to go. So, hearing that, it was a surprise.”

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Upon learning the many reasons for Luck’s decision, Shaw reminded himself that the No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft never had any intention to drag himself through injuries in order to play one more snap.

“This guy was going to play the game at the highest level for as long as he could, but he was also going to be one of those guys that wants life after football as much as he wants life with football,” Shaw said. “And he came to that point much earlier than many of us anticipated, or even than many of us wanted it to be. But he came to that point where it was time for him to stop for his health, for his family, for his future. And I applaud him for it.”

Luck’s final season on The Farm in 2011 also happened to be Shaw’s first at the helm. The back-to-back Heisman Trophy runner-up broke John Elway’s record for career touchdown passes during an 11-2 campaign.

A young K.J. Costello took notice roughly 400 miles to the south. About three months ago, Luck sat down for lunch with the quarterback he steered away from USC and toward Stanford.

“Nobody is going to touch what he did,” Costello said. “Did it the right way, set the standard for (Kevin) Hogan, Keller (Chryst), me, (Ryan) Burns — all of us and everyone to come.”

He added: “And in terms of his decision, we all know he’s a smart man and he did what’s right for him and his family. And I know he’s going to do something incredible next.”

Asked about a possible return for Luck to the Indianapolis Colts once healthy, Shaw didn’t seems so sure.

“I’m not going to speak for Andrew,” he said. “From what I know of him, when he makes a decision, he makes a decision. And he’s taken everything into account and he goes in a direction. And I would say 100 percent of the time he’s been right. So, I think he knows that and feels that, and I think he’s setting himself on a course that he’s going to follow. Once again, I commend him for it.”

And while it’s way too early for Shaw to know what comes next for Luck, he’s intrigued about the myriad of opportunities that await.

“I can’t wait to see what his next chapter is going to be,” Shaw said. “I imagine he’ll lay low for a while and try to get healthy first and foremost. This is one of the brightest guys I’ve been around, one of the most genuine human beings I’ve ever been around and the guy is not just going to sit around and do nothing. So, talking chapters about Andrew because he loves to read, right? One chapter is closed and the next chapter is not going to be boring.”

He added: “I’ll order the next chapter.”