Stephen Holder

stephen.holder@indystar.com

Colts at Broncos%2C 8%3A30 p.m. Sunday%2C NBC

This was the rare glimpse past some of the carefully-constructed layers in Andrew Luck's mind.

Past the arcane facts about concrete.

Past the emotions expressed for family pictures he can't see on his flip phone.

Past the rare skills that make him one of the NFL's top young quarterbacks.

"I remember my rookie year, if I found myself in a situation that was weird, where I felt like all eyes were on me — the whole animal in a zoo sort of thing, like being stuck in an airport — it was awkward," Luck said. "I used to get emotionally hijacked about that and it would really bother me.

"But as I've gotten older, (I realize) it's part of the job description. The fish bowl thing, I wouldn't say I'm 100 percent good with it but I've reconciled it in my mind that it's part of the world we live in."

Luck would prefer to be the run-of-the-mill, Indian-food-eating, architecture-admiring, social-media-shunning 24-year-old intellectual that he is.

But there's another side, the uncompromising winner. He's a physical beast — Wolverine, teammate and backup Matt Hasselbeck calls him — obsessive in his pursuit of greatness no matter what comes with it.

Each side of Luck is fascinating when examined individually. Together, they form a man on his way to being the NFL's next great quarterback.

This is the story of how he merges and balances it all.

'HE HAS THAT NERDY SIDE'

Luck, in a white T-shirt and blue jeans, is sitting leisurely on the visiting bench at darkened Lucas Oil Stadium. The building is eerily quiet, much more than it will be in a few weeks when Luck returns to the field and brings the masses to their feet.

He was told the interview would include talk of his diverse interests, so tucked under his arm is a book he's recently read on South African anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela.

Reading ranks high on that list of interests because Luck's mind craves knowledge like his lungs long for air. There's a story about how Luck came to read this book, and it's emblematic of his ever-inquisitive nature.

"I got to spend a couple days a while back with a man who knew Mr. Mandela and was on the Truth and (Reconciliation) Commission after apartheid," Luck recounts. "So, he knew Mr. Mandela well. I got to talking to him about Mr. Mandela and I said, 'I've got to know more about this guy.' He was obviously so incredibly interesting and still is so impactful in our culture."

NFL quarterbacks are supposed to care mostly about film study. (And maybe making ridiculous TV commercials.) Luck won't settle for just that.

"Coach (Chuck) Pagano always tells us not to let football define our life," Luck said. "And I think it was (former offensive coordinator) Bruce Arians who told me once, 'Football is what you do. It's not who you are.' I've taken that to heart."

Quarterbacks have playbooks. Luck has lots of other books, too. Books about people, places, history, events and ... concrete? Yes, concrete.

Sure, he majored in architectural design at Stanford, but really?

"I am not making this up," says Hasselbeck, who has grown close to Luck. "It was a book on concrete. He was showing it to everyone on the road trip to Cincinnati. He was fascinated."

Said receiver Griff Whalen, a college teammate and friend: "He was on the bus like, 'Did you guys know that Cincinnati was the first (city) to use this or that kind of concrete?' Everyone was like, 'Yeah, whatever. Thanks for that.'

"He definitely has that nerdy side."

NOT A CELEBRITY

For a young man who is so varied, Luck can also be so simple.

Just consider his decision to largely eschew social media, making him the rare celebrity nowadays to exist off the social media grid. (By the way, Luck hates the word celebrity.)

To let Luck tell it, he knows who he is and he stays in his lane.

"Look at (punter) Pat McAfee and his personality," Luck said. "It's out there and it's funny and it's hilarious and it's perfect for him. I laugh all the time and love talking to him. But it wouldn't be right for me."

Luck might not technically be on Twitter, but he kind of is.

"My mom knows what I do every week because she sees it on Twitter," he joked. "She's much more tech savvy than I am. OK, actually, I shun some technology. I've just always been a bit more private."

Maybe he's not quite an introvert, but he's certainly no extrovert. You can see evidence of this in other areas, too. Ask yourself: When was the last time you saw an Andrew Luck commercial?

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

When you're the first to perform so many amazing feats — throwing for more yards than any quarterback in his first two years, for instance — humility would seem hard to maintain.

Luck has no issues in this regard. At times, he might be too deferential.

"He's one of the most humble superstars that I've ever encountered," McAfee said. "Say there's a certain drink that he wants offered in the cafeteria. He'll say, 'Hey, wouldn't this be cool if we had this or that?' We say, 'Yes, it would be. Now, go make it happen! You're the guy that can make it happen.' It's like he doesn't even know it because he's such a humble guy who has no idea of the elite level of superstar that he is. That's what makes him so cool."

Luck blends in well for someone for whom blending in is basically impossible.

"A lot of things we do as a group, he'll be the one to put it together," offensive tackle Gosder Cherilus said. "He'll come in and say, 'Hey, what are you guys doing? How about let's all go out to dinner?' Me and him talk a lot about what restaurants we like. So, if I find a good one, he'll say, 'Let's do it.'

"Sometimes we even have game night at his house."

If you want to know what makes Luck tick, turn the conversation toward family. His younger brother Addison, who plays high school soccer, is a common topic of discussion. Occasionally, Luck will get text messages with photos attached documenting his sibling's latest feats on the pitch.

There's just one problem. Yes, it's that darned flip phone. Yes, he still has it.

"So, he can't get pictures on his phone," Hasselbeck said. "So, if he gets texted a photo, he'll have to forward it to me or someone and I'll open it on my phone and hand it to him. And he's so excited, like, 'Oh, I'm so happy for him! He had two assists!' It's really, really fun to see him in that light."

The unique bond between Luck and the 38-year old Hasselbeck, a father of three, is beautiful to watch. Ironically, it's often Hasselbeck who is learning from Luck.

"Just from his knowledge of other things outside of football that maybe we're not knowledgeable about around here, I feel like I've grown a lot," Hasselbeck said. "I've tried different foods that I would never have tried. I've had more Indian food here in Indianapolis than I've had in my entire life. And it's because he loves Indian food. He loves Greek food. He loves Thai food. These aren't the typical places NFL quarterbacks eat the pregame meal at.

"I mean, we're like taking some real chances going with the fried octopus."

'HE'S OBSESSED'

Quarterback is one of the most difficult jobs in sports. It's not just that an entire defense is aiming to bury you on each play, or that 300-pound pass rushers are chasing you with reckless abandon.

It's the pressure.

The ball is in your hand on every offensive play. There are split-second decisions — good or bad — that can come to define you. You receive an inordinate amount of credit and blame for the outcome of games.

Strangely, it's the pressure that turns Luck on. He embraces it. He longs for it. Oftentimes — and his 11 game-winning drives are evidence of this — he makes a mockery of it.

"I think football is the greatest game in the world because the trust and accountability factor is so huge," Luck said. "So, yeah, there's pressure from your teammates to get it done, pressure from your coaches to get it done, pressure on the coaches to put (players) in great situations. ... In-game pressure, that's just part of sports. You have it as a fourth-grader. You have it at all levels."

It's a good thing Luck takes that approach, because there's a whole lot of pressure being directed his way these days.

It's not just a byproduct of a growing number of lofty predictions for the 2014 Colts that are based mostly on Luck performing at an elite level. It's also coming from those inside the team facility.

General manager Ryan Grigson knows he was fortunate to take over the team in 2012 at a time when a potentially transcendent quarterback just happened to be available with the No. 1 overall draft pick Grigson possessed.

Having watched Luck grow the past two seasons, Grigson doesn't hesitate when asked what's next for a young signal caller who already has 22 victories.

"Win a Super Bowl," Grigson deadpanned. "That's it. I know that's what he would say. That's the mark of the great ones. You have to win it all. He's already shown he's had, what, eight or nine fourth-quarter comebacks already? I can't even keep track and that's a good thing.

"When you're checking off boxes about a guy as a scout, you check off arm strength, you check off mobility, you check off making plays under duress and then you start looking at those intricacies like, can this guy really be great? Is he capable of putting a team on his shoulders and winning games in the fourth quarter? Our guy has done that in a serious way. So I feel like that's what's next for him."

The good news: Luck has the drive to match the expectations. Take it from Hasselbeck, who watched in awe as Luck worked during the offseason.

"His goal is to be the best in the world," Hasselbeck said. "Physically, he is an absolute beast right now. He is an absolute machine. He reminds me of that movie, 'Wolverine.' He just powers through all this stuff. The workouts, early, late, extra conditioning — all of it.

"To me, he's obsessed."

Cherilus begins each work day with something of a challenge. The objective is to beat Luck to work. Cherilus is almost always on the losing end.

"His car is always here already," Cherilus said. "I get here about 6 a.m."

In Luck's very first practice with the Colts, in the late spring of 2012, it would have been excusable for him to struggle with the intricacies of the playbook. After the draft, he went back to Stanford to complete the term and receive his degree.

When he finally arrived, a very surprising thing happened. When he began making audibles prior to the snap, he was met with puzzled looks from his teammates. Luck had skipped too far ahead in the playbook, like that kid in high school who was two chapters beyond everyone else in chemistry class.

"Somebody had to say, 'Hey, man, we're not there yet,' " McAfee said.

Hasselbeck recalled a message Pagano shared about a notion held by UCLA's Hall of Fame basketball coach John Wooden.

"He said something to the effect that you want your best player to be the person most obsessed with winning," Hasselbeck said. "And (Luck) might be that guy. I can't think of anybody who is more obsessed than he is."

Except for the times he's immersed in reading, sampling new ethnic cuisine, bragging about his little brother or even espousing the finer points of concrete.

"I'm young, but I think you can work as hard as you possibly can at football but not let it consume you," Luck said. "Football is incredibly important to me. ... I realize it's a special thing that's allowed me to do great things.

"It's just not the end-all, be-all. There's more to life."

In Luck's life, a lot more.

Follow Star reporter Stephen Holder on Twitter: @HolderStephen.

Colts at Broncos, 8:30 p.m. Sunday, NBC