Luck has become known to dole out "nice play, buddy" and "good hit" kudos almost as often as he finds wide receivers open down the field.
"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. "Nothing even close."
Washington Redskins linebacker Trent Murphy, Luck’s teammate at Stanford, said Luck would interrupt film sessions to praise an opponent’s hit of him. The harder the better.
“He’s yelling ‘nice hit, nice hit!’ and we’re like ‘uh, no one else does this.’”
Several players told the newspaper that, whether intentional or not, Luck's good-guy act has gotten in their heads.
"I'm like 'what's going on? Aren't you supposed to be mad?' "
Philadelphia Eagles defensive back
Nolan Carroll told the newspaper. "So then I'm the one who gets ticked off because an upbeat attitude isn't something you see."
When New England pass rusher Rob Ninkovich pulverized Luck last month in a Patriots’ 42-20 win, he got the customary congratulations. As Ninkovich tells it, he found himself paralyzed with confusion by the well-wishes, so he blurted out “Thanks for...uh...accepting that hit?” before running back to the huddle.
“You love it but at the same time, you really, really hate it,” said Eagles linebacker Connor Barwin.
The Wall Street Journal contacted 12 NFL players who recorded a sack or knockdown of Luck, and each player said he received the same message from Luck.
Former Stanford tight end Zach Ertz, acknowledged Luck is probably playing head games to some extent. But Ertz said that’s not Luck’s main concern. For evidence, he submitted that if Luck himself makes a great play, he usually says nothing—no matter the situation.
