WEBVTT - Andrew Luck and Dwight Gooden 0:00:04.240 --> 0:00:07.000 I'm Alec Baldwin and you're listening to here's the thing, 0:00:08.520 --> 0:00:12.879 Peyton Manny Love. Peyton's still a big fan of Peyton. Uh, 0:00:13.160 --> 0:00:17.000 Steve McNair. My mom was very strict, you know, very 0:00:17.040 --> 0:00:19.360 directly stuff when my dad kind of getting a pass 0:00:19.400 --> 0:00:21.120 with a lot of things along as I was playing baseball. 0:00:22.280 --> 0:00:25.480 A few of us can do what professional athletes do, 0:00:26.239 --> 0:00:29.400 and even fewer athletes begin their pro careers with the 0:00:29.440 --> 0:00:33.760 immediate success of my guests. Today, I'll talk with former 0:00:33.800 --> 0:00:37.440 pitcher Dwight Gooden to hear about his historic rookie season 0:00:37.520 --> 0:00:41.800 in and how his major league career was affected by 0:00:41.840 --> 0:00:45.720 his struggles with drugs and alcohol. But first, Andrew Luck, 0:00:46.200 --> 0:00:49.720 currently enjoying his second season in the National Football League. 0:00:50.000 --> 0:00:52.280 We're the first pick in the two thousand and twelve 0:00:52.440 --> 0:00:58.880 NFL drafts the Indianapolis could select Andrew Luck. Luck was 0:00:58.960 --> 0:01:02.200 hired to replaced one of his heroes, Peyton Manning, as 0:01:02.320 --> 0:01:06.080 quarterback of the Indianapolis Colts. Many doubted that the Stanford 0:01:06.120 --> 0:01:09.080 graduate could live up to the enormous hype generated by 0:01:09.080 --> 0:01:12.399 that first round pick, but Luck delivered, setting a new 0:01:12.520 --> 0:01:16.759 NFL record for most passing yards by a rookie Andrew Luck, 0:01:16.840 --> 0:01:20.360 a self described nerd, is nothing if not level headed 0:01:20.560 --> 0:01:23.640 when he talks about navigating the transitions from high school 0:01:23.680 --> 0:01:27.080 to college to pro football. They're definitely large differences along 0:01:27.120 --> 0:01:29.080 the way. But but I also know a lot of 0:01:29.080 --> 0:01:31.319 the challenges are the same. I think, fresh on my 0:01:31.360 --> 0:01:34.039 mind still, you know, finishing a rookie year, you know 0:01:34.080 --> 0:01:36.880 what what what what was similar about rookie year to 0:01:37.000 --> 0:01:39.520 being a sophomore in high school and starting on varsity, 0:01:39.600 --> 0:01:42.240 you know, wants to to being in college and started 0:01:42.280 --> 0:01:45.440 as a sophomore as well. I think you know the 0:01:45.520 --> 0:01:48.520 same things presents of how as a young kid. You know, 0:01:48.560 --> 0:01:50.640 how is a fifteen year old kid do you play with? 0:01:50.680 --> 0:01:52.520 Eighteen year old? How is it? How is the nineteen 0:01:52.560 --> 0:01:54.440 year o kid do you play with? Is that what 0:01:54.480 --> 0:01:57.160 you did? And? Yeah, how was it? It's weird? You know, 0:01:57.240 --> 0:01:59.360 you want to remember what do you remember about high 0:01:59.360 --> 0:02:02.000 school ball? So I just wanted to keep my mouth shut. 0:02:02.480 --> 0:02:05.240 You in Houston, in Houston, which they do have like 0:02:05.320 --> 0:02:07.640 a somewhat of a religious cult following, you know of 0:02:07.720 --> 0:02:11.960 high school football entype, it truly is, and you know 0:02:12.000 --> 0:02:14.520 it's sensationalized a bit with the movies, in the in 0:02:14.560 --> 0:02:17.320 the books, but people get into I mean we had 0:02:17.360 --> 0:02:20.119 we had fifteen thousand people watching games, you know, for 0:02:20.120 --> 0:02:22.360 for for a bunch of high school kids. Yeah, but 0:02:22.360 --> 0:02:24.320 but I do remember, you know, being a rookie, thinking 0:02:24.360 --> 0:02:26.680 back to you know, being a sophomone, how how do 0:02:26.680 --> 0:02:28.840 you how do you earn the respect to the guys 0:02:28.840 --> 0:02:30.520 older than you? You know, how do you how do 0:02:30.560 --> 0:02:32.679 you go in there? And so would you see that 0:02:33.160 --> 0:02:34.960 each step of the way if he was proving yourself 0:02:34.960 --> 0:02:37.399 to people who when you show up the vets are there, 0:02:37.480 --> 0:02:39.000 or the guys who have a few more seasons under 0:02:39.040 --> 0:02:41.680 their belt and you want to show them you belong there. No, absolutely, 0:02:41.720 --> 0:02:43.760 I think describe it was like when you went from 0:02:43.919 --> 0:02:46.799 Houston to Stanford the same thing, you know, one it's 0:02:46.840 --> 0:02:48.079 it's it was. It was fun for me to be 0:02:48.120 --> 0:02:50.560 out in California and you were a scholar. You did 0:02:50.639 --> 0:02:52.959 very well in school. I did all right. I managed 0:02:53.000 --> 0:02:55.760 to get by. I studied architecture, which was fun for 0:02:55.800 --> 0:02:58.040 me and which I enjoyed, which I don't much better 0:02:58.080 --> 0:03:00.760 I think on projects than writing papers, you know. So 0:03:00.760 --> 0:03:04.000 so I'm glad I studied something I enjoyed. But do 0:03:04.040 --> 0:03:06.320 you think that that kind of pursued academically, like something 0:03:06.320 --> 0:03:10.240 that involves geometry and math and so forth, and measurements 0:03:10.280 --> 0:03:12.639 help you as a quarterback. I don't know. People have 0:03:12.919 --> 0:03:14.520 asked me to compare the to it. I you know, 0:03:14.800 --> 0:03:18.200 it can't hurt, but you know, realistically, how much could 0:03:18.360 --> 0:03:21.560 could solid a bath problem help a football game? It 0:03:21.639 --> 0:03:23.520 might be just intrinsic. How you just see things. You know, 0:03:23.560 --> 0:03:25.239 when that guy's going deep over the middle, maybe you 0:03:25.320 --> 0:03:28.720 something this looks like the Louve to me. And then 0:03:28.800 --> 0:03:30.480 when you went to Stanford, what was that like? You 0:03:30.480 --> 0:03:32.079 showed up there? When you talk about that idea of 0:03:32.080 --> 0:03:34.360 showing up and proving yourself, what was it like for you? 0:03:34.720 --> 0:03:37.280 First year was great? Didn't play? Red shirt? And which 0:03:37.320 --> 0:03:41.680 was which was? Which was difficult describe for people exactly 0:03:41.680 --> 0:03:44.480 how red shirting works. So red shirting is a process work. 0:03:44.560 --> 0:03:46.280 You know, you go to school and everybody has four 0:03:46.360 --> 0:03:50.480 years of eligibility to play. Uh, but you can red 0:03:50.520 --> 0:03:53.480 shirt a year. You still practice with the team, you 0:03:53.480 --> 0:03:55.240 still do everything with the team. You're just not allowed 0:03:55.240 --> 0:03:57.280 to play in a game. So it's theoretically you can 0:03:57.640 --> 0:03:59.360 another year. Yeah, and then you go to school for 0:03:59.480 --> 0:04:01.680 you know, being school for five years, so it gives 0:04:01.720 --> 0:04:03.720 you a year too, and you red shooted your first year. 0:04:03.760 --> 0:04:06.800 I recruited my first year. I wasn't ready to play 0:04:07.360 --> 0:04:10.400 and I needed to get bigger, faster, stronger, you know, 0:04:10.520 --> 0:04:12.880 physically wise and also mentally just catch up today. So 0:04:12.920 --> 0:04:14.840 when you come to a school like that, when they 0:04:14.880 --> 0:04:17.760 take you there and they and they recruited you, correct 0:04:17.920 --> 0:04:19.719 and when they recruit you to come, they recruit you. 0:04:20.200 --> 0:04:22.039 The red shirt thing was something they had in mind. 0:04:22.080 --> 0:04:24.640 So at that level, at the Stanford level, they have 0:04:24.720 --> 0:04:26.440 you come and they say we're gonna bring you here 0:04:26.680 --> 0:04:29.120 and we're going to develop you for the first year. Yeah, 0:04:29.760 --> 0:04:32.200 you know, and some guys in my class, we're we're 0:04:32.200 --> 0:04:34.440 good enough to play, you know as freshman. But but 0:04:34.560 --> 0:04:36.640 I know in my recruiting process that that was a 0:04:36.680 --> 0:04:39.239 thought that came up. They want muscle up and get stronger, 0:04:39.600 --> 0:04:42.560 and and and mentally too, I think mentally catch up 0:04:42.560 --> 0:04:46.440 to the playbook. Having to learn that and it definitely 0:04:46.480 --> 0:04:49.080 helped and I enjoyed it. And what was that experience 0:04:49.080 --> 0:04:51.560 like because someone said that to me once, They said that, 0:04:51.640 --> 0:04:53.560 you know, you go from high school and you're a 0:04:53.600 --> 0:04:56.160 dominant player in high school. Then you go to college 0:04:56.160 --> 0:04:58.960 and you're in a room full of high school dominant players. 0:04:59.279 --> 0:05:02.039 It's humbling. I'll say that. You get knocked off your 0:05:02.120 --> 0:05:05.200 high horse very very quickly. Everybody's in all so you 0:05:05.200 --> 0:05:07.640 go from being in you know, the top dogs probably 0:05:07.680 --> 0:05:11.320 starting on every you're the king. Yeah, everything you've ever 0:05:11.320 --> 0:05:14.240 played in. The cheerleaders want a date you. You know, everybody. 0:05:14.560 --> 0:05:16.800 You go to college and you're just you're carrying somebody 0:05:16.800 --> 0:05:20.360 else is bad exactly. So you read shirt that year 0:05:20.360 --> 0:05:22.480 and then you come back the second year and I'm 0:05:22.480 --> 0:05:25.080 assuming you were stronger and you had development, and did 0:05:25.080 --> 0:05:26.840 you and you felt better? You felt strong? No, I 0:05:26.920 --> 0:05:32.000 think I put on like pounds, you know, and my 0:05:32.080 --> 0:05:34.279 mind was working much quicker when you know, on the 0:05:34.320 --> 0:05:36.920 football side of things, we're getting ready, getting ready. And 0:05:37.040 --> 0:05:39.800 what happens in that second year coach hardball, who's who's 0:05:39.800 --> 0:05:43.480 Who's coach game Jim, he gave me a shot. I 0:05:43.560 --> 0:05:45.120 got got to play in all their games. I got 0:05:45.200 --> 0:05:47.160 hurt the last game of the season. And did you 0:05:47.200 --> 0:05:49.240 get smacked around a lot? I mean, you're playing football 0:05:49.240 --> 0:05:51.160 at Stanford. What was that like for you? That that 0:05:51.320 --> 0:05:54.200 threat every day and it's a pure adrenaline when you 0:05:54.240 --> 0:05:56.440 say to yourself, I can't think about that. I can't 0:05:56.440 --> 0:05:59.200 afford to think about that or every minute you're out there. 0:05:59.200 --> 0:06:01.640 Do you think these guys, man, they really if they 0:06:01.680 --> 0:06:04.240 hit me, it's really gonna hurt. Like no, I think that. 0:06:04.400 --> 0:06:07.479 You can't. You can't let yourself think about you have to. 0:06:07.640 --> 0:06:11.159 I think as soon as you start getting skittish about 0:06:11.279 --> 0:06:14.039 about being hit, then then your play is gonna plummet. 0:06:14.680 --> 0:06:16.480 There's a little bit of pride involved in it too. 0:06:16.480 --> 0:06:18.080 I think as a football player, at least at least 0:06:18.120 --> 0:06:20.240 in my mind, I sort of enjoy getting hit every 0:06:20.279 --> 0:06:22.200 now and then and being able to stand back up 0:06:22.240 --> 0:06:24.520 and say, Okay, you hit me whatever. Man, you know 0:06:25.000 --> 0:06:30.159 I'm getting back off, not downright. You didn't get me 0:06:30.200 --> 0:06:32.919 down right, So so that I think, I think for 0:06:32.920 --> 0:06:35.000 a lot of players there's a bit of that. What 0:06:35.080 --> 0:06:37.720 did Hardball give you was a coach? What would you 0:06:37.760 --> 0:06:40.200 say distinguished him as a coach? I think he builds 0:06:40.200 --> 0:06:43.320 great relationships with players, everybody on the staff and he 0:06:43.360 --> 0:06:46.560 and he's he's an unbelievable motivator. On game day, you 0:06:46.600 --> 0:06:49.479 always felt like you know the guy was gonna you know, 0:06:49.600 --> 0:06:51.599 run through hell and back with you if you had to, 0:06:51.839 --> 0:06:54.360 you felt like you had your back, if you wanted 0:06:54.400 --> 0:06:56.359 to be in a brawl in an alley you wanted, 0:06:56.600 --> 0:06:58.919 you want to coach hardball with you? What's it like 0:06:58.960 --> 0:07:01.800 when you leave SAIM because you you you red shirted 0:07:01.839 --> 0:07:04.520 your first year and then played and you finished the standpord. Yeah, 0:07:04.560 --> 0:07:07.520 I didn't leave three years. So I graduated. I had 0:07:07.600 --> 0:07:10.280 one year of eligibility left, but and you didn't and 0:07:10.280 --> 0:07:11.960 it was time to go. It was time to How 0:07:11.960 --> 0:07:13.840 did you know it was time to go? Uh? You 0:07:13.880 --> 0:07:17.240 know my degree? I got my degree, which really didn't 0:07:17.280 --> 0:07:19.240 make any sense to stay. Yeah, it didn't. I had 0:07:19.360 --> 0:07:22.120 I had enough fun. And then what happened? And then 0:07:22.240 --> 0:07:24.240 tell me where you're sitting when when you find out 0:07:24.240 --> 0:07:26.800 what's going on for you? NFL was how does that develop? Yeah, 0:07:26.840 --> 0:07:29.480 it's it's a it's it's actually sort of long process. 0:07:29.680 --> 0:07:32.600 And I was drafted before I graduated from school. So 0:07:32.640 --> 0:07:35.080 you finish your college season. I took a we were 0:07:35.080 --> 0:07:36.880 on the quarter system at Stanford, so I took the 0:07:36.920 --> 0:07:39.760 winter quarter off to go train and prepare that they 0:07:39.760 --> 0:07:43.960 have a combine uh where in Indianapolis, which you know 0:07:44.040 --> 0:07:45.640 it was funny enough was where I ended up. The 0:07:45.760 --> 0:07:52.320 combine is it a really interesting weird sort of dynamic 0:07:52.360 --> 0:07:54.400 where they fly all these players and they have all 0:07:54.400 --> 0:07:57.360 the coaches, they have all the team doctors and it's 0:07:57.440 --> 0:08:01.160 three days and you're there pick and you can Okay, 0:08:01.200 --> 0:08:03.000 this is before So this is a chance for all 0:08:03.000 --> 0:08:04.960 the teams to meet the players that to see the 0:08:05.000 --> 0:08:07.600 combines NFL one. It's not just Indie, it's it's his team, 0:08:07.640 --> 0:08:10.400 it's it's league. It's all the teams flying in with 0:08:10.480 --> 0:08:12.680 all their personnel. And I'll stay and then the players 0:08:12.720 --> 0:08:14.680 sort of cycle through. It's were like cattle in a 0:08:14.760 --> 0:08:17.560 meat market. Yeah. I remember, you know, walking up on 0:08:17.680 --> 0:08:20.560 stage with nothing but my little skimp he's on and 0:08:20.560 --> 0:08:25.160 they announced, you know, and Victoria's Secret runway Shop. You're 0:08:25.400 --> 0:08:29.280 on a stage with strength coaches, head coaches and all 0:08:29.320 --> 0:08:31.520 these coaches sitting and bleachers around you that that you 0:08:31.560 --> 0:08:34.400 walk up in the middle and it's you know, Andrew 0:08:34.440 --> 0:08:38.680 Luck Stanford University, you know, six four, two thirty five, 0:08:39.120 --> 0:08:41.080 and guys are there with ads going I don't like 0:08:41.200 --> 0:08:45.680 the ratio of USS to his rib cage. I don't 0:08:45.679 --> 0:08:48.760 like that they don't let that rib ratio. God knows 0:08:48.800 --> 0:08:51.160 what they're saying that God, and then you turn around, 0:08:51.320 --> 0:08:53.800 you and you walk off. That's just one of the 0:08:54.040 --> 0:08:56.960 you know guys where you're getting a hundred X rays 0:08:57.000 --> 0:09:00.480 on every part of your body. They move your your 0:09:00.559 --> 0:09:04.240 knee this way, but which which makes sense because there's 0:09:04.280 --> 0:09:07.520 so much money invested if I teams and the money. Yeah, 0:09:07.559 --> 0:09:10.080 so so that was an interesting experience. Then you sort 0:09:10.080 --> 0:09:12.319 of then to leave the comment. And I had I 0:09:12.360 --> 0:09:14.320 had a fairly good sense that I would be drafted 0:09:14.400 --> 0:09:18.319 number one by Indianapolis just from the signals I was 0:09:18.360 --> 0:09:22.240 getting from the team and other things, and I it's 0:09:22.640 --> 0:09:24.199 you know, how did you feel? I mean, you knew 0:09:24.200 --> 0:09:26.360 it was gonna happen kind of would everybody let you 0:09:26.360 --> 0:09:28.640 know that in advance? Everybody put the cats out of 0:09:28.679 --> 0:09:30.360 the bag. But when it happens, at the moment it happened, 0:09:30.480 --> 0:09:32.199 did you just feel great you would number one in 0:09:32.240 --> 0:09:34.520 the draft that year? Man? Yeah, I felt on top 0:09:34.520 --> 0:09:36.120 of the world. I'm not gonna lie now as soon 0:09:36.160 --> 0:09:38.680 as you are you the draft is over. I would 0:09:38.720 --> 0:09:41.160 assume there's a euphoria, but you snapped right out of 0:09:41.160 --> 0:09:43.360 it because like it's down to business now. Yeah, there 0:09:43.400 --> 0:09:45.480 wasn't you four? And then I wish it would would 0:09:45.520 --> 0:09:46.640 have been down to business. I had to go back 0:09:46.679 --> 0:09:48.720 to school and finish up. And you try sitting in 0:09:48.720 --> 0:09:51.560 a lecture. You know, after you've been you've been drafted 0:09:51.559 --> 0:09:53.240 by a team, you have a job, you know where 0:09:53.240 --> 0:09:55.880 you're going. I honestly, I honestly don't feel sorry for you, 0:09:56.320 --> 0:09:58.000 because I would. I can't think of anything I'd like 0:09:58.040 --> 0:09:59.719 more than to go back to Stanford having been the 0:09:59.760 --> 0:10:01.959 number one tracking. So you go back? How long you're 0:10:02.000 --> 0:10:04.800 back there? Back for maybe a couple more months to 0:10:04.840 --> 0:10:08.720 finish that last So now when do your report? Uh? 0:10:08.760 --> 0:10:11.839 So we report late July? Was when training camp starts? 0:10:11.840 --> 0:10:14.760 When you know the actual that's the formal training, formal training. 0:10:14.800 --> 0:10:17.880 You show up for your first pro training cap. Now 0:10:18.080 --> 0:10:22.040 you are in the center ring in a high school, 0:10:22.040 --> 0:10:25.480 in college and named Big ten and it's professional football. 0:10:25.679 --> 0:10:27.760 What's that like? I mean, does your ass tightened just 0:10:27.800 --> 0:10:32.800 a little bit? These guys are huge, they are they 0:10:32.840 --> 0:10:37.520 are the apex of physical freaks. You know, there are 0:10:37.559 --> 0:10:40.600 some guys that that are three hundred pounds, that are 0:10:40.640 --> 0:10:43.199 running faster than you know, running than your high school 0:10:43.280 --> 0:10:47.320 running back, that are just that are just absolutely physical, 0:10:47.400 --> 0:10:49.680 and you know, some of the guys you're walking along 0:10:49.679 --> 0:10:51.559 a room, you're you're playing with thirty five year olds, 0:10:51.600 --> 0:10:53.560 thirty six year old with with you know, with three 0:10:53.679 --> 0:10:56.920 kids in it in the house, and you know, a 0:10:56.920 --> 0:11:01.040 bunch of rookies are three years old that I don't 0:11:01.040 --> 0:11:03.960 know right from left. So so it's it's it's a 0:11:04.000 --> 0:11:08.439 different dynamic than college, where you're sort of, well, everybody's appear, yeah, 0:11:08.520 --> 0:11:10.319 with you with your your buddies, you're going back to 0:11:10.360 --> 0:11:13.360 the dorm, you know, you're hanging out. And the NFL 0:11:13.600 --> 0:11:15.800 it's different, which makes it fun when you win and 0:11:15.840 --> 0:11:18.080 come together as a team, you know, because you really 0:11:18.120 --> 0:11:21.319 do have so many different types of guys. And I 0:11:21.320 --> 0:11:24.480 would imagine that your teammates. I mean, on one hand, 0:11:24.720 --> 0:11:26.559 people in the pro like if you go to college, 0:11:26.559 --> 0:11:30.800 it's assumed under ordinary circumstances, certainly things can change, but 0:11:30.880 --> 0:11:33.280 under ordinary circumstances, you're going to be there for the 0:11:33.320 --> 0:11:35.200 four years. This is your team, this is your this 0:11:35.280 --> 0:11:39.079 is your family. But in the pros where people move on, 0:11:39.240 --> 0:11:43.600 where the teams have only their loyalty to the players 0:11:43.640 --> 0:11:47.200 only extends so far do you walk in there and 0:11:47.440 --> 0:11:49.920 people feel you out and you earn your way into 0:11:49.960 --> 0:11:51.760 that family or do they treat you like family and 0:11:51.800 --> 0:11:55.720 everybody coheses right away. No, it doesn't happen overnight. It 0:11:55.720 --> 0:11:57.240 doesn't happen in the first day. I will say that 0:11:57.280 --> 0:11:59.079 people gotta get to know you. Yeah, you gotta get 0:11:59.120 --> 0:12:01.960 you know, especially during training camp where you're gonna have 0:12:02.600 --> 0:12:04.520 you know, a hundred guys that are in training camp 0:12:04.640 --> 0:12:06.599 and then one day you wake up and look and 0:12:06.600 --> 0:12:09.760 there's only fifty three guys left. You know, those cut 0:12:09.840 --> 0:12:12.240 days are very sad days because you see buddies go, 0:12:12.360 --> 0:12:14.880 You see guys, you feel relationships, you know, guys you 0:12:14.920 --> 0:12:17.520 admired maybe yeah, absolutely, guys you looked up to, guys 0:12:17.520 --> 0:12:19.480 that helped you out, you know when you first walked 0:12:19.520 --> 0:12:21.520 in the door, and then they're gone and that fifty 0:12:21.520 --> 0:12:23.559 three players, that's when everything starts to cohes. Yeah, I 0:12:23.559 --> 0:12:26.120 think I think that's when that's when you come together 0:12:26.559 --> 0:12:28.640 a little more. But but still, you know, even guys 0:12:28.640 --> 0:12:30.520 are traded in the middle of the season, you know, 0:12:30.640 --> 0:12:33.040 guys are cut, Still guys are picked up. So it's 0:12:33.320 --> 0:12:35.120 it is it's a lot different, you know, just to 0:12:35.160 --> 0:12:36.920 what you said that than the the you know, you 0:12:36.920 --> 0:12:38.680 know you're gonna be in college for four years. You 0:12:38.720 --> 0:12:40.400 know who's in your class, you know who's you know, 0:12:40.480 --> 0:12:43.359 you know the guys on the team. Familiarity, Yes, absolutely. 0:12:43.440 --> 0:12:46.320 Now one thing I think about when I think about 0:12:46.320 --> 0:12:50.640 the NFL is this idea of the biggest, strongest, fastest 0:12:50.640 --> 0:12:53.440 men hitting each other in this very violent game. And 0:12:53.480 --> 0:12:56.320 the rules have been changed in order to protect players. 0:12:56.840 --> 0:12:59.079 The equipment has evolved. Obviously, there's a lot of discussion 0:12:59.120 --> 0:13:02.120 about concussions and so forth, over a lot of brain 0:13:02.160 --> 0:13:05.920 injury research and issues, and people donating the brains of 0:13:05.960 --> 0:13:09.080 their deceased suicide victims, a little a lot of heavy 0:13:09.120 --> 0:13:12.000 duty stuff. But I want to ask you when you 0:13:12.040 --> 0:13:14.480 go out there. I mean, it's a competitive game and 0:13:14.520 --> 0:13:16.400 people want to win. But at the same time, guys 0:13:16.640 --> 0:13:18.480 don't necessarily want to hurt each other the way they 0:13:18.480 --> 0:13:20.800 wouldn't want to get hurt either. Do you find it's 0:13:20.800 --> 0:13:24.200 a weird balance of those two because football is as 0:13:24.360 --> 0:13:28.720 violent now on one hand as it was before, but 0:13:28.960 --> 0:13:31.960 because equipment changes and rule changes, it seemed more violent 0:13:32.040 --> 0:13:35.319 back then. You know, I don't think guys are any 0:13:35.400 --> 0:13:39.240 less aggressive when it when it comes to hitting. I no, No, 0:13:39.360 --> 0:13:41.640 it doesn't. And I think, you know, maybe there's a 0:13:41.679 --> 0:13:44.600 thought too that all these these equipment changes and and 0:13:44.600 --> 0:13:46.600 and you feel safer in it, so so you feel 0:13:46.640 --> 0:13:48.600 like you can hit harder. But there's also I think, 0:13:48.640 --> 0:13:50.760 you know, guys are are being taught, especially at a 0:13:50.800 --> 0:13:53.720 young age now too. You know how to tackle correctly, 0:13:55.440 --> 0:13:57.240 how to how to and I think there is a 0:13:57.320 --> 0:13:59.800 mutual respect between players where you know you're not going 0:13:59.840 --> 0:14:03.120 to try and take out someone's achilles or a cl 0:14:03.320 --> 0:14:06.280 You know, some guys maybe do you know, I don't. 0:14:06.320 --> 0:14:09.400 I don't know. Some guys play very aggressive and things happen. 0:14:09.440 --> 0:14:11.520 We understand, you know, we know what we sign up for. 0:14:11.720 --> 0:14:13.520 I think when you when you play football, and I 0:14:13.559 --> 0:14:15.559 like it and I love it. And as a quarterback, 0:14:15.640 --> 0:14:19.120 you know, I'm on the wrong side of the hit. 0:14:19.440 --> 0:14:21.960 You know, I don't ever get to dish it out 0:14:21.960 --> 0:14:24.840 per se, But you know that's fine with me. Right. 0:14:25.280 --> 0:14:28.400 Let's let's talk about quarterbacking. Yeah, let's talk about what 0:14:28.520 --> 0:14:32.560 it's like to have that job where I played touch 0:14:32.640 --> 0:14:36.640 football with my friends until I was forty years old. 0:14:36.640 --> 0:14:38.720 We played every weekend during a season in the fall 0:14:38.840 --> 0:14:41.600 in New York in Central Park. And then that game 0:14:41.640 --> 0:14:44.000 moved to Los Angeles because almost all those guys I 0:14:44.080 --> 0:14:47.440 played with were my UH colleagues and the entertainment business, 0:14:47.480 --> 0:14:52.440 and of course, the difference between a sandlot game, the 0:14:52.480 --> 0:14:55.360 difference between a flag game and a bunch of geezers 0:14:55.400 --> 0:14:57.960 playing football. The difference between high school and college is 0:14:58.000 --> 0:15:00.760 the speed and the velocity of the game. And you 0:15:00.880 --> 0:15:03.280 drop back to pass, and on average, how much time 0:15:03.280 --> 0:15:04.720 do you have to throw the ball? I think a 0:15:04.840 --> 0:15:07.480 little between three and four seconds. You have that much 0:15:07.520 --> 0:15:10.800 time if the play is going in the perfect world, 0:15:13.680 --> 0:15:16.920 so you have three to four seconds to to read 0:15:16.960 --> 0:15:20.320 the defense, to drop back and ascertain who you're going 0:15:20.360 --> 0:15:22.080 to throw the ball to, who's open, who's more likely 0:15:22.120 --> 0:15:24.440 going to be open, because sometimes you're throwing the ball 0:15:24.480 --> 0:15:27.320 to someone anticipating they're gonna be open. Once the ball 0:15:27.360 --> 0:15:29.920 gets there, you throw the ball to a spot very often, 0:15:30.200 --> 0:15:31.800 unless it's a broken play and they come back to 0:15:31.880 --> 0:15:34.560 it's a come back. And then someone's improvising. What percentage 0:15:34.560 --> 0:15:36.760 of plays would you say, do you throw the ball 0:15:36.840 --> 0:15:39.800 at a spot that's a preordained route, and how many 0:15:39.840 --> 0:15:43.280 plays is it more improvised? What's the ratio? Well, every 0:15:43.280 --> 0:15:45.400 place is called you know hopefully it's not to have 0:15:45.600 --> 0:15:48.280 him for ries. You know you're gonna then you're up 0:15:48.320 --> 0:15:53.880 against the pro defense. Yeah, it breaks down probably a 0:15:53.960 --> 0:15:58.880 third of the time, a third of the time, half 0:15:58.920 --> 0:16:01.920 of the time. Colts fans don't care about the ratio. 0:16:02.400 --> 0:16:04.840 They just want Andrew Luck to bring a championship back 0:16:04.880 --> 0:16:08.840 to Indianapolis, and he stands a good chance. People say 0:16:08.880 --> 0:16:11.880 he bears a strong resemblance to Peyton Manning, the quarterback 0:16:11.920 --> 0:16:14.920 for the Colts for fourteen seasons, and one of Andrew 0:16:15.000 --> 0:16:19.080 Luck's own role models, big command and everything, never quit, 0:16:19.560 --> 0:16:21.960 never quit, was like a general out there, three minutes left, 0:16:22.000 --> 0:16:24.160 we're down by eighteen points, so much and he seemed 0:16:24.160 --> 0:16:26.320 like he knew where everybody was going all the time. 0:16:26.560 --> 0:16:31.120 There's no surprises for him. In a minute, Andrew Luck 0:16:31.160 --> 0:16:34.000 talks about going to the Manning family training camp in 0:16:34.040 --> 0:16:38.120 Louisiana when he was fourteen. I'm Alec Baldwin and here's 0:16:38.120 --> 0:16:41.320 the thing. Take a listen to our archive more in 0:16:41.440 --> 0:16:45.640 depth and honest conversations with artists, policymakers and pundits like 0:16:45.720 --> 0:16:49.640 George will Sports and particularly not baseball. Then, because it's 0:16:49.680 --> 0:16:52.000 a rich sediment of numbers, it was one of the 0:16:52.040 --> 0:16:55.240 first things a young person could peg up with adults on. 0:16:55.640 --> 0:16:58.040 But as you could know as much about Jimmy Fox 0:16:58.200 --> 0:17:01.040 as your father did. I'm love jim you know I 0:17:01.080 --> 0:17:03.440 love I wanted to be a lifeguard. I wanted to 0:17:03.520 --> 0:17:06.360 be a gymnast. I wanted to work on the bars, 0:17:06.880 --> 0:17:11.640 ropes were I loved all that stuff. More from George 0:17:11.640 --> 0:17:14.960 Will and Debbie Reynolds at Here's the Thing, Dot Org. 0:17:28.680 --> 0:17:31.400 I'm Alec Baldwin and you're listening to Here's the Thing. 0:17:32.200 --> 0:17:35.480 Andrew Luck grew up in a football family. His father 0:17:35.600 --> 0:17:38.800 was an NFL quarterback for the Houston Oilers. But Luck 0:17:38.880 --> 0:17:42.120 isn't always hold up in a screening room studying films 0:17:42.119 --> 0:17:44.760 of his football heroes in action. At the end of 0:17:44.840 --> 0:17:48.879 last season, he headed to the Sundance Film Festival. Growing up, 0:17:48.880 --> 0:17:51.600 he lived in London and Frankfort, and he still travels 0:17:51.600 --> 0:17:55.520 overseas any chance he gets. But Andrew Luck knew early 0:17:55.600 --> 0:17:58.240 on that he wanted to play ball. He attended the 0:17:58.280 --> 0:18:02.320 Manning Passing Academy in lou Louisiana, run by NFL quarterbacks 0:18:02.320 --> 0:18:06.240 Peyton and Eli Manning and their father, Archie. So you 0:18:06.280 --> 0:18:08.520 know that the Manning family obviously sort of the first 0:18:08.560 --> 0:18:11.639 family of quarterbacks you know in the in this league. 0:18:12.480 --> 0:18:14.840 You know. So I was in eighth grade in Houston, 0:18:15.280 --> 0:18:17.880 and uh, I went to the camp as a as 0:18:17.920 --> 0:18:22.600 a camper, and this was this was hell. It's in Louisiana. 0:18:22.640 --> 0:18:25.239 It used to be Hammond. Louisiana is where I went 0:18:25.280 --> 0:18:28.320 as a camper. And then you stayed, stayed in these dorms. 0:18:28.359 --> 0:18:34.199 Looked like a Soviet era, like old Gray, you know, 0:18:34.240 --> 0:18:38.680 like like the summertime. It was so summer in Louisiana 0:18:38.760 --> 0:18:44.400 and you're in ye cinder blocks of your character exactly. 0:18:44.480 --> 0:18:46.399 But we had a blast, and I think I was 0:18:46.440 --> 0:18:48.920 on cloud nine when Archie Manning came up and said, 0:18:48.960 --> 0:18:51.600 how you Dylan Sign? I played with your dad. You know, 0:18:51.680 --> 0:18:56.200 I'm in heaven. Shoot me. Now I've lived. And then 0:18:57.240 --> 0:18:59.600 then you go to you go to college whatever, and 0:18:59.600 --> 0:19:02.400 then all these college quarterbacks to come down and be counselors, 0:19:02.440 --> 0:19:03.960 and I think it's a great thing. It's like it's 0:19:03.960 --> 0:19:07.240 a great way to meet, you know, thirty other quarterbacks 0:19:07.280 --> 0:19:09.639 around around you know, the n C A A, and 0:19:09.640 --> 0:19:11.240 then get to know them. So I went down to 0:19:11.440 --> 0:19:14.920 the past my last two years of college and you know, 0:19:14.960 --> 0:19:16.840 I got to know the Manning family obviously a little 0:19:16.880 --> 0:19:19.240 better through that and a bunch of bunch of quarterbacks 0:19:19.880 --> 0:19:22.439 from front from college. When you want to work on 0:19:22.480 --> 0:19:24.600 your passing skills, but I don't mean the timing and 0:19:25.000 --> 0:19:29.359 reading offenses, the mechanics of you throw. What's your primary 0:19:29.400 --> 0:19:31.679 set of exercises and work you Did you have a 0:19:31.720 --> 0:19:34.520