Andrew Luck abruptly retired four years ago, in late August. He will be eligible, as noted by the NFL Rookie Watch account on Twitter, after the 2023 season for the Pro Football Hall of Fame .
That’s fine. It’s accurate. He’ll be eligible for the Hall of Fame next year. Yes, he will.
But he ain’t getting in.
Luck was among the best quarterbacks in the league when he played. He was a four-time Pro Bowler.
But he only played six seasons, missing all of 2017 due to injury. He made it to the AFC Championship once. And while that justified an AFC Finalist banner at Lucas Oil Stadium, he didn’t do nearly enough to get a bronze bust in Canton.
He had great regular-season numbers during his six years, that’s true. (That said, his cumulative passer rating was only 89.5.) Without a Super Bowl win or two, he won’t overcome the limited duration of his career.
Terrell Davis did it; two championships helped. Gale Sayers did it; having uncannily rare talent helped. Luck chose to walk away on the front end of his prime. That’s his prerogative.
He could have had a career that would have put him among the all-time greats. He chose not to keep playing. Again, it’s his right. But that’s not how a guy without a single Super Bowl appearance in an era with plenty of great quarterbacks gets into the Hall of Fame.
Former NFL linebacker Johnie Cooks died Thursday, Colts owner Jim Irsay confirmed on social media. Cooks was 64.
Cooks became a star at Mississippi State, manning the middle of the defense and earning a spot in the Davis Wade Stadium Ring of Honor. Cooks and D.D. Lewis are considered the best Bulldog linebackers ever.
The Baltimore Colts made Cooks the second overall pick in 1982, and he earned all-rookie honors his first season.
He played 83 games with 74 starts over seven seasons with the Colts, moving to outside linebacker in 1984 and making 11.5 sacks that season.
The Colts released him during the 1988 season, and the Giants signed him. Cooks earned a Super Bowl ring with the Giants.
Cooks ended his career in Cleveland, retiring after the 1991 season.
He is a member of both the Mississippi State and State of Mississippi sports halls of fame, and one of Mississippi State’s SEC Legends.
Entering the 2022 season, receiver Parris Campbell had not gotten through a pro season healthy.
A Colts second-round pick in 2019, Campbell played seven games as a rookie, two games in 2020, and six contests in 2021.
But Campbell demonstrated his value last year, recording 63 catches for 623 yards with three touchdowns for Indianapolis. He parlayed that into a one-year deal with the Giants worth a reported $4.7 million in base salary with another $2 million available in incentives.
In a recent interview with Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News, Campbell credited former Colts quarterback Matt Ryan for aiding him in reaching a new level of production.
“Matt Ryan, to me, he helped me get back to a point in my career where I could say, ‘Alright, I can go out here and play,’” Campbell said on the Talkin’ Ball with Pat Leonard podcast. “He boosted my confidence all last year. He stuck by me. He believed in me.
“Whenever I get a chance to talk to him I say, ‘Bro, thank you. You rejuvenated my career.’ Going through all the injuries, he was a solid foundation, he was a rock for me. I was able to go in the huddle and be like, ‘When No. 2 is in the huddle, he’s got my back. So I gotta go out there and play for him.’”
Ryan may not have performed well for the Indianapolis offense, but he still had a positive effect on the squad — one that could pay off in a significant way for the Giants if Campbell plays at a high level in 2023
Vince Tobin, who coached the Arizona Cardinals from 1996 into the 2000 season, has died. He was 79.
Tobin led the Cardinals to a playoff appearance in 1998, capped by the franchise’s first postseason victory since the Truman administration.
“As head coach of the Cardinals, his steady leadership was a constant and a big part of the success the team enjoyed during his tenure,” Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill said in a statement. “His football legacy with us is highlighted by the thrilling 1998 season, return to the postseason, and upset playoff win at Dallas. He will also be remembered for his instrumental role in key decisions like drafting Jake Plummer and Pat Tillman.”
The Cardinals fired Tobin after a 2-5 start in 2000. He had a record of 28-43.
Tobin, who went to college at the University of Missouri, started his coaching career there in 1965. He worked as defensive coordinator from 1971 to 1976. He then coordinated the defense of the BC Lions of the CFL from 1977 through 1982.
Next came a stint in the USFL, as defensive coordinator of the Philadelphia (and then Baltimore) Stars, from 1983 through 1985.
His NFL career started in 1986, as the defensive coordinator — and successor to Buddy Ryan — in Chicago. He held that job for seven years, was out of football in 1993, and then became the Colts’ defensive coordinator in 1994. He got the job in Arizona after the Colts nearly made it to the Super Bowl to cap the 1995 season.
After leaving Arizona, Tobin served as Lions defensive coordinator in 2001, and as Packers defensive coordinator in 2004.
Tobin actually followed Ryan twice. Tobin took over the dominant Bears’ defense in 1986 after Ryan became coach of the Eagles, and Tobin replaced Ryan as head coach of the Cardinals.
We extend our condolences to Tobin’s family, friends, players, and colleagues.
The news that Colts cornerback Isaiah Rodgers placed a winning wager on a teammate’s over-under rushing total speaks to a problem potentially far more significant and widespread than players betting on NFL games and events.
Inside information. Known in the context of corporate America as material, non-public information. In the NFL, there is plenty of it.
The truth about injuries becomes the most obvious. But there are various other forms of it. For teams that script the first 15 offensive plays, knowledge of those plays becomes significant power when it comes to making bets. More broadly, knowledge of the game plan for a given opponent — offensive and defensive — can shed plenty of light on where to put money.
Lots of people have access to that information. Players, coaches, anyone with access to practice, meetings, game planning can be co-opted.
It goes broader than that. Various staff members either already know or can find out the information. Administrative assistants prepare documents and other materials. Other employees maintain and have accessing to all digital information. The cleaning crews can see information on a whiteboard or on materials left behind in a meeting room or discarded.
It’s one thing for someone like Rodgers to use the information on his own. It’s quite another for someone to give that information to others, whether as a favor or in exchange for something, like cash.
And it’s one thing for the league to suspend players whose phones have supplied the evidence that the sports books have handed to the NFL. It’s quite another for the league to properly protect inside information, and to catch those who are misappropriating it, whether it’s players, coaches, or anyone else who has (or who can secure) access to that information.