As a Pro Bowl quarterback for the NFL's Indianapolis Colts, Andrew Luck has climbed to the top of the heap in American football.
But the son of former Houston Dynamo president and GM Oliver Luck turns to the other football to relax, as he related to GQ in a soccer-centric interview this week.
“I grew up in Europe and soccer was the first organized game I played,” said Luck, who revealed that he played intramural soccer on the sly during his decorated NCAA career at Stanford University.
“It’s a diversion for me, a mental respite. Watching soccer is my main hobby, really. I’m no tactician or coach, but I enjoy watching the free flow of it, the different styles, and the histories behind clubs.”
Luck said his father's time at the helm of the Dynamo “rekindled” his childhood love of the beautiful game. And while he traveled all the way to Mexico City to take in a US-Mexico World Cup qualifier and does his best to track US players abroad, he remains “90 percent MLS” in his watching habits thanks to his support of the Orange.
“Houston is my team, always and forever,” he said. “But with the new TV packages, it’s so easy to watch every league in the world and my overseas fandom is driven by the American guys. If Sunderland’s on TV, I’ll watch Jozy Altidore. I try to watch Geoff Cameron at Stoke. When Clint Dempsey was at Tottenham, I watched a lot of his games.”
And as many soccer purists who try to watch NFL games can relate, there's another aspect of footy fandom that Luck appreciates.
“There are great storylines, and no commercials,” he said.
