Saul: Luck’s decision to stay in school refreshing

Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck was 10 minutes of paperwork away from millions of dollars in… Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck was 10 minutes of paperwork away from millions of dollars in contract money and endorsements.

He was eight months away from being a household name and the face of one lucky NFL franchise.

But with all that on the table, Luck said “No thanks.”

But why? In this day and age, it’s incredibly rare to see such a young athlete turn down the opportunity to sign a multi-million dollar contract. In fact, most people are trying to get those contracts even earlier.

Take the NBA for example, whose player union is advocating for high school all-stars to be draft eligible without having to complete a day, let alone a year, of college.

Luck, who was virtually everyone’s No. 1 draft pick on the board and was set to head to the Carolina Panthers with the first overall pick in April’s draft, might have made a smart decision.

First of all, who wants to play for the Panthers? Carolina, who won a whopping two games this season, is in the midst of a coaching staff overhaul and in a transition period from mediocre to atrocious.

With an old receiving corps starring a gimpy Steve Smith who hasn’t been a big-time threat for a few years now, Luck would hardly be the final piece of the puzzle.

He knows, just as the Panthers likely do, that he’ll probably have more fun playing at Stanford this year. Luck has two years of eligibility remaining, but he is set to graduate next spring.

“I am committed to earning my degree in architectural design from Stanford University and am on track to accomplish this at the completion of the spring quarter of 2012,” Luck said in a statement issued through the school.

After a season where he set school records for touchdowns with 32 and completion percentage of 70.7 percent, the idea of Luck returning is frightening for the rest of the country. After finishing second in the Heisman ballots to Auburn quarterback Cam Newton this year, Luck will be the top choice for Heisman if he gives a repeat performance.

Additionally, there is the threat of a lockout season in the NFL. Maybe Luck believes the NFL won’t be in action next year or the possibility is frightening enough that he decided to play it safe. Either way, if the NFL isn’t playing and Luck goes on to have another outstanding season, win the Heisman, find a home that isn’t Carolina and turns into a winner, maybe we’ll all call him a genius.

But still, passing up the opportunity of a lifetime is a huge risk. On top of the obvious threat of injury, Stanford doesn’t even know who its coach will be next year after former coach Jim Harbaugh took the head coaching job with the San Francisco 49ers.

Interestingly, the day that one college all-star decides to stay put, another former star college quarterback is headed into the market.

Vince Young, the Titans quarterback and former national champion at the University of Texas, is officially going to be cut or traded by the Titans, the team announced Thursday. Titans owner Bud Adams released a statement Thursday concerning Young’s departure.

“Today, I informed our general manager Mike Reinfeldt to move forward with plans to begin the process of identifying the next quarterback for our franchise,” Adams said. “He will inform Vince Young’s agent that Vince will not be on our roster next season.”

Young, whose career is at a crossroads, has taken a lot of heat for various incidents, such as a fight he was involved in at a strip club this past summer. He has a history of poor relationships with players and coaches, and has even left the team in the middle of a season to address personal problems.

Despite this, Young is still an interesting prospect. At 6 foot 5, the mobile quarterback is still a winner with a 30-17 record in his five NFL seasons. If the right opportunity came around, I could see Young turning into an NFL star like many people thought he once would.

So, on a day where a soon-to-be college legend decided to suspend his professional career, a real-life college legend that has faced the debilitating scrutiny of a sometimes disappointing career has become available.

Teams’ draft boards will shift, their free agent targets will rotate, picks will swap and suddenly one decision by 21-year-old Andrew Luck has had a ripple effect on the entire National Football League.

Who knows? Maybe he will start a trend.