By now everyone knows that Andrew Luck has decided to stay at Stanford and finish his collegiate career with a degree and that his coach Jim Harbaugh has moved on to coach the NFL San Francisco 49ers. Although it shocked the majority of fans, coaches and teams, it probably was the best decision Luck will ever make.

Luck’s decision to stay at Stanford reminded us all of the true meaning of the title: ‘student-athlete’. These kids are in school to get an education and a college degree and sometimes it’s easy to forget that.

The majority of them get scholarships to play for their school, but of that majority, only a small minority actually turns that into a profession and a career. The problem is that an even smaller amount of them realize it.

They see and hear about the top dollar contracts and the big name endorsements and they want it… now.  And with everyone telling them to do leave for the pros and a mansion and Bentley in the horizon, can you blame them?

College stars are like Hollywood celebrities without the paycheck. Sure, they get basically every thing covered from tuition to clothing, but so does the backup punter on the full-scholarship. The big name college athletes are just that—big names. They get the same benefits as the rest of the players, but their name alone brings in millions of dollars to the university. Don’t believe me? What comes to mind when you hear ‘Tebow’ or ‘McCoy’?

So obviously the temptations are there for college athletes to run to the big bucks in the NFL, but that’s the problem.

Success in college is not guaranteed in the NFL, especially at the quarterback position. It’s an obvious fact of the game, but try telling that to a Heisman winner or National Champion. For every Peyton Manning or Troy Aikman there are five Ryan Leaf’s.

In the past 10 years, we’ve had eight quarterbacks selected with the first overall pick in the NFL draft. Of those eight quarterbacks, only four completed the 2010 season as the starter and only two have a winning career record.

That’s an alarming stat and maybe Andrew Luck was the only one who bothered to pay attention to it, while the rest of us were busy stitching his name onto a Panthers jersey.

He may have missed his opportunity to strike gold, but what good is gold if you don’t know what to do with it?

Instead of coaches preparing their players for the NFL Combine, they should be preparing them for life because it comes faster and hits harder than any opponent every will.

Football is life for some people and to others it’s just a game.

No one knows what will happen with Andrew Luck next season at Stanford, but when his name is finally called on draft day, at least he can say that he’s already accomplished something.

Used with permission of the author.

Los Angeles Based Logan Rhoades is the Associate Editor of the website JocksBehindBars.com. With an extensive knowledge of ESPN topics and celebrity gossip, he is known for mixing sports and pop culture. Check out his “Skip to My Logan” blog and Follow him on Twitter @loganrhoades.

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