Throwback Thursday: Colts Pick Their Man At No. 1

The Indianapolis Colts had just come off of an atrocious 2-14 season in 2011 in which franchise quarterback Peyton Manning had been sidelined the entire season due to a neck injury only to be later released by the team in the off-season where he would become a free agent. The Colts were without a quarterback and needed to fill the void fast.

Thankfully for the Colts, things couldn’t have worked out better as the team’s record in 2011 earned them the rights to the first pick of the 2012 NFL Draft where Andrew Luck, one of the most highly touted players coming out of college since John Elway, was the clear-cut candidate for the Colts at No. 1.

There was a great deal of speculation as to whether the Colts should go with Luck, or rather go with Baylor’s Robert Griffen the third, whom was more of a prototypical running quarterback who had won the Heisman trophy over Luck in 2011. But GM Ryan Grigson knew that a player like Luck was a once in a generation type of player and couldn’t pass up on drafting the young prospect out of Stanford.

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Fast forward to the night of April 26, 2012. Commissioner Roger Goodell calls Luck’s name as the number one overall pick to the Colts as the Washington Redskins take RG3 at No. 2. The entire Colts organization knows that they are finally set for the future with a young building block like Luck.

The decision would later turn out to be the best decision for the Colts as Luck took the league by storm his rookie year, leading the Colts to an 11-5 record and a playoff berth one year removed after being the worst team in the NFL, one of the biggest turnarounds in NFL history.

Today, it still looks that the Colts are set for success for years to come as Luck has led the team to the post-season in each of his three seasons, going further and further in the playoffs every year. For the Colts organization and the fans, going from Peyton Manning to Andrew Luck is something that is one of its kind and a very fortunate series of events for the team. Colts fans can expect to be a very strong force to be reckoned with for years to come as long as Luck is under center.