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He went out as a stranger into the city.On mornings before night games, he went out walking, when the street was pretty much empty. He was always in disguise, stopping short, he joked, of wearing a prosthetic nose. He put on a sock cap or ball cap and sunglasses above his neck beard. He might drape himself in a coat or a hoodie. He wore headphones and rolled Italian compression socks to his kneecaps, wore black flat-bottom CrossFit shoes and soccer shorts. The walks were a chance to clear his head, and the morning of a night game was the best time to go. He had all day to consider what awaited him, and sitting at a hotel and thinking about the game, about the expectations of him, might make anyone else insane.He wouldnt tell anybody where he was going. In Cincinnati, he walked across the bridge just to say he had set foot in Kentucky. In Buffalo, he walked circles around the hotel parking lot. In St. Louis, he wandered along the river, far past the stadium, into the middle of nowhere along the water.One person who ran into him a few years ago, walking down an empty street, remembers he cut a menacing figure. I see this huge guy in a big trench coat and this major beard, wearing a hat and sunglasses, and Im going, Oh Lord, protect me,? said Clyde Christensen, then the quarterbacks coach for the Colts. I was scared to death. But the closer I got, I said ... Oh, for goodness sake, thats just Andrew Luck.?ANDREW LUCK IS not in disguise as he lowers himself into the passenger seat of my two-door Honda Civic, 24 hours after signing the most lucrative contract in NFL history: a six-year, $140 million deal with $87 million guaranteed. Hes leaving the University of Indianapolis rec center after taking snaps from an imaginary center, thwacking the ball into his palm and dropping back while a camera crew filmed a commercial for the sports drink BodyArmor, a company in which he owns a stake. Hondas are good cars, he says, shutting the door. He and his sister shared an Accord at Stanford. (In talking to his teammates, not one but two of them will ask me the rhetorical, If Andrew were a car, which car would he be? They both answer: Subaru hatchback. Him, personified.)I joke about catching Luck in the afterglow of one of the biggest days of his life. Mustve been a hell of a day. Whatd he buy to celebrate? Ehhh, he says. It was not a hell of a day. It was an otherwise ordinary day. He spent much of it at an event for a childrens museum addition he helped design. Then he went home and read.Turns out the only thing hes bought since the contract signing is a black bean wrap from City Cafe. When he admits this, he laughs, in a way that some of his teammates describe as goofy, even nerdy: Ehh-hyuk-hyuk. When I ask him, seriously, about walking in disguise -- if thats really what he does, if its, as his teammates affirm, a way for him to disappear, to get out of his head, he levels his gaze. Youre going to f--- it all up, he says with a grin. He cuts me off and repeats: Oh, youre going to f--- it all up.The long walks and the fact that hes not really celebrating the contract are clues about what Luck expects of himself and about how he copes with others expectations of him. His landmark contract follows the worst year in his career, a season in which he not only was injured but seemed to regress as a quarterback. He threw 12 picks in seven games, and some of those were simply awful, the kind of reckless throws scouts thought he had outgrown. It wasnt unreasonable for GMs to wonder whether others -- Russell Wilson and Cam Newton, foremost -- had surpassed him. Some of the same execs will also say that Lucks new deal is a bargain for a future Hall of Fame quarterback -- assuming, of course, that he becomes one.And that has always been the assumption. Since his junior year at Stanford, when he could have been the top pick in the NFL draft if hed left, Luck has contended with the impossible expectations exclusive to only a few athletes per generation: that hell be not just a great player but a transcendent one, that his ridiculous beard will one day be cast in bronze. Now his new contract leaves no margin for error.Luck asks me to take him back to his condo so he can shower before dinner. I pull out into the street and promise Ill try not to kill him, that Ive never had anyone worth so much in the Civic. He slaps me on the back and, knowing that I live in Indy, tells me not to use my phone for navigation. He gives me a pep talk, as if I were his receiver: You cant use GPS. You know how to get there. When we pull up to the gate in the parking garage of his condo, he gives me a security code to enter. It doesnt work. He gives me another combination, then another. Five times, and he cant figure it out. Heres Andrew Luck, Stanford-educated quarterback and now the richest in the NFL, locked out. Wait here, he says, and gets out and hops around the gate.LUCK SAYS HE really wants to win a Super Bowl. He expects to win a Super Bowl, and he talks about it -- a lot. He has said those two words over and over this summer, in signing off phone calls with teammates, as a point of emphasis before closing his flip phone. I feel it this year, hed say. I feel like we have a good thing going, now all we have to do is go and win a Super Bowl. Lets just win a Super Bowl.He has come close. In January 2015, the Colts made it to the AFC championship game, where Luck stepped temporarily out of the shadow of Peyton Manning, a man hed been drafted to replace. It turned out to be a very famous game (something about air in footballs). Indy was destroyed by the Patriots, and Luck looked like an amateur against the aging-but-indestructible Tom Brady. Then, after the loss, Luck mistakenly answered deflated when asked how he was feeling and wished immediately that he could take it back. He had built his playing reputation as someone who didnt complain, didnt make excuses, and it sounded like a Freudian slip that he was both complaining and making an excuse. Which drove him nuts.When he fails, Luck suffers more than most. To witness him walking the sideline after he turns the ball over is to see someone muttering expletives and hitting the sides of his helmet repeatedly -- Why did I do that? Why did I do that? -- as if to bash it into his mind forever. Colts offensive lineman Anthony Castonzo says he and Luck have argued after bad games about who sucks more. Hell be like, I threw those picks because I suck. Were yelling at each other trying to take the blame.Then there is the matter of his seeming reluctance to slide -- something he has, almost begrudgingly, vowed to be better at this season. He refuses to comment on this with me. But Christensen, his former coach, offers this startling anecdote: We were playing Jacksonville; he played poorly the first quarter. He breaks a run and, instead of sliding, he runs dead into two linebackers. They pummel him. I ask him, What were you thinking? He said, Im playing so bad, I dont deserve to slide; Im not a good enough QB; I deserve to get the crap knocked out of me. I said, You were thinking all that on your run? He says, Clyde, I stink, Im sorry. Always apologizing, always telling other position players, Im going to play better.?HE IS AN ELOQUENT guy, but often those words reveal nothing about him. Luck doesnt like to put himself out there, a habit he says he developed as his family followed the career of his father, former NFL quarterback Oliver Luck, who was president and GM of a Major League Soccer team and a commentator for the NFL in England and Germany. I like to blend in, he says. Ive always been private, even as a kid. We moved around a lot. Like 13 times by the time I was 11. It was my personality, I think. I didnt want to stick out ... as the new kid.Its not that he doesnt want to be around people. But at this point in his career he knows the expectations that fame carries, and hed rather not. If he wants to be anywhere with a crowd, its with his friends as buffers, playing darts on a weeknight, or at trivia night, where his team is usually called Nic Cage Fan Club (never a k in Nic). He stays in his condo a lot or goes to farm-to-table restaurants where the chefs and staff know him and he is left alone. Or sometimes his mom and dad, when theyre in town, bring him food.He started the Andrew Luck Book Club online this spring because he loves reading and wants kids and other people who like football to love it too. Though he doesnt have a personal Twitter account, teammates surmise that the book clubs account (@ALBookClub) is so amateurish that Luck has to be running it himself. Its true, he tells me; its actually him, and you can look there for breadcrumbs of his personality. He uploads videos of himself leaving messages for readers, sitting in his condo or by Indys famous Soldiers and Sailors monument, or hosting Q&As. A common theme of the books is dealing with being alone: Gary Paulsens Hatchet, Andy Weirs The Martian, Jerry Spinellis Maniac Magee. But when I ask whether the selections say anything about him, he responds, It was unintended. I try not to make a point.Although his former backup, Matt Hasselbeck, says Luck is proud that he can tell you the periodic table, Luck seems almost embarrassed by his intellect. Those who really know him say he has a complete aversion to pop culture, but they also describe him as sweetly smooth. Theres a story one of his teammates tells about the time at Stanford when Luck took his girlfriend, Nicole Pechanec, to a dance and gave her a corsage, and they pretended to be at prom because, having been home-schooled, shed never been to one. He famously still uses a flip phone, and his perfect day might be making himself oatmeal, going to throw, then burying himself in a book such as Garth Steins The Art of Racing in the Rain.He can be passive-aggressive off the field; if he wants ice cream, or to grab a beer, or to go see a movie, he wont actually say what he wants. Hell frame it as a question: Is anyone else feeling ice cream? Or instead of asking someone to get up when his girlfriend enters the room, its Wheres Nicole going to sit? He does nothing, it seems, without calculation. The harder he gets hit on the field, for instance, the more energy he projects, bouncing into the air with those nasal, corny compliments that have become iconic, and confusing, to defenses: Good hit, big guy! He wants the defenders to get tired, and pissed, and it works.Luck, an architectural design grad, can converse on just about anything, but he also communicates in another way, a primal way, with force. As we head out of the parking garage on our way to dinner, he is hitting my shoulder, slapping me on the back to make a point. His hands are huge, and he has the strength, as Hasselbeck says, of Wolverine. (Hes physical. ... If somebody was uncomfortable with that, they would be very uncomfortable with him, Castonzo says.) When he talks, he uses his hands, thrusting his digits into the air for emphasis. Hes describing a building, a piece of midrise brutalism in downtown Indy, but Im looking the wrong way. He grabs my shoulders, strongly enough to lift me off the ground a little, and turns me in the other direction. No, no, there, he says.Ehh-hyuk-hyuk.LUCK WAS DRAFTED by the Colts as the No.?1 pick in 2012. The team had gone 2-14 the season before. Rather than cower in the presence of Peyton Mannings ghost, he embraced it, asking coaches what Manning would do in certain situations. He won 11 games as a rookie. Luck was 23 years old and still wearing suits from Jos. A. Bank, but he could make any throw that was asked of him, and he surpassed expectations immediately, propelling himself into even bigger ones.But last season was a disaster, the worst of his short career. He played only seven games and had a lacerated kidney, which at one point caused him to piss blood. Coach Chuck Pagano and GM Ryan Grigson were at odds, with speculation that both were on their way out the door, and a weird vibe built around Luck and the team. It was like he was so disappointed in himself for getting hurt and not playing, he felt he didnt deserve to be himself around us, Castonzo says. He wouldnt stay at our pregame dinner as late. He just ... wasnt as available. We didnt hang out as much. It was like he didnt want to be around the guys and feel like he didnt belong.Luck admits he was probably a little bit of a brat, but not to his teammates: I was quiet when I got home, lethargic, and I didnt want to do anything. I was kind of like a cancer, a black hole. Not in front of the team but in front of my girlfriend. Maybe I knew she could handle it better. So unfortunately Nicole probably got the short end of the stick for a few months.Few people had a clearer view of how Luck handled last season than Hasselbeck, who had Saturday night dinners during the season with Luck, listening to him vent, listening to him complain about how the coaches would sometimes let him off the hook. Hasselbeck says Luck couldve become distant when he was sidelined -- some injured starters dont want their backups to do well. But Luck was Hasselbecks biggest fan, always running up during and after games -- Hey! Did you see this? -- and helping study film. During their dinners, Lucks anxiety showed in subtle ways. Hed talk faster, louder. And when hed talk about his fears, he wouldnt acknowledge the obvious: the possibility he might not become a great quarterback.That possibility might not be all up to him, of course. He entered the league as the most complete quarterback since John Elway, says ESPN NFL analyst Trent Dilfer. If I had more faith in their organization, I would say hes going to be the best player in the NFL within the next year or two. You can only be as good as the people around you, though. They havent built a defense thats going to get him the ball back enough. Im concerned they havent invested enough in the O-line. Him being too reckless is a product of him feeling like he has to put on the Superman cape. Luck just tries to make too many plays. Like Favre, always trying to hit a home run.LUCK IS NOT immune to conjecture. He is not oblivious to what other people think, or expect. He reads The New York Times. He was raised throwing Nerf footballs -- inside his house when it was too cold to be outside -- with his arm cocked, as his father taught him, exactly like Dan Marino. He grew up watching and wanting to emulate his dad, and through him saw how professional athletes behaved.Andrews always had high expectations, Oliver says. Im not really sure the contract adds any pressure. I dont know if you can do anything other than plan, prepare. He was one of those kids that did his homework on time, he wasnt late for class. ... Sometimes I think if all this ... hullabaloo, you know, will somehow change his values. But I really dont worry about that. I think hes strong enough in his personality. These are First World problems.Andrew bristles at certain words -- like expectations, like greatness -- shaking his head, sweeping them away with his hands. I always put pressure on myself, he says. I feel like I always have something to prove to myself. I dont necessarily view this contract as a reward for doing well. I need to prove to myself that Im a good player, that Im a winner. I felt that way in middle school. I felt that way at Stanford. I think deep down I want a challenge.WE ARRIVE AT dinner, a place called India Garden. Its often empty on weeknights, the tables draped in white cloth and little candles, quiet except for the clink of dishes, which is why he has become a frequent patron. He knows the names of the two servers, and their faces light up when we walk in. One of them, Vivek, takes the quarterbacks hand in both of his and says, Thank you, thank you, thank you for staying. Vivek brings us two glasses coated with ice and two bottles of Kingfisher beer.I ask Luck again to tell me how he celebrated his new contract. He doesnt crack. Im sitting here with you, having a beer, right now, he says. I understand people congratulate you, and its cool, but at the same time, congratulate me for what? To me, its about winning. I want to be congratulated for winning a Super Bowl. I dont want to be congratulated for having a contract.He orders vegetable pakora, the chicken tikka, the dal makhani, the chana masala. His mom would always take the kids to eat Indian food, no matter where they lived, and he has loved it ever since.Vivek brings a note to our table. Someone else has paid for dinner. There are now five other people in the restaurant, and none of them is looking up. Light from the little candle flickers as he reads the note. Andrew, Thanks for staying in Indy another 6 years! Your biggest fans. He shakes his head. One of the things Ive noticed is, how come when you start making money, people want to give you free things? It doesnt make sense. But then before we leave, he says thank you out loud to all five people in the restaurant, not knowing who paid the bill. He puts his cap on and goes outside.As soon as hes out the door and has lingered a minute on the sidewalk, an SUV screeches to a halt in the middle of a one-way street and veers left to park. Several people get out, and Luck braces himself. A stranger runs out and starts screaming his name, and here come more people, falling into him. Their phones are out, they hug him, he puts his arm around them as they take pictures, and he pauses for about 10 minutes, never turning anyone away. The people keep coming, congratulating him, telling him they cant wait for this season. When theyre gone, the street is empty, and he walks back home by himself. Justin HeckertHeckert is a writer for ESPN. join the conversation follow @JustinHeckert follow @ESPN Cheap Salomon Shoes China . But when it comes to determining if Raymond will find a place on the Leafs roster when training camp concludes in a week, well, that decision will ultimately fall to the head coach. Cheap Ecco Shoes China . LOUIS -- Mike Smith is used to facing plenty of shots, so this was nothing new. http://www.cheapshoeschinaonline.com/cheap-puma-shoes-china-153a.html . 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It escalates.Ten or so gunshots later, one driver is dead and the other waits nervously to give his side of the story to police.Conflicts settled by gunfire are tragically common in New Orleans but there was nothing routine about this one: the dead man was retired football player Will Smith, a star on the 2006 Saints team that help lift the stricken citys spirits with a winning season after Hurricane Katrina, and on the team that won the franchises only Super Bowl three seasons later.The accused is a 29-year-old former semiprofessional football player named Cardell Hayes. The owner of a tow-truck company and the father of a 5-year-old son, Hayes is described by friends as soft-spoken, even-tempered -- hardly the type to erupt into a lethal road rage. His attorney has been laying the groundwork for a self-defense argument ahead of a trial that opens Monday, but he may face an added burden in Smiths local popularity and national renown.Will Smith obviously was a beloved member of the New Orleans community, Loyola University law professor Dane Ciolino said in a recent interview. And thats going to make the defense of this case all the more difficult.Smiths shooting death is strangely similar to that of Joe McKnight, another former NFL player who was shot and killed just last Thursday in a New Orleans suburb after a road rage incident on a nearby bridge spiraled out of control. The man authorities identified as the shooter in that case -- Ronald Gasser -- has been released from custody with no charges as the investigation continues.Hayes has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in Smiths death. Conviction carries a mandatory life sentence. Hes also charged with attempted second-degree murder in the wounding of Smiths wife, who was shot in the legs. Hes been jailed since the April shooting, unable to make the $1.75 million bond.Snippets of surveillance video from near the scene, police statements plus testimony from pre-trial hearings paint this picture of what happened on April 9:Smith, his wife and two friends left a restaurant in New Orleans Lower Garden District and were heading downtown on Magazine Street. At one point Smiths SUV appeared to bump the rear of a Hummer that had come to a stop on the street.Rather than stop, Smith swerved his SUV around the Hummer and continued downtown. Moments later, the Hummer hit Smiths SUV from behind, shatterinng the rear window and pushing it into the rear of another car -- in which more friends of Smith were riding.ddddddddddddho the aggressors were in the ensuing conflict will be at issue in the trial. Hayes acknowledged to at least one police officer that he was armed when he got out of his vehicle. He said he was accosted by an unarmed Smith and others, and that Smith struck him, although police said there were no obvious signs of injury.The first officer to approach the scene after the crash was an off-duty rookie who had been at a nearby bar. Christopher McGaw has testified that he approached the scene as the argument grew more heated, ducked for cover when gunshots rang out, then approached again, finding Smith slumped across the front seat of his car, one hand extended toward the glove box.What was I supposed to do? Hayes is heard asking McGaw, on a recording of a 911 call McGaw had placed at the scene.Why Smith drove away from the scene of the first, apparently minor accident; whether Hayes intentionally rammed Smiths vehicle moments later; whether Smith was reaching for a gun when he was shot to death -- all are issues that will likely be addressed at trial.On the side of the defense is a toxicology report showing that Smith was legally drunk at the time of his death. Other factors Ciolino cited: The fact that Will Smith was, by some reports, so loud and belligerent; the fact that the forensic evidence, arguably could support that Will Smith was reaching for a gun.Smith had returned to his SUV when he was shot and police said there was a loaded gun in the vehicle. That might help the defense argument that Hayes shot in self-defense, Ciolino said. But its an argument that could be blunted by the fact that Smith was shot eight times -- seven in the back, one in the side -- Ciolino added.Prosecutors also have made much of the fact that Hayess Hummer had hit Smiths SUV from behind so hard that the rear window shattered.Another odd twist in the case: A friend of Smiths who wound up at the scene the night of the shooting is William Ceravolo, a retired New Orleans police officer who had dined with the Smiths before the accident. Ceravolo was among six officers sued by Hayes after police killed his father, Anthony Hayes, in December 2005. Police settled the lawsuit in 2011, and terms were confidential. ' ' '