Andrew Luck's trash talk style confuses the heck out of opponents

The funny thing about Andrew Luck is he’s one of the NFL’s biggest stars after just a few seasons with the Indianapolis Colts, but we don’t really know a ton about his personality.

We know he’s a pretty nice guy, the type that will stop and pose for pictures with a couple that just got married, but he’s mostly not known for much off the field.

Now we know one thing, from a really funny and fantastic Wall Street Journal story: Luck is the NFL’s strangest trash talker.

Luck is not exactly Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman, giving fake yawns to opponents because his job is too easy. According to the WSJ, Luck greets all defenders who hit him with an enthusiastic and sincere compliment. The paper said it talked to 12 NFL players who have sacked or knocked down Luck, and Luck delivered the same over-the-top props to all of them. The WSJ said it’s usually something like ”great job” or “what a hit!” even on hard hits that don’t result in sacks.

“In all the years I’ve played football I have never heard anything like it,” Washington Redskins linebacker Ryan Kerrigan told the Wall Street Journal. “Nothing even close.”

Nobody was quite sure if Luck was doing some brilliant reverse psychology or he’s just genuinely that nice (Luck didn't comment for the story), even to opponents trying to flatten him. But Redskins linebacker Trent Murphy, Luck’s teammate at Stanford, said Luck would stop film sessions to compliment an opponent’s hit on him.

“He’s yelling ‘nice hit, nice hit!’ and we’re like ‘uh, no one else does this,” Murphy said. “His idea of trash talk is complimenting people.”

It really is strange. And hilarious. And maybe it works, too. Luck has 4,492 yards with two games to go this season, and is headed to the playoffs for the third time in three seasons. It’s also worth noting that no matter how many times he has been hit – he has been sacked 99 times in the NFL – nobody has gotten the best of him. He hasn’t missed a game in his career yet.

No wonder Luck is so upbeat about getting hit. It doesn’t seem to affect him too much.

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdowncorner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab

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