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While his NFL career may have ended prematurely, Andrew Luck had plenty of talent. That reality helped make the former Indianapolis Colts quarterback a rich man; by the time he received his final football paycheck, he had earned almost $110 million in raw salary. Although that’s more than enough money to splurge on some high-tech gadgets, Luck did things a bit differently.

Despite his impressive earnings, Andrew Luck never used an iPhone, Android, or any other smartphone. Instead, he preferred to carry a flip phone, as if it was 1999.

Andrew Luck’s football career wasn’t long, but it was impressive

In the modern NFL, everything starts and ends with a good quarterback. During his time on the gridiron, though, Andrew Luck proved to be more than just good.

After making a name for himself in high school, Luck headed to Stanford University. He redshirted during his first year on campus but, in 2009, claimed the starting quarterback job during his freshman season on the Cardinals football team. While his inaugural campaign was solid, if unremarkable, he exploded after that; Luck never claimed the Heisman Trophy—he came in second place on two separate occasions—but he threw for 9,430 yards and 82 touchdowns during three NCAA seasons.

When the 2011 NFL draft rolled around, the Indianapolis Colts snagged Luck with the first-overall pick. He led the club to 11 wins that year, throwing for a rookie-record 4,374 passing yards.

While the quarterback’s star continued to rise, injury problems eventually became his undoing. Luck first hurt his shoulder in 2015; he had surgery after the 2016 campaign and missed the entire 2017 season recovering. Although he returned to action in 2018 and claimed Comeback Player of the Year honors, he had enough; the quarterback decided to retire after seven seasons of professional football.

That injury-shortened career was still incredibly profitable

According to the Indianapolis Star, Colts owner Jim Irsay estimated that Andrew Luck could be leaving up to half a billion dollars in future earnings on the table by retiring. Despite that reality, the quarterback still took home plenty of money in the NFL.

Based on Spotrac’s financial data, Luck earned just over $109 million during his NFL career. That includes $12 million for the 2019 season even though the quarterback retired; that’s his roster bonus as he was still on the Colts’ roster when the league calendar rolled over.

Beyond that raw salary and his endorsement deals, CelebrityNetWorth estimates that Luck has a total fortune of $40 million. While that number could have been much larger, it’s still an impressive haul for seven years on the job.

Despite that salary, Andrew Luck never upgraded from a flip phone

With millions of dollars in the bank, Andrew Luck could have purchased every piece of technology that his heart desired. The Colts quarterback, however, apparently didn’t desire too much.

As USA Today explained in 2016, the quarterback refused to upgrade beyond a flip phone. Even as the highest-paid player in the NFL, Luck saw no need to pick up the latest iPhone or Android. In fact, there was some pretty sound logic behind his decision.

“One, I like it,” Luck explained.” It’s a comfort thing. I think anybody can appreciate that, if you’re used to that. Two, I don’t think I want to be connected 24/7, and this phone is maybe sort of a reminder that you don’t have to be connected. And it’s nice to get away. It’s nice to turn your phone off.”

With that being said, though, the quarterback assured reporters that he was able to text and call as required. For more in-depth tasks, he also had an iPad.

Stats courtesy of Sports-Reference and Pro-Football-Reference

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Joe Kozlowski

Joe Kozlowski began his career as a sports journalist in 2013 and joined Sportscasting in 2019. He covers the NBA and soccer for Sportscasting, with specialties in legacy NBA players such as Michael Jordan and Premier League club Arsenal. Off the clock, he’s a Kansas City Chiefs fan and a hockey goalie.

Growing up loving Shaquille O’Neal and reading everything he could about the great big men throughout NBA history — likely because he was still tall enough, at least relative to his peers, to play center — he’s continued to love learning about and exploring the historical and story-based sides of the basketball archives.

As for Arsenal, Joe spent a year living in London and latched onto the local support of the club. He’s barely missed a match since, loving Arsene Wenger, enduring the Banter Era, and following along through rebuilds. The Premier League interest developed into a passionate following of the Champions League, Europe’s big five league, and international soccer as a whole when played at the highest level.

Regardless of the sport, Joe is captivated by the stories of athletes beyond the box scores and how they push the envelope — both in terms of what we think a human is capable of accomplishing and how they find new competitive tactics to win.