Look, I've seen a few NFL rookie quarterback hype machines, as Ryan Van Bibber dubs the phenomenon, and as enormously high as the expectations for Indianapolis Colts rookie Andrew Luck are going into the 2012 season, a hype machine doesn't really begin in earnest until it begins to throw off controversies with every move the quarterback makes. Thanks to RVB, we're getting there: He noticed that the weird touchdown pass Luck threw against the St. Louis Rams to open his in-game career last Sunday was predicated on a clear hold of Michael Brockers, the Rams' own first-round pick.
↵This isn't quite a full-blown hype machine controversy, because it's a) interesting and b) still about football; for a real one, see anything Tim Tebow has done off the field in the last four years. But like his not-quite-real career-opening touchdown, it's the harbinger of great things for Andrew Luck as an attention-sucking public figure—a hard thing to pull off operating out of Indianapolis.
↵The Rams, alas, won't see Luck in the regular season, which means we'll have to settle for the Robert Griffin III show on September 16. I wonder if they've spun up the hype machine in Washington yet?
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