– Derek Allen, Attorney –

Congratulation to new Colts quarterback Andrew Luck, who I imagine accomplished a lifelong dream last night when he was selected as the first pick in the NFL Draft. Unfortunately for him, however, it looks he’s already taken a hit as a result of being one of the NFL’s newest stars.

While a high school senior back in 2008, Luck played in an all-star football game. Leaf Trading Cards thinks it is entitled to produce Andrew Luck football cards with a picture of him playing during that game (pictured left), while Luck (and his lawyers) disagree. When Luck’s lawyers sent a cease-and-desist letter to Leaf Trading Cards, Leaf responded by filing suit in Texas state court against Luck (being sued by Leaf is, I suppose, probably a better thing for Luck than becoming another type of well-known Leaf who’s familiar to NFL and police blotter fans). Leaf’s lawyers want the court to decide whether it is entitled to produce the cards.

Some in the media tend to think this is nothing but cheap publicity for Leaf (they did, after all, bring the suit only days before Luck was going to be the first pick in last night’s NFL draft). If so, it seems to be working as “andrew luck sued” is the second auto-fill option on google when you type “andrew l” into the search bar.  (I hope I’m not the only one who judges something’s popularity based on google auto-fill).

Regardless of the case’s merits, it appears that Luck is well on his way to learning one of the lessons of being a star quarterback in the NFL — there is always a target on your back.