Just in case, Andrew Luck hedges his bet on being 2012's No. 1 pick

Depending on your own priorities, Andrew Luck is either a) A breath of fresh air for turning down millions as the certain No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft to return to Stanford this fall in pursuit of a championship and a degree in architectural engineering, or b) Completely out of his mind. Either way, the Sporting News says he's going to get paid after settling on a diamond-studded insurance policy to protect him against losses to "debilitating injury":

Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck, who turned down NFL millions to stay in school, will have a multi-million dollar insurance policy – a total package that will likely dwarf what other college stars have had in recent years, Sporting News has learned.

The amount of the policy will be determined by the NFL’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement – a contentious issue in current labor talks that could disrupt the 2011 NFL season. Luck has secured a $5 million policy offered through the NCAA to cover any potential debilitating injury, and will add more once – or if – a new CBA is approved.

"The guaranteed money for top five or top 10 picks will be lower with the new CBA," said Luck’s father and West Virginia athletic director, Oliver Luck. "The question is, how much lower?"

The policy comes through the NCAA's Exception Student-Athlete Disability Insurance Program, which covers most potential first-round draft picks (players projected for the second and third rounds can also apply) who decide to return to school, albeit not quite as lucratively as it will Luck, whether or not he adds to the initial $5 million. The average policy reportedly goes in the neighborhood of $3 million, at an "astronomical" premium, according to Colt McCoy's dad, Brad, who helped Colt take out a policy that stood to pay $3 million to $5 million if he was seriously hurt after deciding to return for his senior season at Texas in 2009. McCoy's friend and rival, Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford, took out a policy reportedly worth up to $10 million when he passed up a No. 1 projection the same year. (The St. Louis Business Journal estimates Bradford and his family paid between $50,000 and $100,000 for a few months of coverage in '09, chump change compared to the $50 million guarantee he got last year from the St. Louis Rams after they drafted him No. 1, anyway.)

Of course, no standard policy covers the money you may lose because the scouts decided during your extra year on campus that you aren't as good as they thought you were – see Locker, Jake, who insured himself against injury when he decided to return to Washington last year, but won't recoup any of the difference between the deal he would have signed as the high first-rounder he was expected to be in 2010 and the deal he'll get as the low first or even second-rounder he's expected to be in 2011. Luck – who's been far, far more consistent and productive the last two years than Locker was at any point in his college career – probably doesn't have to worry about anyone changing their mind about his talent. But just in case, you know, he always has architecture.

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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

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