Andrew Luck mustache verdict: Bring back the neard!

First, people wanted to hate on Andrew Luck's neck beard.

Then, the poor guy does something about it -- shaving it into a neat little mustache -- and the hate of his facial hair choice seems to have gotten even worse.

What's a guy to do?

After a story posted earlier Tuesday that Luck had shed most of his facial hair, the reaction poured in via Twitter.

He looks like that middle school kid who could grow a mustache long before his classmates. He resembles an adult movie star. Creeper 'stache, they called it.

In the end, most people around Indy and the rest of America do not, we repeat, do not like the new look. They felt regret for not liking the Indianapolis Colts quarterback just the way he was.

The look is a bit shocking, what with his usual mop of hair surrounding his face. He almost looks naked.

Our own sports columnist Gregg Doyel joined the majority, calling for the neard to return. Surprising, since he often likes to ruffle a few feathers.

Many seemed to think the mustache makes him look unsavory.

Why not create an NFL mustache club?

Hey, it took courage Andrew.

And then there was the guy, one of few, who was a fan.

Here is the original story published earlier Tuesday.

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck went down under and came up a lot less hairy.

Actually, almost bald-faced, compared to that neard people love to hate.

It seems Luck was in Sydney last week and took photos with fans who then posted his mustache-only look to social media.

We'll let you be the judge of which way he looks better. Luck admits on a regular basis that the neck beard is horrendous.

In November of 2013, he tackled the neard subject in a Star story.

Q: OK. What about the facial hair?

A: "Uh. It's not very good."

Q: Does your girlfriend like it?

A: "She permits me. She permits me to do whatever I want with it. It's usually my mom who gets on me about my facial hair. I can't grow a good mustache so I guess it's just a neck beard. I just have trouble growing up there. But I've tried to clean it up a little more lately."

But by 2015, the beard was far from cleaned up.

"I'm not going for any specific look," he told reporters in January. "I know (it's) a bad look, I get that. But I hate shaving during the season so I guess it's here to stay…"

Season's over and, evidently, he is shaving.

The neard has caused plenty of people to take a shot at Luck's facial feature. It happened as recently as last week when NFL Memes revealed Luck as Marvel Comics' the Beast.

Then there was the comic Luck.

And, finally, the Legos.

Just because the beard is gone, we wouldn't advise throwing out any of your Luck neard collectibles. You can bet that it won't be long until the neard is back in some form.

Follow Dana Benbow on Twitter: @DanaBenbow.