Former Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck is expected to be the top pick by the Indianapolis Colts in this year’s NFL draft. Luck could be joining the team  after the Colts released Peyton Manning earlier this month.

Nike offered the two-time Heisman trophy runner-up an endorsement contract after Heisman trophy winner and expected No. 2 draft pick Robert Griffin III signed a deal with Adidas last month. Luck said in a news release issued by Nike, “I’m excited to be part of the Nike team. And I look forward to pursuing the next chapter of my career with such an innovative company supporting me.”

Nike is taking over this year as the NFL’s official onfield outfitter, a title previously held by Reebok.

Check out Andrew Luck in his first Nike spot:

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Photo: PRK / PR Photos

Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton just agreed to a multi-year partnership with Gatorade. The Heisman trophy-winning football player’s Gatorade gig will begin by working one-on-one with scientists from the Gatorade Sports Science Institute who will help him improve his on-field performance “through proper sports fueling and training.”

Newton will appear in future brand campaigns including television, print and digital advertising.

Photo: PR Newswire

Blake Griffin appears in this new commercial for the 2012 Kia Optima, and he isn’t dunking. Or doing anything with a basketball, even. It’s pretty random, but like the YouTube description says for the video: “Kia Optima + Blake Griffin. Not your average spokesperson. Not your average midsize sedan.”

Blake Griffin may be the best thing to happen to Kia.

Things are going well for Tiger Woods this week. Woods just signed a major new endorsement with  Fuse Science, Inc. The exclusive endorsement will have Woods as the sports nutrition and energy brand’s primary spokesperson in professional sports. The endorsement is said to give Woods an endorsement for his bag, something he hasn’t had since AT&T dropped him a couple years ago.

Woods is currently leading in the Australian Open, which puts him in position to possibly win the full-field tournament. It would be his first win in two years.

Olympic speed skater and SUBWAY spokesperson Apolo Ohno ran the 2011 ING New York City Marathon last Sunday. As you know, we’ve been documenting some of Apolo’s training over the past few months. This was Apolo’s first marathon and he finished with an impressive time of 3:25:14. On behalf of Apolo, SUBWAY donated $26,200 to the Special Olympics.

Apolo was joined in the race by Olympic softball legend Jennie Finch. She started the marathon dead last and sponsor Timex donated $1 to the New York Road Runners Youth Program for every runner she passed. Jennie crossed the finish line after 4 hours and passed approximately 30,000 people.

Big congrats to Apolo and Jennie! We love seeing athletes doing good!

*Thanks to Ross Kleinberg and Marlon LeWinter!

Photo: Diane Bondareff/AP Images for SUBWAY via Ross Kleinberg

Boxer Manny Pacquiao, according to Sports Business Daily, has signed a one-year endorsement deal with top-selling Cognac brand Hennessy. The deal, worth a reported $1M, will see Pacquiao in both TV and print ads for the brand. The campaign will launch in January.

Pacquiao signed the deal in LA while training for his fight against Juan Manuel Marquez. Video and photos will be shot in Pacquiao’s native Phillipines.

Hennessy is a part of the Paris-based luxury goods group which also owns Louis Vuitton and TAG Hauer.

Photo: Andrew Evans  / PR Photos

The home of the New Orleans Saints, the Superdome, will now be known as the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

The German automaker signed a 10-year naming-rights agreement with the Saints, who lease the state-owned stadium.

The Superdome has played host to six Super Bowls, a Republican presidential convention, a visit from the pope, and of course it served as a refuge for victims of Hurrican Katrina. The stadium got a $335 million facelift, paid for by the state, after the hurricane hit New Orleans in 2005.

The name-change comes ahead of the stadium hosting some of the most anticipated events in sports including the Allstate Sugar Bowl and Allstate BCS National Championship Game in January 2012, as well as the NCAA’s men’s Final Four basketball championships in April 2012 and the Super Bowl in 2013.

Photo: Mercedes-Benz

Running back Arian Foster, back from a hamstring injury that kept him from playing early in the season, helped lead the Houston Texans to a 17-10 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Foster scored a touchdown and racked up 155 yards in Sunday’s game.

Foster entered into an endorsement partnership today with Fuse Science’s Fuse Enerjel product. The product, an “innovative, performance-driven energy delivery system” helps muscle fatigue while giving your  body the energy it needs to perform. A natural supplement, the product is absorbed through the skin.

Foster said he tested the product while recovering from his injury and has made it part of his treatment routine.

“I believe that Fuse’s EnerJel will be the most effective product to get me ready for game day,” said Foster. “I don’t have time to wait the 30 minutes to an hour other products take to kick in and EnerJel allows me to train harder and longer. I am excited about this new relationship with Fuse Science and I appreciate the sample EnerJel products they have provided me for my training.”

Foster shot a promo video at the Crossfit Roughnecks Gym in Houston. The video will be up sometime this week at fusescience.com.

Photo: Crossfit Roughnecks Gym

LeBron James appears in a McDonald’s commercial that will be airing throughout the duration of the Monopoly Sweepstakes promotion. In the commercial, a voice-over pokes fun at James about the odds of him winning seven championships, which James interrupts with “Aw, c’mon man.” The voice-over follows up by saying, “Odds of LeBron winning a prize, one in four.”

What’s surprising about the commercial is that according to Advertising Age, James, “was totally fine with teasing and poking a little fun at himself with the notion of the odds of winning seven championships.”

Will LeBron’s likeability be affected by this national commercial? Or will he have to continue to poke fun at himself to prove he is not an egoist?

Check out the above picture of Olympic speed skater Apolo Ohno and former Bachelor contestant and U.S. Navy doctor Andy Baldwin taking a break on the set of a commercial shoot for Refuel with Chocolate Milk campaign.

Apolo is one of three athletes on Team Refuel along with Miami Heat star Chris Bosh and Olympic swimmer Dara Torres. Check out a video that the Refuel with Chocolate Milk did with a variety of Olympic athletes:

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Photo: Twitter