Posted on 08/28/2019 5:08:08 PM PDT by Kaslin
Andrew Luck, who had signed a $140 million extension with the Indianapolis Colts, decided to retire at the age of 29. Still young. Still, in his prime, the Colts’ franchise quarterback decided to call it quits two weeks before the start of the regular season. The announcement sent shockwaves through the NFL and the sports journalism world. Luck appeared to be ready for the 2019 season, saying in December that he pretty much was loving the game the most out of any point in his career at that point. Yet, Luck has been marred by injuries: a shoulder injury that left him sidelined for the entire 2017 season, a lacerated kidney, a partially torn abdomen, and now this mysterious ankle injury. Luck is walking out on anywhere between $250-500 million. In an emotional press conference, Luck said that brutal cycle of injury, rehab, injury, and rehab had caused him to rethink what’s important in life; he wasn’t able to live the way he wanted. The August 24th announcement is considered by some to be the biggest NFL scoop of the Twitter era and it was NFL insider Adam Schefter who nabbed it (via The Big Lead):
Andrew Luck's FULL Retirement Press Conference | NFL News
Even as we’ve had the day to digest the news that Andrew Luck is retiring at 29, Adam Schefter’s Saturday night scoop came from beyond the clouds. You had to check the news eight times to make sure it wasn’t some troll job. When it became clear the news was real, it was jaw-dropping. Thinking about it, it’s the biggest single NFL scoop since advent of Twitter in 2006, and it could even go back a lot further than that. Certainly, there have been bigger broader stories than this one. The Mort 12 football Deflategate scoop would’ve been bigger than this had that info not wound up being marred by intel from the league side that was at best misleading and possibly false. Colin Kaepernick, Aaron Hernandez, Darren Sharper, Ray Rice, Spygate, Bountygate and CTE have all been bigger story subjects but there’s not really a transactional scoop that everybody associates with them. […] To get to the same scoop realm, I think you need to go all the way back to Chris Mortensen breaking the news late at night on ESPN in July of 1999 that Barry Sanders was retiring from the Lions. In a brief Twitter exchange with me, Mort said he agrees that Luck is the biggest scoop since Sanders and that this one is even bigger. I’ll defer to his knowledge here, but think you could make a reasonable argument the Sanders news was a bigger stunner since he was healthy whereas Luck has been battling arm and leg injuries for several years.
Luck didn’t suffer a career-ending injury, but he has been beaten to a pulp for most of his seven-year tenure in the NFL. The young QB took punishment. The injury history bears that out. It goes without saying, you need to protect your quarterback. You can give him all the weapons on offense if there is no protection--it isn't worth a damn. Yes, there are some notable exceptions concerning QBs who work behind some bad offensive lines. Seattle’s Russell Wilson has been running for his life for a bit now, but he’s able to extend plays and wins games. Houston's Deshaun Watson could win the AFC South for the Texans, but that offensive line has been trouble as well, expect him to also be running around like crazy as the pocket collapses around him. Overall, it leaves your most important position player vulnerable to injury and Watson has been injured; he tore his ACL in 2017. Also, it impacts the run game; you've got to give your running backs a lane they can exploit.
The New York Giants’ Eli Manning has also suffered under horrendous offensive line play, which has produced miserable results for the franchise (I know there are other factors), but the trade-off, in terms of player health, is that Manning is an ironman. In his 16-year career, he’s never been injured.
Nick and Cris react to Andrew Luck retiring after 7 seasons with Colts | NFL | FIRST THINGS FIRST
How will the Colts offense change with Jacoby Brissett as the starter? | NFL | FIRST THINGS FIRST
Luck was talented, certainly one who would win a Super Bowl, but he was at the end of his rope after seven years. What also stuck out was the fan reaction: they booed him. Luck didn’t plan on doing his retirement presser over the weekend, but Schefter moved up that timeline. Is it an a-hole move? Schefter has a job too and if he had enough to go with this story, it was only a matter of time before a competitor did.
The fans booing him off the field in the preseason game against the Bears drew widespread condemnation, but in the heat of the moment, I can’t blame the fans. It was still the wrong reaction, but the booing could be viewed as a culmination of a few things: the front office neglecting to protect Luck, the fact that the news broke prior to the regular season, the fact that the Colts have the personnel that can protect him, weapons on offense, and on paper—a championship-caliber roster. That’s now all cast in doubt with Luck’s departure. It’s disappointing—and we’ve all had moments where our initial reaction wasn’t the best. And we all handle it differently. That doesn’t mean what these folks did to the now-former face of their franchise was right and there is a side that isn’t totally out of line when they say this move should have occurred way earlier in the offseason. For now, the Colts turn to Jacoby Brissett to fill Luck’s shoes. The Colts still have weapons in wideout T.Y Hilton, running back Marlon Mack, and tight ends Jack Doyle and Eric Ebron. They also have an offensive line. Colts Nation took a kidney punch, but hardly the punishment Luck endured. It’s sad to see talent go so soon, but the average NFL career lasts two years. There’s a reason why they say the initials stand for Not For Long.
Best of Luck…there’s no way to write that without being punny.
Andrew Luck's 1st Game in Indy! (Vikings vs. Colts, 2012)
I don’t get why he retired. He had a great 2018, coming back from 1-5 and make the Wild Card, and win two playoffs before falling to K.C. It was his first playoff season in 3 years, and he seemed healthy.
He was my classmate at Stanford.
One class which i wont divulge and he was quite intelligent when called for answers. Normally, the rest of the varsity members are known morons but Luck was also friendly, down-to-earth and wasn’t stuck-up.
Over the past 20 years, my interest in every sport has progressively declined. I doff my chapeau to Andrew Luck and every professional and collegiate athletes who have hung up their cleats. I’ve had it with the $$, the horrendous calls,and the obsessiveness of the American public with sports. Instead of watching football on Saturdays and Sundays, go to your local library and check out a good book.
You might just learn something.
Cuz that's your job. Play 110% every game, play through pain, leave it all on the field, until your body is destroyed by injuries and pain, until an early grave. Or at least that's what we learned from "North Dallas Forty."
Honestly, football was better when I was playing a lot of Madden with teams made up entirely of fictional players who came from my imagination. Funny how these creations gradually began to assume personalities of their own.
Best feature: No thugs. About 20 percent blacks, all decent guys in the Paul Warfield/Larry Little mode from my beloved 1972 Dolphins.
That left plenty of room for the Polacks (Bills, Browns, Bears) Micks (Patriots especially) Paisans (Eagles and the NY teams)and of course the Rednecks (everywhere).
Rosters that actually looked like America. Especially the Rednecks. Personally, I’m a Polack.
Luck is a brainiac who has always had lucrative
opportunities eyond football. I don’t fault him
for retiring. The timing does seem to suck, however.
Bump
When the money gets big, people get hurt.
By the way, how much of the 140 does he get to keep?
He's been fighting yet another injury since March. The Colts have put out conflicting reports as to exactly what this injury is. Maybe it's more serious than they disclosed.
“Latest rumor I hear is that they are looking at Brock Osweiler.”
wow. if that’s true, they’re totally doomed ...
you can lay this at the feet of Colt’s management that consistently refused to pay the money necessary to hire an offensive line that could protect Luck, leading to Luck being the most sacked quarterback in the league, and leading to several years of career-ending injuries ... Colt’s management totally deserve this for destroying the career of a great quarterback and a decent human being ...
I had high expectations for Luck; huge arm and smart enough to play at Stanford. Unfortunately he didn’t have the physical or mental durability of an MVP. If I were Luck, I’d take my money and retire too.
A good friend has two boys in the NFL. One will probably be done after this preseason but the other is already a top-notch offensive performer with multiple ESPN Top-10 highlights in his first two seasons. Everybody is hoping he’ll survive his first contract, sign a big second, and then retire to coaching/speaking before a grievous injury.
My friend and his dad both played in the NFL and have lived on their local fame for their whole lives. I’m also friends with a couple of gold-metal Olympians from the 80’s who have done nothing but celebrity events for 30 years and they live WAAAAAYYYY better than most of us plebieans.
The only reason I turn on any football these days is to watch a good Christian perform at the highest level of football. When he’s done, I’m done with the NFL forever.
I spent two summers on a university practice squad and never saw one of the 10 who suited up in any of my classes even though a couple of us had the same major.
I can confidently say they did not pass econometrics without attending class or exams...they did pass because they made the NCAA tournament twice. We lived in the same dorm and I have a hard time believing they were studying anything other than female anatomy most nights.
I disagree! As a result I will rank the Indy fans up (down) there with Philly fans. 29 year old athletes making a gazillion dollars a year don’t “retire” unless there is something seriously wrong. If the fans want to protest the franchise, quit buying tickets but don’t take it out on this guy! I think this was lower than Philly fans booing Santa Claus!
I’m trending your way! Wonder how he feels about making that decision now since all the fans booed him! eff ‘em!
That’s why I stated they were morons. One of the linebackers whom I wont name, couldn’t even spell “should”. I kid you not but Luck was affable to everyone I know of.
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