Andrew Luck retires. Criticism fair or foul?
Damien Wood said it best, we might have just witnessed one of the greatest ESPN’s 30 for 30 unfold right before our eyes. In what was a shocking turn of events, Indianapolis Colts’ quarterback Andrew Luck has decided to retire from professional football.
The news spread like wildfire after the Adam Schefter report while the Colts was in the midst of a preseason game versus the Chicago Bears. Luck (29) came to the podium afterward to publicly declare his retirement due to the multiple injuries he had suffered over the span of his professional career. "I've been stuck in this process," he told the media. "I haven't been able to live the life I want to live. It's taken the joy out of this game. The only way forward for me is to remove myself from football.” Here is the full speech here per NFL.com:
Luck has been battling serious injuries for the past four seasons that include a torn cartilage in his ribs, a lacerated kidney, two shoulder injuries (one that kept him out the whole 2017 season), and now this mysterious ankle/calf that has had him out of action since April. This retirement is coming off a season where Luck was second in touchdowns (39) behind MVP Patrick Mahomes and sets new career highs in completion percentage and QBR earning him the Comeback Player of the Year award. It’s no mystery that these injuries have occurred however as Luck led the league in sacks taken three times in his short career and have 174 total from 2012 to 2108. He has been beaten up and you can look at the lack of protection he has had up until last season to blame for that.
What won't go unnoticed in this situation is the reaction from Colts fan present at the game when the news broke and the chorus of boos that followed Luck as he was leaving the field. For someone of Luck’s talent and what he has meant to the rebirth of the Colts’ franchise after Peyton Manning, you would think that the fanbase would be more appreciative of what he has done and given for this organization. During his presser, Luck said that he did hear the boos and that, “it hurt.” Here is a video of the boos by the fans:
From what we are told about Luck and see from his play, this was a quarterback very passionate about the game of football and gave it his all every time on the field so it is confusing why the fans would react this way. The injuries and pain had to be insurmountable for him to overcome after grueling rehab after another. Yet some fans can look at the timing of his retirement and criticize him for that decision. Point heard, but the fans should take a look at first how the Colts have managed this generational quarterback. Former Colts’ GM Ryan Grigson poorly built around Luck, with little to no protection for the quarterback to prioritize in bringing in “skills players.” But due to Grigson‘s poor effort, this led to no real run game, defense, or offensive line to speak off until this very last season after new GM Chris Ballard came in 2017 after Grigson’s firing and brought change to this problem. With this being the hand Luck was drawn along with the internal pressure owner Jim Irsay brought upon him led to Luck going out with team solely on his back to make plays and put the Colts in a position to win, which ended up with him taking a beating throughout his career.
Now of course Luck could have retired sooner, but it seems this was a decision he battled against for a while until he couldn’t anymore. And that could be linked to this ankle injury that was originally a calf strain that doctors were reportedly perplexed by. Luck said in his presser that he is still in a lot of pain, so one would assume that regardless if he hadn’t retired he would have missed considerable time this season anyway. The Colts prepared for this situation as they had Jacoby Brissett taking all of the first-team reps this offseason in the place of Luck. Luck even said that he was “envious” with Brissett as this was a Super Bowl contending team if Luck could remain healthy. So if the organization can support and be at peace with Luck’s decision then there is no reason to question the timing, reason, or his character. Most importantly, Luck owes nothing to a team that did little to nothing to protect him and he didn’t deserve boos from a fanbase that he gave his all to.
This is by far one of the shocking retirements in NFL history. Luck has been everything he was sought to be coming out of the draft and was poised to have a big year with the best team he had his whole career. Now we will always wonder what could have been for this guy with so much football ahead of him left to play. He was on course to a HOF career as he was top three all-time in passing yards and touchdowns in his first six seasons while progressing every season in the playoffs up until last season where he came offseason injury the previous one. There’s always a possibility he could return but for now, let's respect his decision and wish him well in life and health.
Luck’s career statistics are 23,671 yards, 2,000 completions, 171 touchdowns, and an 89.5 passer rating.
