If you're a follower of sports, you know that retirement seems to be a relevant thing in the news right now, especially the NFL. Recently, Indianapolis Colts quarterback, Andrew Luck, announced his retirement from the NFL. He made this announcement on the night of the Colts' preseason game against the Chicago Cubs. As a result, his "thank you" from the fans was a big crowd of "boos" as he left the stadium.
Luck said in his press conference that his retirement from the game of football is a result of injury after injury, taking away joy from the game. He explained how he hasn't been able to live the life he wants to live and how this has been the hardest decision of his life, but that it's the right one.
On Tuesday, August 27, former Patriot Rob Gronkowski made comment on his retirement he made public in March at a conference he was having, announcing he will be an advocate for athletes to use CBD products for pain. Gronkowski opened up about how after the Super Bowl LIII win he was not in a good place mentally. After his thigh injury, he felt that "football was bringing him down" and he was "losing that joy in life".
The effect that a sport can have on an athlete's health mentally and physically is so important. Retirement is something deeper than just "being old" or "burned out". Having injury after injury gets tiring. So yes, I can see why Andrew Luck was getting sick of rehab. That's not something you want to be doing day in and day out when you want to be playing the sport you love. When that's something you're going through, it doesn't just affect you physically but mentally as well. Same thing for Rob Gronkowski. The injury he had suffered from post-Super Bowl win led him to a place to where he decided that he needed to retire to heal physically, mentally and emotionally.
As fans of sports and athletes, we need to understand and respect when our star player for our team or our favorite player retires from whatever league because it could be something deeper that none of us could understand. They are more than just athletes, they're human too.
