It was an ordinary Saturday night, sitting on the couch, watching the atrocity that was Miami vs Florida. All of a sudden, my phone started blowing up. I didn't think anything of it, then as I opened my phone, "Breaking New: Andrew Luck has informed the Indianapolis Colts he plans to retire from football." Woah, what one of the sports brightest and most talented players in its history is calling it quits at the age of 29? While Luck decided to hang up his cleats at a very young age, the impact that he made on the NFL will resonate with fans and players alike for years to come.
The year is 2012, and the Indianapolis Colts have just "tanked" away their season in order to draft the smartest man in the history of football, Andrew Luck.
The star from Stanford had NFL GM's drooling over him, wishing they could steal him from the Colts. In fact, the Colts have sacrificed more than enough in order to get potential first-ballot Hall-of-Famer. In 2011, it was announced that face of the franchise quarterback, Peyton Manning, would miss the 2012 season recovering from neck surgery. Following that season, the Colts would trade away the quarterback who led the Colts to a victory in Super Bowl XLI. When the Colts drafted Luck, it was planned that he would become the new face of the Colts organization. With future hall-of-fame wide receiver TY Hilton at his disposal, Luck would have a chance to win early.
Once the honeymoon was over for the Colts, it was clear that Luck was an injury-prone player, which is nothing against Luck.
Some players just happen to injured more than others, but some of the injuries that Luck has suffered include lacerated kidney, partially torn abdomen, at least one concussion, and a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder (which sidelined him for the entire 2017 season). This obviously wore down on Luck, and ultimately is what led to his shocking, and abrupt retirement from the NFL.
There are members of the ROTC who strive to be as respectful and as polite as Andrew Luck.
When he is sacked by full-grown men who weigh upwards of 300 pounds, he thanks them and compliments them on their hit. Luck was definitely a player who wasn't cut from the same cloth as a guy like Tom Brady, who has an aggressive and demanding demeanor when it's game time. One of the players who first publicly reacted to Luck's retirement was his fellow competitor and division rival JJ Watt, who posted on Instagram and Twitter following the announcement. Watt was quoted saying he will "miss" playing against a guy who plays with the intensity and respect as Luck did.
Another former teammate of Luck's, internet icon Pat McAfee, was asked to come onto SportsCenter to give his two cents on Luck's announcement. McAfee said, "All he did was get up, and show up." McAfee has said many times that Luck "is the smartest human being he ever talked to" and that he would "have to use context clues" to what Luck was saying. It is very clear that Luck has made an impact on players in the NFL, he also got a shoutout from form Indiana sports icon Paul George, who posted on Instagram following the announcement.
Andrew Luck is considered a class act by many players in fans across the NFL.
Even after the news broke that he was going to announce his retirement, he still showed up and watched the Colts preseason game that same day. This is where things started to go south. As Luck jogged out of Lucas Oil Stadium, the fans who stuck around for the entire game showered Luck with boos and hateful comments. In that same interview with SportsCenter, Pat McAfee said that "it was raw emotion" from Colts fans, and that many Colts fans are "embarrassed" that boos were directed towards Luck.
On a lighter note, many fantasy football diehards from across the country were left in disbelief, as some had drafted Andrew Luck onto their team and then later found out he was retiring. For those, it is very unfortunate that Luck made his announcement so late. While many people take fantasy football very serious, it is all in good fun and nothing truly mean was directed at Andrew Luck.
For Andrew Luck, I wish him nothing but the best moving forward, as he had put his heart and soul into football, and football gave him a lot back.
Luck was quoted saying in his press release following the announcement, that this was the"hardest decision" of his life. For that, I hope Luck is able to enjoy his retirement from football. You never know, someone as smart as him might be calling plays one day.
