Andrew Luck retired

This is what makes professional sports, and the NFL in particular, so interesting and so compelling to follow; the toll taken and the character & sacrifice it takes to play the game, and at times to walk away from the game.

The money is HUGE, but the toll is often bigger. Luck has been a truly great player who is in his great prime, but he has also been beaten down since the beginning of his NFL career.

The word of his retirement leaked out during a home preseason game tonight and he was booed by his home fans. Wow.

We fans suck.

This is a man who at 29 years old has endured a partially torn abdomen, a lacerated kidney, torn cartilage in two ribs, a torn labrum, at least one concussion, screwed calves & ankles, and who knows how much other pain & suffering. A man who is intelligent, educated and with a life ahead of him.

I imagine those who booed him tonight will regret their shallow, foolish response.

Whatever money they make, the sacrifice these men endure is real, and their effort is glorious. Andrew Luck did everything asked of him, he earned every cent he made, and good luck to Luck from here on out.

go gators

<chomp<chomp

fun time at the ol T-Bowl last night, what a game

That was ridiculous, the fans booing him. Should've had a "standing o". They say the fans pay their way and can do what they want, but that lacked class IMO.

I'm with Lance. Much respect for what he went through and congrats for a good decision. After getting booed, maybe he felt better about leaving those ungrateful clowns. 

I enjoy watching the NFL and hitting the Sports Book once a year, but the seriousness people attach to a f'in GAME is interesting to me. Maybe if I paid thousands for season tickets I'd feel differently.

Overrated millionaire,,,how will he survive?

Sad news , as a fan, but, totally respect the guy for putting his health and his family first.

Ill not only miss watching him play (as an original Colt fan , growing up w Johnny U. As my first football hero ((pre Bradshaw haha)), i still love the Horseshoe.) And, ill also really miss The Dan Lebetard show making fun of his post game quotes.

#goodluckluck

I was hoping/praying you had a type-o and it was Eli who retired.

From an Indianapolis sports station.  https://www.1075thefan.com/blogs/kevins-corner/colts-coverage/andrew-luc...

INDIANAPOLIS – The news, as shocking as you will ever see in sports, was true.

But this wasn’t the plan.

Andrew Luck didn’t want to go out like this.

Not with the boos, the loudest he’s ever heard rain down on him, inside of the building where his picture is plastered on the side of it.

And not standing up in front of the podium wearing a ‘ratty’ t-shirt (Luck’s words) with a teary-eyed Chris Ballard, Jim Irsay and Frank Reich looking on.

Those emotional scars from his labrum days a few years back Luck had mentioned less than a month ago?

They were real, and eating at him too much to keep trying to play the game that he loved.

“I’ve come to the proverbial fork in the road, and I made a vow to myself that if I ever did again, I’d choose me, in a sense,” an emotional Luck said late on Saturday night, deviating often from a prepared written statement. “In 2016, after that season, which I played through some stuff, I made a vow to myself that I would never do that again. I was not in a good place and I felt that the past week and a half, two weeks. It’s also a big part of why I’m here right now.

“I know that I am unable to pour my heart and soul into this position, which would not only sell myself short but the team in the end as well. And it’s sad, but I have a lot of clarity in this.”

The thought of retirement, Luck said, first crept into his mind seriously around two weeks ago.

It’s been 4 weeks since Luck last practiced, with the Colts continuing to say that the quarterback was making progress.

But mentally, and physically, the quarterback definitely was not taking steps forward.

On Saturday night, Luck mentioned a calf strain, a posterior impingement and a high ankle sprain as continued ailments that had him believing it was time to end his NFL career before he turned 30 years old.

“It’s been a little bit fast and furious in the lack of progress on my ankle,” Luck said. “I’m in pain. I’m still in pain. I’ve been in this cycle. It’s been four years of this injury-pain cycle. For me to move forward in my life the way I want to, it didn’t involve football. 

“I feel quite exhausted and quite tired. I do know once I hit the point where I felt like I knew what I needed to do and I talked to (wife) Nicole and my folks and some close friends and had some very difficult conversations with Mr. Irsay, Frank and Chris.

“It did seem like, in a sense, a weight was lifted. It’s been tiring. I feel tired and not just in the physical sense.”

Just one week ago, Luck was inside of Lucas Oil Stadium moving around the field in warmups like a quarterback who physically looked like he would be able to give it a go in the regular season opener.

Deep down, though, Luck knew something no one else inside of Lucas Oil Stadium knew.

“I had a good idea that it might be my last time throwing at Lucas Oil as a current member of the Colts,” he revealed on Saturday night, of his workout one week prior.

“And I made sure to go out there and enjoy it.”

One week later, with former head coach Chuck Pagano on the visiting sideline, the quarterback was being booed off the field, once his stunning retirement news broke early in Saturday’s 4th quarter of the Colts and Bears preseason game.

“I’d be lying if I didn’t say I heard the reaction,” Luck said after the game.

“It hurt, I’ll be honest.”

Being honest with himself is something Luck swore to himself after his 20-month absence from the NFL following the 2016 season.

Late last season, a healthy Luck said he was having the most fun he’d ever had playing the game of football.

But then the calf injury lingered, and lingered. More rehab, and uncertain diagnosis, followed.

And it was too much for the soon-to-be father.

On Saturday, Luck mingled with teammates during the game like it was a normal preseason contest.

The original retirement plan was for Luck to address his teammates after in the post-game locker room, before officially announcing things at a press conference on Sunday afternoon.

But, like the unfortunate health issues he has had, that plan did not unfold like he wanted it to.

Luck, who turns 30 years old next month, leaves with 3 years and around $64 million remaining on a contract that, at the time, made him the highest paid player in the NFL.

The quarterback says he and his wife will continue to call Indianapolis home, but he will no longer do it as the quarterback of the Colts.

“I feel so much clarity and so grateful for the experiences and the positive times that I have had here,” a tearful Luck said before walking out of Lucas Oil Stadium for one final time as an NFL player.

Andrew Luck is trained as a structural engineer -- no small feat, especially at Stanford. 

My guy is a structural engineer too, at a newly formed company a few minutes south of Portland. 

I suggested to them that they invite Andrew to be an intern for a year and live in beautiful Oregon!

The quarterback says he and his wife will continue to call Indianapolis home<<<

Right. House is on the market in 4 months.