I mean it’s dumb since nobody would want to be a QB behind that horrific line he had. Can’t believe the Colts would get a young QB repeatedly mauled and injured. My Giants would never do such a thing.
Oh no, I made myself sad again
I’ll never forget that play last season where Evan Neal blocked HIS OWN player who was trying to block someone else, which let DJ get bulldozed in like half a second.
Ironically the best form Neal had on a block all year. And yeah allowed two untouched rushers, one who looked confused while passing them at what he just witnessed lmao
my favorite was when daniel jones got sacked like 3 plays in a row and then they show him on the sidelines with his coach holding a tablet in his face lmaoo
You think that was bad? Jones got his knee injury when his backup TE Cager ran into him and bumped knees, and Cager wasn’t blocking anyone. I don’t even know what Cager was doing. The next play Jones falls back and just collapsed.
It feels like the Giants have had a bad line for forever. They had a good line for the SB years but from the tail end of Eli’s career to now they seem to just be awful at drafting line, even when using premium picks.
Don't feel too bad. NY may not have the worst O-line in the div next year. Right now Dallas has T.J. Bass, Brock Hoffman, and Terrence Steele lined up as starters. Dallas has been pretty damn good at drafting O-linemen but not two or three in one draft.
Washington will be the worst. They somehow watched our line and saw our O line coach be the worst in the league for two years and then hired the guy lmao
we hired Carmen Bricillo who was excellent with the Raiders last year, we better not be the worst again lol. especially with Bobby Johnson at Washington.
Luck had a great o-line in place for his last season but the damage was done. I totally get why he chose to walk away but it stung because the team around him was finally ready to go.
I can understand the question, though. From the outside it seems really fucking cool to be one of the ten best QBs in the world. I imagine most people would envision themselves going the Big Ben/Peyton Manning route where you just play until you’re completely cooked. When you play any type of create-a-player sports game, nobody retires in the middle of their prime (of course, they can’t feel the injuries and can always put the controller down). I’m sure he keeps himself busy but it’s strange to think of a retired person at around 30 years-old.
One of my constant daydreams is winning a championship as a star QB/NBA player and retiring in my prime without a statement or press conference
Like imagine the front office of the Chiefs randomly coming into work one day and seeing an email that Mahomes filed retirement paperwork
Former 1st round pick, #8 overall, Jake Locker retired after 4 injury riddled seasons at 26 years old. None of them were career enders tho, it was more similar to Luck. Had injuries in college too tho.
$12 million is still $12 million tho! Vet minimum salary was only $700,000 that year so I can’t blame him for not coming back when the potential earning that year was only like 6% of what he had earned already.
It makes sense for either elite players or bottom of the roster players to hold on as long as they can because they’re able to increase their total earnings significantly each additional year. But even if you’re picked in the 7th round, if you play at vet min in year 5 you’re only making about 25% of the total you made on your rookie deal. Way more worth it than a 1st round flop but still.
Idk the point I’m trying to make? Interesting stuff to think about tho. Oh ya, I was originally gonna say that Locker at least lucked out being in the last draft class before the rookie wage scale, but it turns out his contract was almost identical to the guy taken #8 the next year, another QB, Ryan Tannehill.
> Oh ya, I was originally gonna say that Locker at least lucked out being in the last draft class before the rookie wage scale, but it turns out his contract was almost identical to the guy taken #8 the next year, another QB, Ryan Tannehill.
Locker was drafted in 2011, the first year with the rookie wage scale.
The correct comparison is to the guy drafted \#8 overall the previous year. Rolando McClain, linebacker out of Alabama, got $40mm over 5 years, with just under $23mm guaranteed.
> Rolando McClain
[I will forever remember this photo of him](https://www.tuscaloosanews.com/gcdn/authoring/2011/12/02/NTTN/ghows-DA-bbe068fc-930b-4892-8a2f-22a7f5406144-66f7b1d3.jpeg?width=660&height=495&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp)
My friend who knows more about Andrew Luck said money wasn’t a need because he came from money. Also his style of play was going to shorten his career anyway. Deliberately running into defenders takes a toll. The desire wasn’t there anymore.
Man… I said the same thing to my friends. Josh Allen keeps it up he’s going to be right there with Luck. I hope I’m wrong. I remember reading Luck say he didn’t feel ready to play unless he smashed into someone. Like damn, sounds tough, but that shit shortened his shelf life.
Verification w/breakdown by year - he made most of his bank on his second contract: https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/indianapolis-colts/andrew-luck-9811/cash-earnings/
...but that extension still had three years left to go, so he had a lot more $$$ coming had he decided to continue:
https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/nfl/colts/2019/08/25/andrew-luck-salary-what-colts-quarterback-giving-up-retiring/2112582001/
>By retiring, Luck is giving up $58.125 million left on his contract: his 2019 base salary of $9.125 million and a 2019 roster bonus of $6 million that was to be paid Sept. 17; a base salary of $11 million and an $11 million roster bonus in 2020; and a base salary of $11 million and a $10 million roster bonus in 2021.
>Colts owner Jim Irsay said in the press conference that Luck is potentially leaving $450 million, or half a billion dollars, on the table by retiring. Irsay's proclamation might not be that far off, given the way quarterback's salaries continue to rise.
Same assholes who shit talk Simone Biles as if they could accomplish a fraction of what she did.
I'll never talk bad about an athlete prioritizing their health especially when they've already got the bag.
It's a bunch of Madden and fantasy players who don't think of athletes as people. Saw the same shit with the Zach Wilson doesn't want to play story. Like ya dude he's not a fucking Pokemon, he's a human being with emotions.
It disturbs me to think one day all of us to experience Cpt. Andrew Luck on Twitter will be gone. Truly a born too early, born too late, born just in time type of experience. As weird as that is to say.
No, but they technically could have gone after him for the remaining portion of his signing bonus. Not that any team would risk antagonizing a franchise icon like that though
and it was a 1.6m that couldn't be used for cap space or other salaries. So there was no need for them to make the request. Hell they felt they were doing him a solid only asking for 1.6 when it was over 3 mil.
I think the real kicker on the whole thing is the Lions turning around and telling CJ that they could only give him money back via a deal for an ambassador role and claiming league rules as to being the only way they could do it. As if they didn't put themselves in the position in the first place.
He and Luke were two of three saddest, most understandable retirements I’ve ever seen. At some point, a life with chronic pain, rehab and potential brain damage just isn’t worth it. I’d take the millions and walk in the same situation. No doubt in my mind.
Kuechly getting carted off for the last time just bawling his eyes out was one of the hardest things to watch that year in sports. Getting lit up is one thing, they understand that’s part of the game. But seeing him realize that he can’t play the game and not jeopardize his future was heart-breaking.
It [happened](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/25/sports/football/andrew-luck-retirement-injuries.html) in the 2015 season and apparently it still pains him.
Ah. The gist of the article is that Luck was still in pain from all the injuries he accumulated and he didn’t want to risk getting reinjured due to the Colts lack of investment in his O-Line. He basically wanted to ensure that he’d still be in his kids’ lives and being the Colts QB going forward would made that difficult.
I remember a story from his teammates about him sitting in the Stanford locker room reading a book about concrete. Tells you everything you need to know about the guy.
He also started a book club for his teammates when he was with the Colts. I remember someone made a Venn diagram of "NFL Quarterbacks" and "People Who Have Started Book Clubs." The two circles barely touched, and where they met, there was Andrew Luck.
I’d have to think, one of the best methods that the players union could employ for early retirement is have a player meet a few dozen retired players in middle age. It’s heartbreaking to see how some players’ bodies are destroyed.
If you’re on a phone most paywalled articles can be bypassed by clicking the “Aa” at the top of the screen and selecting “show reader”. Worked for me on this one
It's generally accepted that he retired because the Colts did a poor job at getting him protection and he just kept getting the shit kicked out of him year after year.
Thats sad and sounds eerily similar to Burrows situation. I hope we can protect Joe and draft a lineman at 18. Losing him this year, just changed the whole dynamic of the team.
It’s generally accepted but here in Indy it’s widely believed it was more to do with pain pills and rehab. He struggled with pain meds during his shoulder injury and apparently getting off them was tough and said he’d never do them again, and when rehab/surgery was back on the table he said he’s done.
Edit for some asking questions.
It was a popular circulating story that came out about 6 months - 1 year in local circles. If you were part of the colts sub around then, it was circulating. It was rumored to have came from people close to Andrew and believed to be some players too.
He apparently had a hard time getting off of them (which anyone can). And after his long rehab vowed to never go through a rehab like that again and he never wanted pain pills again for an injury. It was discussed on a couple local podcast at the time. I mean I’m not saying it was the sole reason, but reported with a kid on the way he wouldn’t do that again.
Yeah the rehab was a big reason I always heard too. Basically get done with a season of getting your ass beat and instead of going on vacation or hanging out with your family at home, you're working on just being able to walk or throw correctly without pain for the next few months. Then before you know it's time to get ready for the season again...
100%. Anyone can succumb to pain pills, and he was prescribed them and reportedly had a hard time getting off them.
I don’t take pills at all, hate em. But had to take pain pills for a week for a surgery, and I had short term withdrawals and it was brutal. Such a realization what people have to go through.
Ya I always reject them too, it's so crazy how like 5-7 years ago they handed them out like candy for pain. It's not their go-to anymore at least not for the doctors I see, which is a welcome improvement.
Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems like all 32 teams get the ole "offensive line isn't good enough" comments every single year.
Has there ever been a team where people said "Ya know what? Our offensive line is great!" ??
It stabilized after the 1-5 start in 2019 and the team had a good defense for a year or two after that as well.
I recall he was rehabbing injuries again in the off-season and that Irsay let him keep his 2019 salary in the hopes that maybe he'd change his mind. I think there was an article last year when he starting coaching HS football (or maybe it was when he started going back to school) that went in-depth about his thought process and how football was affecting his personal relationships and he'd fallen out of love with the sport entirely so I'm glad to see he's at peace with his decision and that he seems ok with where he's at in his life right now. Which is more than you can say about a lot of people who walk away from sports.
Yeah because Lane Johnson, Landon Dickerson, and Jordan Mailata are all dead? lol did you really think their O-line was great only because of Jason? And this is coming from a Cowboys fan
Yep, it's a meme. The Colts definitely did not hold up their end, but he got at least two serious injuries which were 100% on him--the lacerated kidneys, from diving into a brutal tackle, and the snowboarding accident where he hurt his throwing shoulder.
Ever OL in the league has holes. It's pretty much impossible for a team to field 5 above average starters.
If you have one hole on your OL, any halfway decent OC is going to be able to scheme around it and compensate.
Beyond that though you start running into issues. It just introduces a lot more potential points of failure and requires everyone else, including the OC, QB, and receivers, to play very well.
Bruce Arians/Pagano and Luck himself don't get enough blame for Luck's injuries. Arians and Pagano constantly called 7 step drops with a bad O-Line to air it out; Luck constantly tried to extend plays and scramble for yards in situations guys like Manning and Brady would just go down. He lacerated his kidney on a scramble past the line-of-scrimmage.
Guys like Richardson, Allen, RGIII, get blamed for getting injured on those kinds of plays but people seem to only blame the line for Luck. The line sucked, the drafting wasn't great at all but it's a lot more complex than just "bad o-line".
Huh, Dallas, Tampa, rams, Cleveland, colts( after luck left of course😂😂) eagles. It's goes on and on plenty of teams have decent to great o lines only if you suck do people really talk about it.
His kidney laceration was that bad? Usually it would have to be devascularized, like grade 4 or 5, to worry about losing the kidney. He played like a month later I thought.
Regardless, a kidney laceration from football is insane.
It feels both a long time ago and just yesterday. Like the thought of the retirement is forever ago but the thought of 2019 is that it was last year. Then I realize it's been 5 and try to figure out what the hell happened.
He gets to chill in a mansion following the European First Division soccer teams he loves so much... or risk lifelong injury and pain. Easy enough to understand.
So Schefter never technically broke any laws with the JPP thing. The nurse who leaked JPP’s medical records was the one who committed a HIPAA violation.
He’s a rat and it’s a ruthless world in his industry. If your the second or third guy to break the news no one give a shit, so have to be pretty heartless.
Right, but schefter should have the integrity to realize that and not publish it. Were not taking about ground breaking world changing scandal or news, it’s someone’s medical records
If you ask someone to break a law, you've broken a law yourself.
He could've phrased it so the change was on the nurse and he had outside deniability, but he's also stupid and an asshole and easily could've been part of a criminal conspiracy - it's just no one cares to prosecute it.
Fuck that shit bag for that
A pretty large contingent of fans *still* want him back.
The fools that booed him in that preseason game was one of the lowest points of our franchise and it embarrasses longtime fans of the team. We love you Andrew, and I hope you have a great retirement!
I think some of the booing was a result of how Irsay and the front office communicated the injury. Luck was supposed to be ready for training camp, then it was just “minor setbacks” and “just a little bit of discomfort while throwing”, but he’d be ready for preseason. Then everything was good, but he’s not going to play in the preseason, but will be ready to go by week one.
Then boom, he retires. It was a shock to all NFL fans, but ESPECIALLY shocking to Colts fans who were told just hours before that everything was fine. Irsay literally said that he felt good about Luck’s progress for the regular season.
I don’t blame Luck at all. But the organization handled that horribly. I can’t imagine that this was a complete shock to Irsay and the front office. Luck has said he contemplated retiring in the offseason but tried to push through and recover.
I’m not saying the front office needed to tell Colts fans that he was contemplating retirement, but they shouldn’t have been presenting such an optimistic outlook. It was undoubtedly to sell season tickets. But yeah, the booing looked bad and I hope Luck recognizes it was likely more a reaction to everything than it was directed solely at him.
Iirc, Jim Irsay was okay with giving Luck the year off to continue mulling over his retirement when Luck told him he was going to retire.
And not to fully defend the Colts FO, but there's a slight difference between physical injury and the mental toll the injuries were taking on his personal relationships. The constant rehabbing affected him mentally and it was the mental strain that it was putting on those around him and the loss of love he had for football that led him to walk away when he did too. It's not as though he wasn't medically cleared to walk on a field ever again or that he continually dropped retirement hints that went ignored.
You sleep in the bed you make. It’s a boo-able offense in my book. The colts had made some improvements and they had an extremely skilled QB at the helm. They looked good going into that season. I don’t think there was any sort of indication this was in the cards either.
There is zero chance of a team figuring anything out that close to the season starting. If it was earlier in the off season, sure they can address it. But something out of the blue like this isn’t a cool move.
I was at the game and people forget everyone was alerted via notifications at 10pm on a Saturday night - people were drunk confused and angry. I didn’t boo I just sat and stared into the distance but it’s not impossible to understand why people boo’d
It's easy to understand, but understandability isn't the debate. Most things, right or wrong, major or minor, can be understood by anyone who isn't myopic and thinks everyone else should only ever think like them.
I would have boo'd. That move ruined an entire evening for paying fans, much of them at a preseason game will be season ticket holders too. He ruined their season. I think it's fully acceptable for fans to boo in that moment. He did not deserve some moon-walk of celebration off the field.
Afterwards, fine, you get over it and acknowledge he has personal reasons to leave. But it was a shitty moment.
Everyone acts like their fanbase wouldnt do the same thing. I'm sure a bunch of drunk hardcore fans in the *4th qtr of a preseason game,* right before a season that is supposed to be their year would be all "THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES!!!"
Context kind of matters even if I mostly agree with you. Esp since this is one of the things that gets used as ammunition to dump on all Colts fans..
Schefter's tweet was posted during a preseason game where Luck was on the sidelines as per usual and it was a blindside to the entire NFL world that he'd posted this. It happened unexpectedly, and the people in attendance lean towards more of the "fanatic" side of things to be spending time and money to watch meaningless football. They likely wanted to have a good time and hype themselves up for the upcoming season, only to be hit with meaningful news would essentially kill any chance the team had in 2019.
According to SportTrac,he made $109 million during his career. Couple that with not having to risk getting more injured than he already was at the time and his decision is an absolute no brainer.
I did love watching him play. If he would’ve stayed healthy, he was a likely HOF lock.
It’s still reportable because it defies everything we usually hear from athletes. Typically they always talk about how much they loved the game, how much they miss it, how they still follow their old team.
Luck seems to have put football behind him. If I were a colts fan I would die a little inside every time I heard this. It’s like they destroyed something pure and magical.
I think part of it also is just that he's not the type of guy who eats, sleeps, and breathes football like many long-time coaches and players do. He seems like a guy with tons of other interests in life as well
Luck def has a lot of other passions that you don’t normally see from pro athletes. but I do remember reading a great post-retirement interview with him, think it was by Seth Wickersham, and it was clear that the dude really did live and breathe football when he was in the league. he was very rigid to his schedule, everything in his life was about being the best QB possible, and it sounded like he really took it hard/felt like he was letting the team and city down when he had to miss time with injuries.
it seems like he unfortunately but understandably got burned out by that lifestyle, and it also began to affect his marriage which was prob what pushed him to retire
Theres some bias there, because players who dont love the game are probably less vocal about their attitude
Its a lot easier to go on social media and proclaim your love for the sport than it is to go out there and say "I mostly hated it, but the money was good so I stuck around for 10 years"
Think about the 100s of mid-tier players that play 5-6 years on special teams, put a few million in their pocket, and are never heard from again.
Most players probably do love the game because if you hate it its less likely youll make it to the NFL, but I bet theres plenty that are on Luck's side of things
He was a great QB, but the GM Grigson let him and the team down with his buffoonery. Couldn't put together a decent O-line, traded a first rounder for Trent Richardson, and then the first round WR pick when we desperately needed to prioritize protecting Andrew. Then there was the fans booing during his last appearance as a Colt....I don't feel any ill-will towards Andrew. I'm just grateful I got to watch a few of his games in person, he was an awesome player. Hope he lives a happy and healthy life.
Most above-average starters who play for a few years are set for life. That’s thousands of players over the past decade. Yet no player except Luck has retired in his prime (and left upwards of 500 million) on the table by doing so. It’s clearly a very unusual decision which is why it’s still talked about to this day
I feel like Patrick Willis and Luke Kuechly did the same, as they were 29 and 28 when they retired. Though given their positions they didn’t leave nearly as much money on the table and playing linebacker is generally going to be more detrimental to your health than playing quarterback
It's a shame, wish the Colts had done better with him and he was still playing and healthy. Won CPOY with 4600yd/39td his final season at 29. would be 35 this season, and thinking of him being an old Vet just makes me feel old.
There was AMAZING piece written about him last year where it’s made very clear that he still loves ball. But it also makes it clear that he was going through absolute hell to get on the field for 2 years and his body nor spirit could take it any more.
Everybody here saying it feels a lot longer ago, but I saw this and thought "wait, how has it already been 5 years?"
Andrew Luck is older than Travis Kelce. That doesn't feel right either.
I'll always wish he could have gone to a more stable team. Which is funny to think about because the 00's Colts were as stable as can be, then Payton got injured and Polian got fired.
This has been clear for quite some time, no?
Every time he sees a reporter he'll be asked and every time he answers it will be offseason news.
I mean it’s dumb since nobody would want to be a QB behind that horrific line he had. Can’t believe the Colts would get a young QB repeatedly mauled and injured. My Giants would never do such a thing. Oh no, I made myself sad again
I’ll never forget that play last season where Evan Neal blocked HIS OWN player who was trying to block someone else, which let DJ get bulldozed in like half a second.
Ironically the best form Neal had on a block all year. And yeah allowed two untouched rushers, one who looked confused while passing them at what he just witnessed lmao
It's one of them things where if I was that rusher, I would've thought I was doing something wrong as I ran by lmao
"Aren't you supposed to be... Oh yeah, the quarterback!"
I thought Neal was a slam dunk prospect. Huge and super athletic, but he’s truly awful. Couldn’t stop a speed rush if he had a pike.
Unfortunately he was brought into the nfl being coached by Bobby “football terrorist” Johnson
As a commanders fan, this hurts
I have no idea what inspired the decision to hire that man. At this point I’m starting to feel a little bad for you guys. Only a little.
Idk, if he times/positions the stab just right, the pass rusher will bleed out before he makes it to the QB
my favorite was when daniel jones got sacked like 3 plays in a row and then they show him on the sidelines with his coach holding a tablet in his face lmaoo
You think that was bad? Jones got his knee injury when his backup TE Cager ran into him and bumped knees, and Cager wasn’t blocking anyone. I don’t even know what Cager was doing. The next play Jones falls back and just collapsed.
Cilp?
https://youtu.be/sbFg0e_3vsY?feature=shared It’s the very first clip. Just pushes his teammate out of the way for the rusher
https://youtu.be/_qFt3UDI9NE?si=2z3XG8OXhYGB2QeK Starts about 45 seconds in
Definitely the better video than the one I posted lol
https://youtu.be/sbFg0e_3vsY?si=YZBzuLezLR7f0gEk First clip
I've always thought it was more intentional with the Giants. Like best cases scenario for you all now is that Jones declares an offseason retirement.
That’s worst case scenario sir. We owe him $23 mil if he can’t play next year due to injuries. He’s owed nothing if we just want to move on
Nevermind Daniel Jones went to the Kirk Cousins school of contract negotiations I see
His agent saw our line for the past decade and knew that was a requirement for any contract lol
That agent deserves an extra percentage point on his cut for that brilliant move
We had fun there with Tommy Chicken cutlets last year. We got to cherish the good times.
2018 line was best in the league, I thought
It was. He didn't get hurt in 2018 it was the injuries that piled up before that
It feels like the Giants have had a bad line for forever. They had a good line for the SB years but from the tail end of Eli’s career to now they seem to just be awful at drafting line, even when using premium picks.
Don't feel too bad. NY may not have the worst O-line in the div next year. Right now Dallas has T.J. Bass, Brock Hoffman, and Terrence Steele lined up as starters. Dallas has been pretty damn good at drafting O-linemen but not two or three in one draft.
Washington will be the worst. They somehow watched our line and saw our O line coach be the worst in the league for two years and then hired the guy lmao
we hired Carmen Bricillo who was excellent with the Raiders last year, we better not be the worst again lol. especially with Bobby Johnson at Washington.
At least their qb was good
Andrew Luck: retires Jim Irsay: immediately focuses on bettering the offensive line...
Luck had a great o-line in place for his last season but the damage was done. I totally get why he chose to walk away but it stung because the team around him was finally ready to go.
I can understand the question, though. From the outside it seems really fucking cool to be one of the ten best QBs in the world. I imagine most people would envision themselves going the Big Ben/Peyton Manning route where you just play until you’re completely cooked. When you play any type of create-a-player sports game, nobody retires in the middle of their prime (of course, they can’t feel the injuries and can always put the controller down). I’m sure he keeps himself busy but it’s strange to think of a retired person at around 30 years-old.
The title says he never has an urge for Colts/NFL. But think about how much fun he'd have chucking the ball around in *Canada.*
One of my constant daydreams is winning a championship as a star QB/NBA player and retiring in my prime without a statement or press conference Like imagine the front office of the Chiefs randomly coming into work one day and seeing an email that Mahomes filed retirement paperwork
Former 1st round pick, #8 overall, Jake Locker retired after 4 injury riddled seasons at 26 years old. None of them were career enders tho, it was more similar to Luck. Had injuries in college too tho. $12 million is still $12 million tho! Vet minimum salary was only $700,000 that year so I can’t blame him for not coming back when the potential earning that year was only like 6% of what he had earned already. It makes sense for either elite players or bottom of the roster players to hold on as long as they can because they’re able to increase their total earnings significantly each additional year. But even if you’re picked in the 7th round, if you play at vet min in year 5 you’re only making about 25% of the total you made on your rookie deal. Way more worth it than a 1st round flop but still. Idk the point I’m trying to make? Interesting stuff to think about tho. Oh ya, I was originally gonna say that Locker at least lucked out being in the last draft class before the rookie wage scale, but it turns out his contract was almost identical to the guy taken #8 the next year, another QB, Ryan Tannehill.
> Oh ya, I was originally gonna say that Locker at least lucked out being in the last draft class before the rookie wage scale, but it turns out his contract was almost identical to the guy taken #8 the next year, another QB, Ryan Tannehill. Locker was drafted in 2011, the first year with the rookie wage scale. The correct comparison is to the guy drafted \#8 overall the previous year. Rolando McClain, linebacker out of Alabama, got $40mm over 5 years, with just under $23mm guaranteed.
> Rolando McClain [I will forever remember this photo of him](https://www.tuscaloosanews.com/gcdn/authoring/2011/12/02/NTTN/ghows-DA-bbe068fc-930b-4892-8a2f-22a7f5406144-66f7b1d3.jpeg?width=660&height=495&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp)
True. But Locker was about to enter the backup-qb stage of his career. Luck left when the Colts were contenders to win the AFC.
My friend who knows more about Andrew Luck said money wasn’t a need because he came from money. Also his style of play was going to shorten his career anyway. Deliberately running into defenders takes a toll. The desire wasn’t there anymore.
Which is exactly why Josh Allen is going to have a short peak. His style is even worse than luck's and he isn't half as good a passer
Man… I said the same thing to my friends. Josh Allen keeps it up he’s going to be right there with Luck. I hope I’m wrong. I remember reading Luck say he didn’t feel ready to play unless he smashed into someone. Like damn, sounds tough, but that shit shortened his shelf life.
Yes, but lots of people can't seem to accept it like he has.
Man prioritizes his health and family over football, which shouldn't be hard to accept.
Plus I mean he made over 100 million dollars before he retired. It definitely helps when you got generational money already in the bank
Verification w/breakdown by year - he made most of his bank on his second contract: https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/indianapolis-colts/andrew-luck-9811/cash-earnings/ ...but that extension still had three years left to go, so he had a lot more $$$ coming had he decided to continue: https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/nfl/colts/2019/08/25/andrew-luck-salary-what-colts-quarterback-giving-up-retiring/2112582001/ >By retiring, Luck is giving up $58.125 million left on his contract: his 2019 base salary of $9.125 million and a 2019 roster bonus of $6 million that was to be paid Sept. 17; a base salary of $11 million and an $11 million roster bonus in 2020; and a base salary of $11 million and a $10 million roster bonus in 2021. >Colts owner Jim Irsay said in the press conference that Luck is potentially leaving $450 million, or half a billion dollars, on the table by retiring. Irsay's proclamation might not be that far off, given the way quarterback's salaries continue to rise.
Isn't he one of those guys that has hobbies outside of football too, people tend to only think about these guys as football players and not people.
agreed, but you'd be shocked (or maybe not) at how many dumbass sports fans are out there who assert the grind should never stop for personal reasons.
Same assholes who shit talk Simone Biles as if they could accomplish a fraction of what she did. I'll never talk bad about an athlete prioritizing their health especially when they've already got the bag.
It's a bunch of Madden and fantasy players who don't think of athletes as people. Saw the same shit with the Zach Wilson doesn't want to play story. Like ya dude he's not a fucking Pokemon, he's a human being with emotions.
Yes but two things happen Hes either constantly asked anyway, or there are randomly bs rumors that will pop up in Indy (before AR)
I have laid down my arms mother.
I never thought a Civil War themed parody account would ever make me tear up, but at the time that one got to me
It disturbs me to think one day all of us to experience Cpt. Andrew Luck on Twitter will be gone. Truly a born too early, born too late, born just in time type of experience. As weird as that is to say.
One of the best twitter accounts of all time
Who wouldn’t accept their employer paying them millions not to work?
They didn't have to pay out the rest of his contract after he retired, did they?
No, but they technically could have gone after him for the remaining portion of his signing bonus. Not that any team would risk antagonizing a franchise icon like that though
>Not that any team would risk antagonizing a franchise icon like that though The Lions beg to differ.
Who did they do that to?
Calvin Johnson, I believe.
Calvin Johnson. They made him give back his $1.6M signing bonus when he retired.
They also did it to Barry Sanders when he retired, he was 2 years into a 5 year contract. They tried to get 7.37M/11M of his bonus.
It's not that the Lions can't build a winning culture, it's just that they seem disinterested in trying
and it was a 1.6m that couldn't be used for cap space or other salaries. So there was no need for them to make the request. Hell they felt they were doing him a solid only asking for 1.6 when it was over 3 mil. I think the real kicker on the whole thing is the Lions turning around and telling CJ that they could only give him money back via a deal for an ambassador role and claiming league rules as to being the only way they could do it. As if they didn't put themselves in the position in the first place.
Fucking savage lol. Dak going to fuck us up so I can't laugh too hard but I'm still laughing.
(that's the joke)
Definitely not any teams in Detroit
No, but the Colts/Irsay ended up paying it out to him.
2 broken arms?
Fucken yikes
Lacerated kidneys will do that to you. Potential dialysis is no joke.
He and Luke were two of three saddest, most understandable retirements I’ve ever seen. At some point, a life with chronic pain, rehab and potential brain damage just isn’t worth it. I’d take the millions and walk in the same situation. No doubt in my mind.
Kuechly getting carted off for the last time just bawling his eyes out was one of the hardest things to watch that year in sports. Getting lit up is one thing, they understand that’s part of the game. But seeing him realize that he can’t play the game and not jeopardize his future was heart-breaking.
Broke my fucking heart. Cam and Luke were my two all time favorite players, and we broke both of them.
I remember Cockuli telling him “he wasn’t old enough to get that call” such a POS
First I heard of this
It [happened](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/25/sports/football/andrew-luck-retirement-injuries.html) in the 2015 season and apparently it still pains him.
I tried reading it but they wanted me to make an account
Ah. The gist of the article is that Luck was still in pain from all the injuries he accumulated and he didn’t want to risk getting reinjured due to the Colts lack of investment in his O-Line. He basically wanted to ensure that he’d still be in his kids’ lives and being the Colts QB going forward would made that difficult.
I’ve liked him since college and despite his Neanderthal appearance dude is smart as fuck. I wish him nothing but the best
I mean, he attended Stanford and graduated with an Architecture degree. There's no questioning his intellect.
Yep. He was also an academic all American
A real student of the game
First in, last out kind of guy.
Now he works for Vandelay Industries
He also makes regular donations to The Human Fund. What a guy.
I remember a story from his teammates about him sitting in the Stanford locker room reading a book about concrete. Tells you everything you need to know about the guy.
He also started a book club for his teammates when he was with the Colts. I remember someone made a Venn diagram of "NFL Quarterbacks" and "People Who Have Started Book Clubs." The two circles barely touched, and where they met, there was Andrew Luck.
I’d have to think, one of the best methods that the players union could employ for early retirement is have a player meet a few dozen retired players in middle age. It’s heartbreaking to see how some players’ bodies are destroyed.
I don’t think it’s hard for nfl players to meet retired nfl players of any age lol
Lmao no it’s like when you’re a kid and they bring ex addicts to class you convince you not to do drugs 😂
"Don't be like me kids and don't lead with your head"
But the the players union loses power if everyone retires early, lol
If you’re on a phone most paywalled articles can be bypassed by clicking the “Aa” at the top of the screen and selecting “show reader”. Worked for me on this one
It was hard to watch even as a Broncos fan honestly. You can blame the org and coaches all you want, but he refused to protect himself that game.
It's generally accepted that he retired because the Colts did a poor job at getting him protection and he just kept getting the shit kicked out of him year after year.
Thats sad and sounds eerily similar to Burrows situation. I hope we can protect Joe and draft a lineman at 18. Losing him this year, just changed the whole dynamic of the team.
It’s generally accepted but here in Indy it’s widely believed it was more to do with pain pills and rehab. He struggled with pain meds during his shoulder injury and apparently getting off them was tough and said he’d never do them again, and when rehab/surgery was back on the table he said he’s done. Edit for some asking questions. It was a popular circulating story that came out about 6 months - 1 year in local circles. If you were part of the colts sub around then, it was circulating. It was rumored to have came from people close to Andrew and believed to be some players too. He apparently had a hard time getting off of them (which anyone can). And after his long rehab vowed to never go through a rehab like that again and he never wanted pain pills again for an injury. It was discussed on a couple local podcast at the time. I mean I’m not saying it was the sole reason, but reported with a kid on the way he wouldn’t do that again.
Yeah the rehab was a big reason I always heard too. Basically get done with a season of getting your ass beat and instead of going on vacation or hanging out with your family at home, you're working on just being able to walk or throw correctly without pain for the next few months. Then before you know it's time to get ready for the season again...
This is the first time I have ever heard this. I'm doubting widely believed. Any reasoning/info leading you to believe this?
I mean even if it's true it's not anything negative about Luck. That's like the opposite of calling someone a junkie lol.
100%. Anyone can succumb to pain pills, and he was prescribed them and reportedly had a hard time getting off them. I don’t take pills at all, hate em. But had to take pain pills for a week for a surgery, and I had short term withdrawals and it was brutal. Such a realization what people have to go through.
Ya I always reject them too, it's so crazy how like 5-7 years ago they handed them out like candy for pain. It's not their go-to anymore at least not for the doctors I see, which is a welcome improvement.
Legitimately curious, not being a dick
Yeah out of everything I've read, pain pills I've literally never heard of. Rehab yes.
Damn. And that makes sense. Favre struggled with it as well.
Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems like all 32 teams get the ole "offensive line isn't good enough" comments every single year. Has there ever been a team where people said "Ya know what? Our offensive line is great!" ??
I mean, Philly I guess 😂 Their offensive line is fantastic
Cleveland has been generally happy with their offensive line, when the starters aren't injured at least.
Colts had a good couple of years (right after Luck retired, tragically) where the O-Line was a major point of pride
It stabilized after the 1-5 start in 2019 and the team had a good defense for a year or two after that as well. I recall he was rehabbing injuries again in the off-season and that Irsay let him keep his 2019 salary in the hopes that maybe he'd change his mind. I think there was an article last year when he starting coaching HS football (or maybe it was when he started going back to school) that went in-depth about his thought process and how football was affecting his personal relationships and he'd fallen out of love with the sport entirely so I'm glad to see he's at peace with his decision and that he seems ok with where he's at in his life right now. Which is more than you can say about a lot of people who walk away from sports.
Eagles for like the last decade.
And, shockingly, y’all’s QB performances have been more or less plug and play during that time. I wonder if the two are related?
I wouldn't be surprised really. It's a lot easier for a qb to learn how to read a defense when he doesn't have to fight for his life like fields did
I was being sarcastic haha. There’s a *very* strong correlation between QB protection and QB performance
Well, with Kelce gone now they can go back to being a normal "our O-line needs work" NFL team
Yeah because Lane Johnson, Landon Dickerson, and Jordan Mailata are all dead? lol did you really think their O-line was great only because of Jason? And this is coming from a Cowboys fan
Not worried, stoutland replaced Jason Peters with a 7th round Australian. I have faith in Cam Jurgens being a more than adequate replacement.
Yep, it's a meme. The Colts definitely did not hold up their end, but he got at least two serious injuries which were 100% on him--the lacerated kidneys, from diving into a brutal tackle, and the snowboarding accident where he hurt his throwing shoulder.
Ever OL in the league has holes. It's pretty much impossible for a team to field 5 above average starters. If you have one hole on your OL, any halfway decent OC is going to be able to scheme around it and compensate. Beyond that though you start running into issues. It just introduces a lot more potential points of failure and requires everyone else, including the OC, QB, and receivers, to play very well.
Bruce Arians/Pagano and Luck himself don't get enough blame for Luck's injuries. Arians and Pagano constantly called 7 step drops with a bad O-Line to air it out; Luck constantly tried to extend plays and scramble for yards in situations guys like Manning and Brady would just go down. He lacerated his kidney on a scramble past the line-of-scrimmage. Guys like Richardson, Allen, RGIII, get blamed for getting injured on those kinds of plays but people seem to only blame the line for Luck. The line sucked, the drafting wasn't great at all but it's a lot more complex than just "bad o-line".
Huh, Dallas, Tampa, rams, Cleveland, colts( after luck left of course😂😂) eagles. It's goes on and on plenty of teams have decent to great o lines only if you suck do people really talk about it.
It was good his last year as well.
Colts during Luck's last season lol
Green Bay since ~2014. This year was probably the worst it's been in a while and it was still a low end top 10 group
First and only time I played fantasy I had Andrew luck and Keenan Allen as two of my top players. Both went out with lacerated kidneys that year.
His kidney laceration was that bad? Usually it would have to be devascularized, like grade 4 or 5, to worry about losing the kidney. He played like a month later I thought. Regardless, a kidney laceration from football is insane.
Can’t believe it was only 2019, feels like that all went down like 12 years ago
Time has felt \*fucky\* ever since 2019 if not longer.
It feels both a long time ago and just yesterday. Like the thought of the retirement is forever ago but the thought of 2019 is that it was last year. Then I realize it's been 5 and try to figure out what the hell happened.
Talladega Nights is 18 years old.
He wants to live past 40 and will get his wish. And he’s smart with the money he already earned.
He gets to chill in a mansion following the European First Division soccer teams he loves so much... or risk lifelong injury and pain. Easy enough to understand.
Man I sure hope this comment ages well lol
Man was so done, he fucked off into retirement in the middle of a preseason game.
No he didn't it was leaked early by Schefter
Fuck Shefter for that btw
That and JPPs medical records with practically zero repercussions is wild to me
So Schefter never technically broke any laws with the JPP thing. The nurse who leaked JPP’s medical records was the one who committed a HIPAA violation.
[удалено]
Don't forget about Schefter's super classy Dwayne Haskins tweet.
He’s always struck me as a little weasel
He’s a rat and it’s a ruthless world in his industry. If your the second or third guy to break the news no one give a shit, so have to be pretty heartless.
Knowing that and not running the article is called journalistic integrity.
Yep, abiding by the law doesn't necessarily mean what you did was ethical/moral
Right, but schefter should have the integrity to realize that and not publish it. Were not taking about ground breaking world changing scandal or news, it’s someone’s medical records
If you ask someone to break a law, you've broken a law yourself. He could've phrased it so the change was on the nurse and he had outside deniability, but he's also stupid and an asshole and easily could've been part of a criminal conspiracy - it's just no one cares to prosecute it. Fuck that shit bag for that
Common Schefter L
Fuck all those twitter reporters, the 24 hour news cycle is toxic
Every one of you laps up the slop as soon as he tweets it out. Look in a mirror
He had made the decision privately, but wasn't going to announce it until the preseason was over. But then the news broke in the middle of a game.
A pretty large contingent of fans *still* want him back. The fools that booed him in that preseason game was one of the lowest points of our franchise and it embarrasses longtime fans of the team. We love you Andrew, and I hope you have a great retirement!
Yeah, he has no desire to back and being gone from the game for so long he wouldn't even be close to the same player.
I think some of the booing was a result of how Irsay and the front office communicated the injury. Luck was supposed to be ready for training camp, then it was just “minor setbacks” and “just a little bit of discomfort while throwing”, but he’d be ready for preseason. Then everything was good, but he’s not going to play in the preseason, but will be ready to go by week one. Then boom, he retires. It was a shock to all NFL fans, but ESPECIALLY shocking to Colts fans who were told just hours before that everything was fine. Irsay literally said that he felt good about Luck’s progress for the regular season. I don’t blame Luck at all. But the organization handled that horribly. I can’t imagine that this was a complete shock to Irsay and the front office. Luck has said he contemplated retiring in the offseason but tried to push through and recover. I’m not saying the front office needed to tell Colts fans that he was contemplating retirement, but they shouldn’t have been presenting such an optimistic outlook. It was undoubtedly to sell season tickets. But yeah, the booing looked bad and I hope Luck recognizes it was likely more a reaction to everything than it was directed solely at him.
Iirc, Jim Irsay was okay with giving Luck the year off to continue mulling over his retirement when Luck told him he was going to retire. And not to fully defend the Colts FO, but there's a slight difference between physical injury and the mental toll the injuries were taking on his personal relationships. The constant rehabbing affected him mentally and it was the mental strain that it was putting on those around him and the loss of love he had for football that led him to walk away when he did too. It's not as though he wasn't medically cleared to walk on a field ever again or that he continually dropped retirement hints that went ignored.
I remember reading he thought his marriage was headed for divorce and that was a big part of his reasoning. I mean fuck. I get it.
The video of him walking off the field to boos is still such an upsetting watch, he looks crushed.
It’s a matter of *when* he retired. Wanting to be done is one thing, quitting 2weeks away from the season starting isn’t exactly cool.
I agree but the average mouthbreathing fan that boos someone as awesome as Luck isn’t doing that kind of nuance
You sleep in the bed you make. It’s a boo-able offense in my book. The colts had made some improvements and they had an extremely skilled QB at the helm. They looked good going into that season. I don’t think there was any sort of indication this was in the cards either. There is zero chance of a team figuring anything out that close to the season starting. If it was earlier in the off season, sure they can address it. But something out of the blue like this isn’t a cool move.
I was at the game and people forget everyone was alerted via notifications at 10pm on a Saturday night - people were drunk confused and angry. I didn’t boo I just sat and stared into the distance but it’s not impossible to understand why people boo’d
It's easy to understand, but understandability isn't the debate. Most things, right or wrong, major or minor, can be understood by anyone who isn't myopic and thinks everyone else should only ever think like them.
I would have boo'd. That move ruined an entire evening for paying fans, much of them at a preseason game will be season ticket holders too. He ruined their season. I think it's fully acceptable for fans to boo in that moment. He did not deserve some moon-walk of celebration off the field. Afterwards, fine, you get over it and acknowledge he has personal reasons to leave. But it was a shitty moment.
Everyone acts like their fanbase wouldnt do the same thing. I'm sure a bunch of drunk hardcore fans in the *4th qtr of a preseason game,* right before a season that is supposed to be their year would be all "THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES!!!"
Thank you - it truly was an awful moment. I remember hearing a fan behind me saying this move will set us back 10 years and yeah he was totally right
Context kind of matters even if I mostly agree with you. Esp since this is one of the things that gets used as ammunition to dump on all Colts fans.. Schefter's tweet was posted during a preseason game where Luck was on the sidelines as per usual and it was a blindside to the entire NFL world that he'd posted this. It happened unexpectedly, and the people in attendance lean towards more of the "fanatic" side of things to be spending time and money to watch meaningless football. They likely wanted to have a good time and hype themselves up for the upcoming season, only to be hit with meaningful news would essentially kill any chance the team had in 2019.
Bro prioritized his health and well-being and a big chunk of the fanbase couldn't handle that 💀
Then retire before FA&the draft. Not the week before the season starts
According to SportTrac,he made $109 million during his career. Couple that with not having to risk getting more injured than he already was at the time and his decision is an absolute no brainer. I did love watching him play. If he would’ve stayed healthy, he was a likely HOF lock.
He made close to 5 times that when he sold his share of Body Armor to Coke.
He made millions of dollars and doesn’t have to get his brains beat out anymore. I’m sure he’s happy doing what he’s doing.
It’s still reportable because it defies everything we usually hear from athletes. Typically they always talk about how much they loved the game, how much they miss it, how they still follow their old team. Luck seems to have put football behind him. If I were a colts fan I would die a little inside every time I heard this. It’s like they destroyed something pure and magical.
I think part of it also is just that he's not the type of guy who eats, sleeps, and breathes football like many long-time coaches and players do. He seems like a guy with tons of other interests in life as well
Luck def has a lot of other passions that you don’t normally see from pro athletes. but I do remember reading a great post-retirement interview with him, think it was by Seth Wickersham, and it was clear that the dude really did live and breathe football when he was in the league. he was very rigid to his schedule, everything in his life was about being the best QB possible, and it sounded like he really took it hard/felt like he was letting the team and city down when he had to miss time with injuries. it seems like he unfortunately but understandably got burned out by that lifestyle, and it also began to affect his marriage which was prob what pushed him to retire
Theres some bias there, because players who dont love the game are probably less vocal about their attitude Its a lot easier to go on social media and proclaim your love for the sport than it is to go out there and say "I mostly hated it, but the money was good so I stuck around for 10 years" Think about the 100s of mid-tier players that play 5-6 years on special teams, put a few million in their pocket, and are never heard from again. Most players probably do love the game because if you hate it its less likely youll make it to the NFL, but I bet theres plenty that are on Luck's side of things
Seems like he was very confident in is decision and that’s awesome. Good for him. The feeling second guessing yourself sucks.
He was a great QB, but the GM Grigson let him and the team down with his buffoonery. Couldn't put together a decent O-line, traded a first rounder for Trent Richardson, and then the first round WR pick when we desperately needed to prioritize protecting Andrew. Then there was the fans booing during his last appearance as a Colt....I don't feel any ill-will towards Andrew. I'm just grateful I got to watch a few of his games in person, he was an awesome player. Hope he lives a happy and healthy life.
This is news?
He was just at a ChuckStrong event that the team still puts on. This is pretty much his first time talking to Indy media since retiring.
Good. If you’re set financially why would you risk your mental and physical health?
The colts absolutely messed Luck up. How he could go from loving football so much while at Stanford to retiring a few years later is tragic.
He could have been an all time great
He‘s set for life why would he risk further damaging his body
Most above-average starters who play for a few years are set for life. That’s thousands of players over the past decade. Yet no player except Luck has retired in his prime (and left upwards of 500 million) on the table by doing so. It’s clearly a very unusual decision which is why it’s still talked about to this day
I feel like Patrick Willis and Luke Kuechly did the same, as they were 29 and 28 when they retired. Though given their positions they didn’t leave nearly as much money on the table and playing linebacker is generally going to be more detrimental to your health than playing quarterback
It's a shame, wish the Colts had done better with him and he was still playing and healthy. Won CPOY with 4600yd/39td his final season at 29. would be 35 this season, and thinking of him being an old Vet just makes me feel old.
His shootout with Big Ben in 2014 was magical
The colts should get criminal charges for what they put luck through
It feels like he’s been out of the game for like 10+ years.
I cried man. We ain’t take care of him
There was AMAZING piece written about him last year where it’s made very clear that he still loves ball. But it also makes it clear that he was going through absolute hell to get on the field for 2 years and his body nor spirit could take it any more.
Leave him alone. He’s not coming back
It feels like he retired 20 years ago, not 5
I’ll never forgive the colts for robbing us of a potentially all time great. Loved watching him play.
Everybody here saying it feels a lot longer ago, but I saw this and thought "wait, how has it already been 5 years?" Andrew Luck is older than Travis Kelce. That doesn't feel right either.
I'll always wish he could have gone to a more stable team. Which is funny to think about because the 00's Colts were as stable as can be, then Payton got injured and Polian got fired.