It may be one of the most shocking announcements in recent sports history. The heir apparent to Peyton Manning has walked away from the game after multiple seasons with injury. Andrew Luck has announced his retirement. We are all shocked that Andrew Luck has retired at the age of 29.
Last night around 9:15 ET Breaking News scrolled across the bottom of the screen while many were watching a sloppy Miami vs Florida game. When I saw it I almost didn’t believe it and screamed like a teenage girl at a N*Sync concert. The 29-year-old Luck was hanging them up. Quoted below, Luck tells us why the decision was made:
“I’ve been stuck in this process, 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. This is not an easy decision. It’s the hardest decision of my life. But it is the right decision for me.”
The first overall pick in the 2012 Draft has definitely had his share of injuries. September of 2015 he sprained his shoulder then came back and lacerated his kidney that same year in November. January of 2016 reports surfaced that Luck had been playing with torn cartilage in his rib cage. He was reportedly getting several injections a week to numb the pain. After lingering shoulder issues, Luck, In January of 2017 had shoulder surgery. In November of 2017, he was placed on IR and did not play again that season.
Fast forward to August of 2018 where Luck finally returns. He has missed portions of that last three seasons due to injuries and he is only 28 years old. He goes on to throw for 4,593 yards with 39 TD’s and 15 INT’s. Now finally healthy and one season since injury under his belt, he is looking to have a 2019 season and put his doubters behind him. Enter March of 2019, Luck is diagnosed with a calf strain and figure to miss much of preseason. The rumblings in the media and sports world start to pick up again about Luck. Most figured when the season starts he will be ready.
Luck will finish his career with 23,671 Passing Yards, 171 TD’s and 83 INT’s. With multiple Pro Bowls under his belt and a very respectable stat line, he has walked away from the game. The game that so many now are retiring early from because of the mental and physical abuse it puts on the body.
This morning I reached out to our friend here at Belly Up Sports, Dan Orlovsky and asked him his thoughts on the news:
So as we all sit back and are angered by this decision because we now lost our starting fantasy football quarterback. Just think for one second about the human Luck is and how at only the age of 29 this man feels the way he does. Football is a brutal game where many put their body on the line for a team in a state they didn’t come from. As we rally behind these teams and players they tend to play with everything they have and leave it all on the field. Then when they decide enough is enough we boo those same players as they walk off the field for the last time in front of their home crowd. Still shocking to see the news Andrew Luck has retired at the age of 29.
That is not what this game is about. We need to be better…..
