(Photo: Steve Lyons/Getty Images)
By Kyle Showalter
How did we get here?
Indianapolis Colts star quarterback Andrew Luck retired Saturday after the team’s 27-17 preseason loss against the Chicago Bears. Luck had planned to announce his retirement at a press conference scheduled for 3:00 PM ET on Sunday, but ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter broke the news during the third quarter of Saturday’s contest. As the news careened around the friendly confines of LucasOil Stadium, chaos ensued. Cameras hunted for fans learning that their franchise quarterback was no more, hoping to capture the devastation that would ensue. Some ripped off their jerseys. Some hung their heads. The rest looked on with a look of what appeared to be a combination of bewilderment and despondence. This would lead to the chorus of boos that would pour over Luck as he walked off the field that he had once felt the love of an entire city on. “Yeah it hurt. I’ll be honest, it hurt.” Luck said as the smile left his face, while his coach, GM, and owner looked on with bloodshot eyes, knowing full well what had been lost.
Seriously, how did we get here?
Andrew Luck’s father wore many hats. He was a star quarterback for the West Virginia Mountaineers and took his talents to the NFL, where he was best known for backing up Warren Moon for the Houston Oilers. He ran for a seat in congress in 1990. He took his family overseas to help establish NFL Europe. He was the head of the Houston Sports Authority and assisted in developing the city’s booming sports culture and was named president of the Houston Dynamo MLS franchise. He returned to West Virginia in 2010 and served as the athletic director for his alma mater. He was most recently named the commissioner of the resurrected XFL.
Throughout all of the moving, Andrew’s father always made sure to instill in him what it would take for him to excel at the quarterback position. He would grow up attending sessions of the Manning Passing Academy whenever possible.
It was in the city of Houston that Andrew would also make his mark. He would blossom at Stratford High School, where he won the state title in 2005. He threw for over 7000 yards and scored 53 touchdowns through the air while also adding over 2000 yards with his legs in his three varsity seasons. Many schools lined up for the 4-star recruits services, namely Rice, Northwestern, and Purdue. Andrew Luck made the choice, however, to sign with Stanford to play under former NFL quarterback and current University of Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh.
After redshirting his freshman season, Luck would go on to have an outstanding career for The Cardinal. Luck shined in his redshirt-sophomore year, throwing for 3398 yards and broke John Elway’s touchdown pass record with 32. He led Stanford to a school-record 11 wins and a victory in the Orange Bowl over Virginia Tech. He also finished second in the Heisman trophy voting to Cam Newton.
As Jim Harbaugh announced he was leaving Stanford to become the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, many speculated on whether Luck, who was considered by many to be the top prospect in the upcoming draft, would join him in heading to the NFL. Luck instead decided to play one more season for the Cardinal in order to finish his college degree. He threw for 3517 yards and broke his own school record for single season passing touchdowns with 37. He would finish second in the Heisman voting again, this time losing out to Robert Griffin III. He would leave his mark in the Stanford record books, sitting at 1st in completion percentage, 1st in passing touchdowns, 2nd in passing yards, and 5th in completions.
With his degree in hand, the NFL was calling, and with a legend walking out the door, the Indianapolis Colts came calling.
It’s never easy replacing a legend. Just ask Steve Young and Aaron Rodgers, two legends who began their careers in the shadows of an all-time great. This is the situation that Andrew Luck found himself in when he was selected first overall in 2012 by the Indianapolis Colts. They had decided to move on from Peyton Manning following a neck surgery that had costed him the entirety of the 2011 season. It was now Luck’s job to replace the most important player in the history of the franchise. Manning had been the quarterback he looked up to as a model of how to play the position. How could he possibly handle that kind of pressure?
He would lead the Colts, who finished 2-14 in the previous season, to an 11-5 record and a postseason berth.
This was the first of many accomplishments of his early career. He would make the pro bowl each of his first three seasons. The Colts won the division in his second season and ended up one game away from the Super Bowl the following year, losing in the conference championship to the New England Patriots. The Colts looked like they could be the team of the future, and Andrew Luck looked every bit the part of the blossoming franchise quarterback he was drafted to become.
In short, beginning in week 3 of 2015, Luck played for two seasons with a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder, while also suffering a concussion, a lacerated kidney, torn abdominal muscles, and torn cartilage on two ribs in that timeframe.
Luck would undergo surgery to repair his torn labrum in January of 2017, as announced by Colts owner via Twitter.
He would miss the entirety of the 2017 season.
It was hard to not be speculative of the comeback in 2018. Media cycles came and went without any meaningful news on Luck. Then it was announced he was throwing a tennis ball. Then it was a Nerf ball. Then a regulation high school football. The lack of information naturally threw gasoline on the fire that is sports media. Many would go on the air and proclaim that Luck was finished, that he would never be the player that we had got to see his first three years.
Could they have been more wrong?
Luck dominated the NFL in 2018. He threw for just shy of 4600 yards and threw 39 touchdowns, just 1 short of his career high of 40. His completion percentage of 67.3 was the highest of his career by a wide margin. He had the 4th highest QBR in the league. PFF, the gold standard for NFL analytics, ranked Luck as the 3rd best quarterback in the league last season, falling just behind second-year sensation Patrick Mahomes and the top ranked quarterback, the future hall-of-famer Drew Brees. He was awarded the Pro Football Writers Association Comeback Player of the Year Award for his inspirational play on the field. It looked as if Andrew Luck was back and better than he had ever been.
Then, as we know now, he wasn’t.
Andrew Luck will be remembered for retiring at 29. He will be remembered for “quitting on his team.” He will be remembered for being “another selfish millennial.” He will be remembered as the guy with all of the talent in the world that simply “didn’t love football.” He will be remembered for the most bizarre revealing of a retirement any of us will ever see.
But Andrew Luck and his career are so much more than that.
He should be remembered for the displays of incomprehensible ability to play the quarterback position. He should be remembered as someone who knew what to do with the ball at all times, as all great quarterbacks do. He should be remembered as a quarterback who could make any throw on the field from anywhere, whether he was flushed out of the pocket, under heavy pressure, or had all day to throw. He should be remembered for leading masterful comebacks, namely against the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2014 AFC Wild Card round.
Even more than his ability to take our breath away on the football field, he should be remembered for the joy he exuded. He should be remembered for playing the game with a passion and a grit that is lost on the quarterbacks of today. He should be remembered as a quarterback that would try to go through linebackers to get to the first down marker. He should be remembered as the greatest trash talker of all time.
Making the choice to walk away from something you love is never an easy one. Luck making this choice is bigger than football. He has given everything he had to the Indianapolis Colts organization. He gave them his throwing shoulder. He gave them his core muscles. He gave them a kidney. He gave them two ribs. He gave them his head. He gave them every ounce of heart he had. Just as important, he gave them hope. He gave them the ability to wonder, to dream, that they had someone to fill the impossibly large shoes of the man whose quarterback camps Luck grew up attending.
Some things are just bigger than sports.
Andrew Luck is one of them.
As I step into my eighth decade of life you have no idea how refreshing it is to read something is not trying to destroy somebody for some ill perceived notion Of some sort selfish Misguided loyalty to the game the team and the so called fans But to bring him up and look at is a his Accomplishments throughout his career Looking at his background I would hazard a guess the kid been in the game since he was 10 or 11 years old That’s 18 or 19 years physical and mental stress From parents coaches teachers and even your peers You don’t play that long and that well without a definite love for the game I would give him credit for retiring at 29 he has his education large percentage of his health he can go on and live a very productive life But make no mistake as time rushes in and it will the man’s body is going to pay a heavy price for doing the thing that he loved. Vern. Ca