Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Well, that’s a surprise!

Yeah though can't say I blame the guy for wanting to retire early due to all the injuries he has had over the past several years. When you begin feeling like continuing to play football will severely affect your physical health for the rest of your life then you should get out of the game. Only thing though is that I think he should have come to this conclusion prior to training camp opening and not just a couple weeks before the season starts. However doing something like that isn't any less irresponsible than any other twenty something year old.

Pains me to see the flack he got from the fans at yesterday's game along with many online chiming in. Got to do what's best for you. Only he knows what he's been through injury-wise these past few years. The timing seems bad but he simply didn't know for sure until now. Had he forced himself to go ahead, how much playing time would he have ended up getting anyway this season?

This is a chance to see what Brissett and the other QBs are made of. And Colts may, likely-enough, acquire someone between now and opening week. Reich and Ballard have done great jobs so far. Whoever is the QB, he won't have to be asked to do too much for he'll have the players/coaches support around him. It's too easy to count Colts out in '19. Many fans online are saying "tank this year for Tua", "tank next two for Trevor Lawrence" - ridiculous!

Wishing Andrew Luck the very best in post-retirement. Barring a, heaven-forbid (and this actual 'theory' has already been presented by some on Colts-boards), he making this move to jump to the XFL to help his father's league out, none of the flack at all is warranted.

lastcat3 wrote:However doing something like that isn't any less irresponsible than any other twenty something year old.

Andrew Luck is hardly a typical twenty something year old.

The high ankle issue which hasn’t improved during camp appears to be the straw that broke the camel’s back. It’s a very mature decision acknowledging that he has lost some of the necessary desire required to be a professional football quarterback, especially a superstar quarterback.

One commentator drew a parallel with Barry Sanders suddenly retiring from the Lions in 1999. The differences are that Barry played a full 10 seasons, he wasn’t injured, and, although he did receive a lot of negative feedback for his sudden decision, he didn’t have to endure social media trolling.

JohnH19 wrote:

lastcat3 wrote:However doing something like that isn't any less irresponsible than any other twenty something year old.

Andrew Luck is hardly a typical twenty something year old.

The high ankle issue which hasn’t improved during camp appears to be the straw that broke the camel’s back. It’s a very mature decision acknowledging that he has lost some of the necessary desire required to be a professional football quarterback, especially a superstar quarterback.

One commentator drew a parallel with Barry Sanders suddenly retiring from the Lions in 1999. The differences are that Barry played a full 10 seasons, he wasn’t injured, and, although he did receive a lot of negative feedback for his sudden decision, he didn’t have to endure social media trolling.

Just prior to the opening of camps in 1987, his father Oliver retired after playing in just 20 games over five years. At the time, he had just graduated from law school and indicated that he had lost some desire for playing.

JohnH19 wrote:

lastcat3 wrote:However doing something like that isn't any less irresponsible than any other twenty something year old.

Andrew Luck is hardly a typical twenty something year old.

The high ankle issue which hasn’t improved during camp appears to be the straw that broke the camel’s back. It’s a very mature decision acknowledging that he has lost some of the necessary desire required to be a professional football quarterback, especially a superstar quarterback.

One commentator drew a parallel with Barry Sanders suddenly retiring from the Lions in 1999. The differences are that Barry played a full 10 seasons, he wasn’t injured, and, although he did receive a lot of negative feedback for his sudden decision, he didn’t have to endure social media trolling.

This is a different case than Sanders, as Sanders was never injured but lost the desire to play. Sanders was in a situation in Detroit where the front office took him for granted and didn't try to build a decent team around him. He was a very humble man, a guy who wasn't a showboat. He spiked the ball one time in his NFL career. He had nothing left to prove.

Luck was injured quite a bit during his career, missed half the 2015 season and the entire 2017 season, and his ankle problem was apparently not going to improve but rather plague him the remainder of his career. I just don't understand the people criticizing him on social media; don't they realize this is tearing him up inside to give up the game he has played for the last 20 years. There are those who will say he is leaving a rich man, but what is all the money in the world if you can't walk without a cane and you're not even 30 years old? The job of a quarterback is probably the most complex and difficult job in professional sports; I don't know how you can throw an accurate pass to somebody knowing a JJ Watt is coming around the side and will slam into you at full speed a millisecond after the ball leaves your hand.

Interestingly, though I don't think Luck will be HOF and Ken Anderson has a decent chance (though I still say he's borderline)

If you could have Ken Anderson's level of success in his prime (pick any 6-7 consecutive seasons) or Andrew Luck's production who would you take?

While we were both in college, a close friend of mine used to babysit Andrew Luck when he was an infant.

JohnTurney wrote:Interestingly, though I don't think Luck will be HOF and Ken Anderson has a decent chance (though I still say he's borderline)

If you could have Ken Anderson's level of success in his prime (pick any 6-7 consecutive seasons) or Andrew Luck's production who would you take?

Who has the higher AV's each season?

lastcat3 wrote:Yeah though can't say I blame the guy for wanting to retire early due to all the injuries he has had over the past several years. When you begin feeling like continuing to play football will severely affect your physical health for the rest of your life then you should get out of the game. Only thing though is that I think he should have come to this conclusion prior to training camp opening and not just a couple weeks before the season starts. However doing something like that isn't any less irresponsible than any other twenty something year old.

I agree with this about his health. He's not even 30 years old. Still has a lot of years left to do what he wants away from football. He's probably set financially, and I recall Luck has an architecture degree from his days at Stanford. He could get into that if he wants.

As for the fans booing and criticizing him, shame on them. Players have the right to do as they please. They take the beatings and suffer the consequences, the fans don't. Sell your season tickets if you are POed.