Truly shocking news, as Colts quarterback Andrew Luck is retiring from the NFL, a source told Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Schefter reports there will be a press conference on Sunday to formally announce the news. He writes that Luck “is mentally worn down, and now checking out.”
To say this is stunning news would be a massive understatement. In a separate tweet, Schefter writes that Luck has already met with Colts owner Jim Irsay to tell him of his decision. Luck has been dealing with a mysterious calf/ankle injury, although it wasn’t thought to be serious. The latest reporting indicated that the Colts were still hoping Luck would be ready for Week 1.
Indianapolis had known for “at least two weeks” that Luck was seriously considering retirement, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link). While the news apparently didn’t completely catch the organization off-guard, it doesn’t make it all that much easier to swallow for them.
In one of the most unprecedented moves in recent league history, Luck will be hanging up his cleats at the age of 29. There will be endless discussion in the coming days about what caused him to step away, although injuries are obviously part of it. Luck was plagued with a shoulder injury that lingered for a couple of years and ended up costing him the entire 2017 season. The process was mentally exhausting and always shrouded in secrecy, but he eventually worked his way back onto the field for the start of last year.
He made a triumphant return to Indy, leading them to wins in nine of their last ten games to sneak into the playoffs. He helped the Colts topple the Texans in the first round of the playoffs before they fell to the Chiefs. The team has a lot of good young talent and made major strides under head coach Frank Reich last year.
They were expected to be a Super Bowl contender heading into 2019 and were one of the most buzzed about teams this offseason. Luck’s lower leg injury was starting to get concerning due to the limited information available, but obviously nobody ever saw this coming. With Luck stepping away, Jacoby Brissett will now take over as the team’s starter.
Brissett is widely regarded as one of the league’s best backups, so things could be worse for the Colts. The team has been expressing confidence in Brissett all offseason, which in hindsight might’ve been foreshadowing this news. After being acquired in a trade with the Patriots, Brissett started most of the 2017 season for Indy. He finished with 3,098 yards, 13 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He’s scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent after the season, making his situation all the more interesting.
Luck’s retirement is obviously a huge boost to the rest of the AFC South, and he was 11-0 in his career against the Titans. The Colts will still have a chance to be competitive given Reich’s coaching and Brissett’s competence, but it’s hard not to see this as removing them from the list of AFC contenders.
Even with Brissett in tow, the Colts will likely be in the market for a veteran quarterback now. Their only backups are Phillip Walker and Chad Kelly, and neither has ever attempted a regular season pass. Kelly is also suspended for the first two games of the season, so he won’t be able to backup Brissett until Week 3.
It’s anyone’s guess as to what Luck will do now in his post-playing career. Given his young age, there will surely be rumors of a comeback for as long as he stays retired. Luck was apparently on the field at the Colts’ preseason game when the news broke, casually chatting with teammates, according to a tweet from Stephen Holder of The Athletic.
injuries suck
I’m guessing this injury is an Achilles that will require surgery?
So does Darth Vader.
Vader was taken away from his mother and told he is the chosen one. He was not given a seat on the council by the people who have talked him up for years. The Jedi caused Vader!
It’s still baffling to me how Plo Koon got into the counsel yet they shut out Anakin….Some BS right there…
Luck wasn’t on Anakin’s side
Any of you Colts fans booing him you heard it here first because none of your classless friends will tell you the truth. You are A HOLES not sure if this will get deleted hope not and a lot of those fans that can read read it. We are talking about a game and a man’s health. You can figure out the rest.
Very few actual sports fans left. Mostly “fans”.
Fickle dullards who think (for some reason) that the world is waiting for their thumbs up or thumbs down looking for even the slightest reason to offer their “hot takes”.
If some people paying full price for an exhibition game booed a superstar into retirement then good riddance. Good thing he played in the Midwest, because he wouldn’t have he intestinal fortitude to make it out of his first preseason in a place like New York it Philly.
Colts fans are emotionally hurt right now. It’ll pass. What won’t pass is an A hole who feels he needs to call other people A holes.
Well, you see what “comp rose” has for a middle name…
Very clever I almost laughed but realized it was just a burp.
Josh Bell I guess your hot take is more important than my “hot take”. I just don’t understand why people think they can throw candy at these players and they have to jump through hoops for your entertainment. There is way more than this game they have lives to live.
Ming it is ok for you to call me an a hole for calling out despicable behavior. Seems a bit hypocritical.
Sorry Colt fans, can’t blame this one on Pats. Maybe Luck’s arm deflated.
Smart dude
Right? I mean, it sucks to be a Colts fan, but he’s retiring with millions and isn’t getting himself banged up any further. Kinda like what Gronk did.
What about his responsibilities as a player. What about being a good teammate, because his teammates are screwed now. He just left 25 MILLION dollars because of an injury that may or may not be serious.
What about his responsibility to his health. I guess he had to jeopardize that to entertain you. These are not circus animals which is a whole other topic they are humans.
Rip Colts
I don’t believe that it’s not on ESPN yet
It’s is
Literally reported by Schefty
Durrrrrr
What the actual f**k!?!?!?
Aw man that sucks
Holy BLEEP!
What the
Wow, hope he’s alright though. Superstar talent, enjoy the rest of your life kiddo.
BREAKING NEWS: Andrew Luck has signed with the St Louis BattleHawks as a punter.
So much for Suck For Luck…
Odds he’s back by mid season?
I’d put them at 50/50
Either he is or he isn’t, I guess
Whoever had RG3 on a roster in 2019 but Andrew Luck not, you’re a winner
And the colts suck again…..
Leaving 77M on the table plus whatever signing bonus they try to recoup? I mean… you can just on IR dude and still collect your money until they cut you without retiring.
Maybe he has, idk, integrity?
hard to find these days
He’s made about 100 to this point,think he’ll be ok.
Okay in normal people terms… He made 100k and is leaving 77k on the table.
Who’s gonna be the quarterback do they still have Jacoby?
Do they still have Jacoby? Do you follow football? Yes they still have him.
hahahaha, i mean i knew they still had brissett but come on man. get that stick out of your azz. your friends must love talking sports with you. ive seen a lot worse questions than “does that team still have that backup quarterback i know by name?” without looking, tell me aaron rodgers and roethlisbergers. do you even watch football?
Steelers is either Rudolph or Dobbs.
Might be trading Dobbs to Colts now lol
yes
0-16 here we come. That’s the official Colts motto.
77M + whatever they go after from his signing bonus? Dumb, just go on IR until they cut you.
Yes you tried to state this already. You can stop now. Anyways, I’ve always been of the mind that Luck was overrated. Still shocking he’s walking away now.
the dude’s dad is the commissioner of a football league. im sure he’ll be well off.
Lol its all a ploy to get him in the XFL to help daddy
Rip to the people who drafted him in fantasy
thanks but only my back up
You must be one of those people who pick a QB early.. Good luck next year.
id demand a redraft…but then again i wouldn’t draft him anyway for the obvious injury risk.
Lol yep demand a redraft.. to ur commish who took David Johnson and Leveon Bell 1st overall in back-to-back drafts
Wow I wonder what the leg injury really is? I don’t blame the guy he has made enough money to live has his Stanford education can do whatever he wants. No long term life altering injuries hopefully.
Smart kid from Stanford – raked in $97M over the years he played. Don’t chance any more injuries, keep your head intact. He can invest those dollars…
He better be out of Indy already. They plan the draft and free agency pickups based on him playing and then he bails on the eve of the season??? just Wow!
I hope Luck’s not retiring for good and this will just be a short hiatus. He’s too talented to walk away at only 29. Hopefully he takes a year or 2 off to get things right then comes back better than ever
He wiol be back, different league though.
Bet
His rights are still owned by Indy won’t happen.
Professional football players deserve every penny they can get, they literally risk their life on the football field. Who could blame Andrew.
You also risk your life getting in a car.
Has to at least be a chance he’s pissed at the training staff that continues to screw up his diagnosis.
cant blame him trying to get an out over the bad press of demanding a trade.
Secret deal with XFL. Insane money through ownership.
Dads the commish
The XFL couldn’t get him Indy still will own his rights.
Kinda screwed the colts here
After the draft
Free agency
And most of the preseason
Who cares?
Maybe Colt fans…
They can get over it. The man has his own future to worry about.
Or maybe the Colts screwed Luck over by not investing in that O-Line for all those years. If he had protection back then there’s a good chance his body would still be allowing him to play now…
I’d say Kaepernick but he may have a probably has an issue with horse breeding
Kaepernick would be a good man to bring in to back up Brissett. Still that’s a very funny comment, even to those of us who have considerable sympathy for Kap’s politics.
Kap is D-O-N-E! He will never play in the NFL again !
Xfl here he comes. Gets more time to rest
Plays with daddy
lordy
Great talent. will be missed.
Good Luck.
Dearest Mother
I regret to inform you I can no longer continue the campaign as I find it to be too arduous.
My body will not cooperate with the commands of my brain. I am sorry if I have let so many down. Discretion is the better part of valor.
Winner of the thread right here.
He will get hurt during retirement press conference
QUITTER never win. Winners never lose.
Well, of course they don’t win. They’re not playing anymore because they quit, remember? Not playing, can’t win. Easy peasy.
Thanks for the play by play chief.
And morons spout empty cliches.
So, how many NFL games/wins do you have under your belt?
Ok everyone feeling bad for Colts see this. They go from Peyton to Luck to Tua.
And are we supposed to think Tua will be any better than Mariota? This will set the Colts back years while the Texans and Titans battle for the AFC Central crown well into the next decade.
Terrible news for everyone involved. I really hope he finds something else in life that makes him happy. The guy is super talented, just had terrible luck (no pun intended) with injuries.
Poor guy. He was a hell of a QB and a hell of a nice guy. It wasn’t his fault he got drafted to the NFL’s equivalent of a car crash. He never had protection. Never had help. And once he does he decides he can’t do it physically anymore. It hurts to see a team waste a generational talent the way they did.
Well said. Always felt bad how often he got hit and how the team never took care of their o-line until it was too late. Thought he was going to do what he did last year, but he had a change of heart. And I don’t blame him.
Correct for a drop back QB he was doomed.
So suck for Luck didn’t really work out huh?
Unfortunately, Colts management and their offensive line thought they were the ones that thought they had to suck for Luck.
Sad news for NFL fans and Colts fans in particular. If the wants to find a new profession it is his right as an American citizen to do so. Good luck to him. I hope he finds what he’s looking for and happy w… jacoby Brissett is more than a capable backup. Give them hell son. This is a great opportunity for you.
More than capable of leading them to a 4-12 record again just like he did in 2017. Great opportunity.
Yeah, that’s why I’m not sold on Brissett. He’s fine, but he’s not an offensive leader.
As a Colts fan, completely shocked but wish him the best. Idk where to go from here. Pick up Kaepernick, draft Lawrence in 2021…
San Francisco has 2 backups that can be traded for or a trade for Dak Prescott since Dallas can’t get him to sign.
Really think Dallas will trade Dak and turn over the team to Rush or White just because he doesn’t yet have an extension? SMH…
Dallas would be very clever to trade Prescott to Indianapolis. With a second rounder, they’d double their draft investment, solve their salary cap issues and put a shot across any player who thinks he’s bigger than the franchise.
Sounds great if you had a #2 QB knocking on the door, Dallas doesn’t.
Secretary: “Peyton Manning is on line 1 Mr. Irsay”.
I wish him “ Luck”
I think he might comeback in couple years.