With the start of the 2019-2020 NFL season mere weeks away, the big news to come off the gridiron was the seemingly abrupt and out-of-nowhere announcement by Colts quarterback Andrew Luck, that he was retiring from football.
At a still young 29, this comes as a shock to many, as lots of star quarterbacks are typically capable of playing well into their late-30s, and you look at Tom Brady whom at age 42 is coming off of his sixth Super Bowl, and it seems to believe that Luck is walking away way early. Obviously, he has his own reasons for making this decision, but the reactions have definitely varied throughout the world of sports fandom.
Obviously, there are lots of enraged fans, mostly out of Indianapolis and/or are fervent fantasy football players, at the thought that their franchise quarterback and/or stat printer would have the audacity to abandon ship and leave them in the middle of the ocean. These people are the ones who are blasting comment sections across the internet to opine how selfish and stupid Luck is, abandoning Indianapolis, the fans, and how stupid he is to be leaving a kabillion dollars on the table by walking away early.
And then there are fans like me, who stand and applaud Andrew Luck for walking away while he still has his head, (most of) his health, and a world of potential ahead of him to mold and shape the rest of his life ahead of him that doesn’t have anything to do with football. Sure, he’s probably leaving a tremendous amount of money on the table by calling it quits now, but if there’s one thing that’s always been the primary adjective for Andrew Luck is that he’s smart; I think it’s safe to assume that of the nearly $100M he’s earned in his career, not including endorsements, Luck is going to be just fine throughout the remainder of his life financially, and I’d wager he’ll be just fine being a physically mobile and capable millionaire now, instead of being a physically addled, hobbling, brain-mushed multi-millionaire in ten years.
I always love it when professional athletes leave on their own terms, and not being forced into retirement by injury or old age. Especially ones like Andrew Luck who obviously have a lot left in the tank, but just don’t feel like putting their bodies on the line in order to bilk more money out of a machine that they’ve already gotten more than enough out of in the first place. Even if it means the teams they depart are left high and dry, it’s still admirable to me when a guy realizes that not everything is sports and money and has goals and ambitions outside of sports, and makes the bold decision to pursue them instead of letting themselves wreck their bodies in pursuit of what may never come.
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