Within the past half hour, Twitter exploded with the news that Andrew Luck is going to announce his retirement from the NFL in a press conference tomorrow. The 7 year veteran and former number one pick in the draft, was generally regarded as one of the five best quarterbacks in the NFL when healthy.
Reports say that Luck was mentally worn down from being in a seemingly near constant state of recovering from injury. His
body is a game of Operation come to life. Instead of putting his body through any more of the rigors of NFL life, he took his money and went home. Good for him.
Football, and sports in general, is littered with people who hung on too long. Players who knew nothing of anything other than going onto a field and performing in modern Roman Coliseums across the country. Their bodies are torn, scarred, broken down, and thrown to the side, replaced by younger, faster versions of them.
That Andrew Luck, at only 29 years old, is willing to walk away speaks to his own ability to know his mortality. He is married and wants to see the world. He imagines a life outside of football and has decided that instead of trying to tough out an ankle injury that has kept him from practicing with the team all year, he would step down.
It is nearly unprecedented for someone at Luck’s level to walk away in sports. That he has, has caused shockwaves throughout the NFL. Being a starting quarterback comes with a level of prestige that isnt replicated anywhere else in professional sports.
That said. Its not for everyone. For every Tom Brady who is hanging around forever by having a near psychotic workout program and an allergy towards getting hit, there are many others like Terry Bradshaw, who are bat shit insane from getting hit. Luck is walking away with his luck relatively intact.
He is also walking away with career earnings over 50 million. He is walking away with functioning knees. Most importantly, he is walking away on his terms.
Fancy Boys Club 