The National Football League is, without question, a dangerous work environment. Competitors — some of the largest, most athletic people on the planet — physically attack each other in a regulated fashion for 60 minutes. Injuries are all but guaranteed, long-term health can be jeopardized and careers can end in an instant.
So while Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck’s retirement announcement over the weekend was surprising, it’s understandable. Luck has played through or battled back from several significant injuries in his seven-year career, and staring down another potential rehab, he was unwilling to do it again. So unwilling, in fact, that he’s passing on nearly $60 million, according to the Indianapolis Star.
That is his choice to make.
“Honestly, it’s the hardest decision of my life,” the 29-year-old Luck said in a press conference on Saturday, after the news of his retirement broke in the middle of a Colts preseason game. “But it is the right decision for me.”
The timing of Luck’s announcement, two weeks before the start of the regular season, is not good for the Colts. But Luck was heading into this season hobbled by a leg injury, and the uncertainty surrounding his health surely would have caused complications down the road.
More importantly, Luck seems certain in his acknowledgment that he is “unable to pour my heart and soul into this position.” He is right that such a scenario would also sell the Colts organization and his teammates short. Giving them a definitive answer on his future, even a disappointing one, at least allows the Colts to now plan their season around Luck’s likely replacement, the promising former Patriot Jacoby Brissett.
“It’s sad, but I also have a lot of clarity in this,” he told reporters Saturday.
Luck compared the decision to reaching a fork in the road and choosing himself over other considerations. He said that he hasn’t “been able to live the life that I want to live.”
This approach opens Luck up to an argument that he is being selfish, and perhaps he is. But it’s his future and his health in question. Attempting, as one sports pundit did, to turn this decision into a reflection on generational differences — in this case that Luck’s forthcoming realization is “ the most millennial thing ever” — is silly. This is one man’s personal and professional choice.
Luck is hardly the first NFL player to prioritize his health and happiness over his net worth or even his team’s success. Hall of Fame running back Barry Sanders walked away from the NFL in his prime. Earlier this year, Rob Gronkowski went out on top after a third Super Bowl victory and years of injuries.
Frustration from Colts fans over the weekend is not out of bounds, and we are not in a place to tell them how to feel or how to react when they lose their franchise quarterback in such a surprising way. But we have to wonder, after all of the reasons Luck gave Colts fans to cheer in the past seven years, is an inconveniently timed, very disappointing retirement worth booing him over?
Fellow players have also come to Luck’s defense in the past few days.
“I think it takes an immense amount of courage, an immense amount of self-reflection and a lot of guts to do what he’s doing.” Houston Texas defensive end J.J. Watt said, according to Yahoo Sports. “Nobody goes through what he goes through, the rehab and injuries. Everybody sees game day. They don’t see the offseason. They don’t see the Monday through Friday and doing whatever he possibly can to get his body ready for the game. I respect the hell out of it.”