Running Out of Luck
By 
Andrew Luck, arguably the best QB prospect since the last one the Colts backed ass-backwards into, shockingly announced his retirement during the team’s third profit-taking exhibition game yesterday:
It’s not hyperbole: Andrew Luck‘s stunning decision to move on from the NFL is the most shocking retirement American pro sports has seen since Michael Jordan left the NBA in 1993. The circumstances are obviously different, and we’ve seen players such as Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson leave the game earlier than anybody would have expected, but 29-year-old quarterbacks in the prime of their careers just don’t get up and leave. This isn’t just a franchise-altering decision. It alters the entire complexion of the NFL.
To put this in context, by Pro Football Reference’s Approximate Value statistic, there have been two players in NFL history who have posted a better season in their final NFL campaign than the Indianapolis Colts quarterback and then retired by choice before turning 30. One is former Vikings running back Robert Smith, who ran for 1,521 yards at age 28 before moving on. The other is Jim Brown. No quarterback has made the Pro Bowl in a season during his 20s and then immediately retired since Johnny Lujack, and if that name doesn’t ring a bell, it’s because Lujack retired in 1952.
More here.
He was booed by some Indianapolis fans when he left the field yesterday, about which:
This is a very rough game. Most people who have not played at this level will never understand what we put our bodies through season after season. We don’t need the sympathy because this is what we signed up for but to “boo” a man that battled for that city is disgraceful.— Richard Sherman (@RSherman_25) August 25, 2019
Anybody who calls Andrew Luck “soft” should 1)eat shit, 2)watch some footage of this game when he endured a brutal beating from one of the best past rushes in NFL history facing his fourth-rate offensive line and won, and 3)eat shit.
The tragic paradox of Luck’s career is that he was good enough to allow the utter numbnuts in charge of his team to keep their jobs, which ultimately led to the premature ending of his career. But he was a terrific player and good for him for leaving on his terms. It’s just too bad he wasn’t drafted by an organization worthy of his talents.