Andrew Luck Owes the Colts and Their Fanbase Absolutely Nothing
By Thomas Carannante
Only in the NFL can a player retire prematurely to preserve his health and mental capabilities and get mercilessly criticized for it.
Such is life for former Indianapolis quarterback Andrew Luck, who shocked the world by calling it quits at age 29 on Saturday night. While he's receiving an outpouring of support from plenty of former and current players, fans and media pundits have plenty to say despite having never stepped foot on the gridiron.
Wouldn't we all love to see Doug Gottlieb get blindsided and smashed face first into the ground by a 330-pound defensive lineman? He can take that hit and then determine if he wants to keep playing football and risk it all for an owner who doesn't really have his head on straight.
Ah, yes, the fans. Those dedicated overweight and senseless beings that attend football games to get trashed and eat excessively every Sunday. Where would the world be without these people?
Luck, who spent seven years with Indy and missed 1.5 seasons due to injuries, finishes his NFL career with a 53-33 record, 60.8% completion rate and 171 touchdowns. In 2018, when the Colts finishes 10-6 and won the Wild Card Game against the Houston Texans, Indy had the 26th best attendance rate at Lucas Oil Stadium. Talk about loyalty!
How about from 2012-2014, when Luck led the Colts to an 11-5 record in each of those seasons, finished with three playoff berths and two division titles? Let's see...17th, 18th and 21st!
And how about playing for an NFL owner, especially in this day and age, and putting your body on the line for them (regardless of the money you're being paid)? Every owner, with the exception of a few, are tone-deaf, cheap and arrogant, as we've seen based on quotes in the media, personnel moves, you name it.
While Jim Irsay isn't necessarily one of those guys, he's already talking about Luck coming back? Maybe just focus on the fact that this is his decision?
But, controversy has followed Irsay for a while. He was arrested back in 2014 under suspicion of DUI and drug possession, for which he was suspended six games and fined $500,000 for. Not only that, but there was the whole controversy of his mistress overdosing in a house that was purchased with money from the organization. A couple years ago he claimed his Twitter was hacked -- twice in a matter of weeks -- after some raunchy NSFW posts went up on his account.
Luck is an employee, just like the rest of us, and owes nothing to anyone. This was his career for seven years and he played through injuries countless times and was forced to watch his team from the sidelines as a result.
If football fans are this outraged by Luck's life decision, perhaps they need to fulfill themselves in a multitude of other ways because living through a football team and players you don't care about on a personal level is as futile as it gets.