Andrew Luck’s Retirement: One Year Later

By A.J. Olona

Aug. 24, 2019 is a day that all football fans will remember. Today marks the one year anniversary that the one time generational quarterback Andrew Luck decided retired at the early age of 29.

Coming off of a Comeback Player of the year campaign in 2018 in which Luck threw for over 4,500 yards and 39 touchdowns, people around the NFL were looking towards the Colts as potential Super Bowl contenders. Every year in which Andrew Luck was healthy, he and his team progressed more and more. Now that he finally had a competent offensive line in front of him for the first time in his career, things were looking up for the former Stanford quarterback. With an improved offensive line, a young defense, and a second year with head coach Frank Reich, there was no reason that the Indianapolis Colts couldn’t make a run.

However, throughout the entire offseason, Andrew Luck was nagged by a lingering lower leg injury. There were reports that the injury was affecting his calf, that is was his knee, that it was his ankle, no one seemed to know.

Andrew Luck announces sudden retirement after seven seasons (Michael Conroy/Associated Press)

Throughout all of training camp and preseason, Luck remained sidelined with this mysterious injury. Backup Jacoby Brissett took all of the first team reps leading into the season. While owner Jim Irsay was confident that Luck would be ready for the season, fans began to wonder if this was going to be another year of questioning the quarterbacks health and when he would suit up on game day.

Then suddenly, during the fourth quarter of a preseason against the Cincinnati Bengals, it was reported that Andrew Luck had decided to step away from the game. As the sporting world went into a frenzy and the preseason game came to an end, Andrew Luck learned that word had gotten out before he could properly make his announcement. As he walked off of the field towards the locker room, fans began to boo their once prized franchise player as they were beginning to learn what was happening.

During an emotional press conference that night, Andrew Luck cited the ongoing process of rehabbing injuries as the reason for his sudden decision.

“I've been stuck in this process. I haven't been able to live the life I want to live. It's taken the joy out of this game. The only way forward for me is to remove myself from football. This is not an easy decision. It's the hardest decision of my life. But it is the right decision for me” (Wells, Mike August 24, 2019).

Many players around the NFL could not believe that it was true. Many of Lucks teammates could not believe it was true. There were many players for the Indianapolis Colts who had heard of Lucks retirement for the very first time during the preseason game at the same time as everyone else. To put it simply, the news shocked a lot of people.

The Indianapolis Colts were left scrambling. Luckily for them, Jacoby Brissett had been taking the all of the first team reps all summer long. The Colts gave Jacoby a 2 year, $30 million extension with $20 million of that guaranteed in order to assure him that he was their guy. After a strong start to the season, the Colts positioned themselves as a top team in the AFC, especially after their win against the eventual Super Bowl winning Kansa City Chiefs. However, the party stopped shortly after that. Jacoby Brissett injured his knee in the middle of the season against the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Colts faltered ever since finishing the year with a 7-9 record after their quick 5-2 start. In 2019, the Colts missed the playoffs for the fourth time in five years.

During the 2020 offseason, the Colts reinvested in the quarterback position by bringing in 17 year veteran Phillip Rivers on a one year deal while also investing a 4th round pick in Washington quarterback Jacob Eason, all the while retaining Jacoby Brissett and Chad Kelly.

A full 365 days after Andrew Lucks world shattering retirement, the Indianapolis Colts are still without a long term franchise quarterback. The team is hoping that Phillip Rivers still has enough in the tank to take over where Andrew Luck left off and win a Super Bowl. Meanwhile, Colts fans are still hoping that Andrew Lucks retirement is going well and that some time soon, he regains the passion to come out of retirement and pick up right where he left off in Indianapolis.

You can follow A.J. Olona on Twitter @age_lona.