Andrew Luck drops retirement bomb mid-game vs. Chicago Bears
By Ryan Heckman
The Chicago Bears and Indianapolis Colts’ backups provided some big-time moments Saturday night, but Andrew Luck made the biggest headline.
Saturday night, the Chicago Bears traveled to take on the Indianapolis Colts for their third preseason game of the year. While many guys were battling to take center stage in hopes they would land a spot on each respective roster, a different name took the spotlight.
Colts starting quarterback Andrew Luck has had to endure a lot during his seven years in the NFL. Shockingly, on Saturday night, news broke that the former Stanford product was retiring from professional football.
Filed to ESPN: Andrew Luck has informed the Colts he is retiring from the NFL, per source. There will be a press conference Sunday to make it official, but Luck is mentally worn down, and now checking out.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 25, 2019
Luck missed the entire 2017 season due to an ailing shoulder injury. Most football fans remember all of the talk surrounding his status for last year’s campaign.
At one point, he could barely throw a youth-sized football. Other times, he was spotted throwing just a nerf-style football. Folks were worried. But, he ended up playing the entire 2018 season. Luck threw for nearly 4,600 yards and 39 touchdowns, becoming a clear-cut MVP candidate next to Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
This year, Luck has struggled to come back from a calf injury; a strain, to be exact. It appears he is done attempting to come back from injuries and is leaving the sport altogether.
This is one of the more shocking news bits we have ever seen in the NFL, let alone the sports world in general.
One minute, two teams were playing a not-so-important preseason game. The next, one of said teams lost their franchise quarterback at just 29 years old.
With Luck retiring, that leaves backup quarterback Jacoby Brissett as the team’s starter going forward. Chad Kelly, a polarizing player over the course of his young career, could now move up as the team’s primary backup behind Brissett. He still has to beat out Phillip Walker, though.
It will be interesting to see what we hear from Luck himself in the coming days, and I think I speak on behalf of all football fans when I say that he will be sorely missed on Sundays.