Andrew Luck is remembered as a great quarterback for the Colts from 2012 to 2018. Although he spent less than a decade with the franchise, he set several important personal and team records. Despite all of his accomplishments, he recently confessed something painful that was a key part of his NFL retirement.
In a recent article for The Athletic, Luck opened up about his early retirement at the age of 29, after only seven years as a starting quarterback and with a total of 23,671 passing yards. He described his retirement not as a personal disappointment, but in terms of its effect on his teammates.
Luck confessed to reporter Zak Keefer that, “I’ll always have guilt about how it ended,” adding that he felt “I let my teammates down.” He said he wanted to continue playing with the Colts, but his body was physically unable to go on.
Luck Wanted to Play for a Long Time
In his conversation with Keefer for The Athletic, Luck not only talked about how bad he felt about his early retirement but also about his desire to play until he was an NFL veteran. “I was gonna play until I was 40 or 45,” he said, thinking that his body would be able to withstand it for 20 or more years. “You think you’re invincible. At least I did.”
Keefer wrote about Luck’s struggles after retirement: “He tried moving on. A game would flash across the TV and he’d groan. He’d have dreams about football, and his old life, and everything he’d left behind. For a while it felt like he was in a fog. I can’t be 30 years old and retired, he’d tell himself. This is ridiculous.”
How It All Ended for Luck
Following a career-best 2016 season where he threw for over 4,200 yards and 31 touchdowns, Luck’s career took a dramatic turn. Despite signing a record-breaking contract, he underwent surgery to repair an issue with his right throwing shoulder that had been bothering him since 2015. The surgery proved to be the beginning of the end.
Luck missed the entire 2017 season due to lingering shoulder problems, which required him to seek additional treatment in Europe. Despite reports that he wouldn’t need a second surgery, the continuous pain and lengthy rehabilitation ultimately led to his surprise retirement just before the 2019 season.