Andrew Luck in 2012 playing against USC. Stanford won 21-14. (MICHAEL LIU/The Stanford Daily)
August 26, 2019 — On Saturday afternoon Andrew Luck, 29, announced his retirement from football after seven seasons.
Andrew at Stanford
Luck was easily one of the top quarterbacks Stanford has ever had, a two time runner-up for the Heisman Trophy and two time PAC-12 offensive player of the year; Luck was beastly.
Coach Jim Harbaugh recruited Luck to Stanford in 2008 with a nice athletic scholarship. Luck was a redshirt freshman (redshirt defines the academic standing for an athlete. Redshirt freshman means the athlete is academically a sophomore but athletically a freshman.) In 2009 Luck was selected as the starting QB over Tavita Pritchard, this was the first time since 1996 a freshman was selected as the starting QB at Stanford.
Luck led Stanford to a 12-1 season in 2010 and was essentially the top player in the nation. He won PAC-10 offensive player of the year, ranked Stanford at #4 in the AP Poll and concluded the season with 32 touchdowns. He beat the Stanford record of 27 touchdown passes previously held by John Elway and Steve Stenstrom.
Rather than enter the draft in 2011 Luck announced he would return to Stanford for senior year to conclude his education as well. #Educatedman. Stanford ended the season at 11-2 and another BCS Bowl appearance against Oklahoma State which they unfortunately lost 41-38. Fast-forward to April 2012 as Luck’s name is called out during the NFL draft, second to the Indianapolis Colts.
The Colts went from 2-14 in 2011 to three straight playoff appearances with Luck as their leader. Luck hurt his shoulder early in 2015 and continued to partially play until 2017. He had shoulder surgery and things weren’t really the same with him after that. Luck was getting beat up behind the line and it was physically and mentally affecting him.
Luck bounced back with a fantastic 2018 campaign, throwing for 4,593 passing yards, tossing 39 touchdowns and leading Indy to the playoffs. If not for Patrick Mahomes‘ ridiculous season, Luck could have been a candidate to win the MVP last year. (Kevin Patra, NFL.com)
“I certainly feel like I got my fair chance,” Luck said during his emotional retirement announcement in Indianapolis. “And I’m grateful for every snap that I got to take. … I don’t hold any resentment, I guess, in that way. I do feel like I got a fair chance, and I tried to make the most of my chance. And right now my journey just doesn’t include football going forward.”
Andrew Luck in his post-game press conference. August 24, 2019. Maske, Mark – The Washington Post
He concluded his NFL career with 171 touchdowns, 23,671 yards and 83 interceptions.
Definitely one of the most shocking early retirement stories in the NFL. It’s been rough to say the least to see Luck suffer injury after injury throughout his seven seasons in the NFL. Once some positive headlines were released, it seemed like Luck would face another injury the following Sunday. It’s hard to imagine the painful process Luck was elegantly managing: big game, injury, rehab, repeat.
I wish Luck a healthy full-time recovery and some real R&R. He’s so personable and well-mannered, it’s difficult to find some major flaws with the guy.
thesportsnote 