This is a Titans’ blog. So, why am I talking about Andrew Luck? That should be obvious. Luck’s retirement will likely play a huge role in the Titans’ season. The Titans are infamously 0-11 against the Colts when Andrew Luck starts. That is impossibly bad. The truth is, Luck stepping away from football should make the road to the playoffs easier for the Titans in 2019.
But, this isn’t even really about that. It’s just a jumping off point. I want to address a few of the most popular and eroneous online takes in regards to Luck’s retirement. I’ll take them one at a time.
Andrew Luck is soft.
This might be the dumbest of all the responses. I’m not even sure if it needs to be rebutted as it is so dumb that to deal with it in a serious way almost gives it too much credit. Any NFL player who decides to retire because the wear and tear becomes too much is anything but soft. No one has any idea the physical, emotional, and psychological toll Luck has dealt with in his football career. We will never know. Luck is not soft. If you think that you are a moron.
Football players are unique.
The flip side to the dumb “Andrew Luck is soft” take is that NFL players somehow deal with so much more than anyone else in the world. That is nonsense as well. The NFL life is all-consuming. It is brutal. It takes a special person to deal with all of it. But so does working two jobs, raising four kids, and struggling to make ends meet, all the while you deal with chronic back pain due to degenerative disc disease.
Do you see what I mean? Most people deal with stuff. Some people deal with way harder stuff than NFL players. These players are not gods. They play a violent and difficult sport and if they decide it’s time to hang it up, we should be okay with that. Why? Because we have not walked in their shoes. But let’s not elevate them to some superhuman pedestal.
Colts fans are the worst.
Some of them are, for sure. The ones who booed Luck as he left Lucas Oil Stadium after the game were ignorant. Those who have burned their Luck jerseys are imbeciles. Most Colts fans are sad and disappointed, as any other fan base would be in their position. It is a tough pill to swallow when you go from thinking you are a Super Bowl contender to not really knowing what to expect. It is tough to cheer for a guy as classy and as good as Luck and see him retire this early and unexpectedly.
Having said all that, I hate the Colts and I don’t feel sorry for the franchise at all. I hope they lose a lot this year but not enough to get a high draft pick to replace Luck.
Andrew Luck: Future Hall of Famer and Legend
Andrew Luck was a good QB. He was even great at times. He took mediocre teams and made them better. But, we need to stop this nonsense about Luck being some legendary player who retired at the peak of the sport. Andrew Luck is not Jim Brown. He is not Barry Sanders. He is not even Calvin Johnson. Luck was barely a 60% passer for his career. Much of his injury issues are due to his propensity to hold on to the ball for way too long, which resulted in too many sacks and big hits. With that said, I do believe if he had remained mostly healthy from this point forward, he would have put together an HOF career.
Andrew Luck was an unbelievable talent who had many bright moments but overall, his career was too injury plagued and too short to have earned all the over-the-top paeans that are being writing in his honor.
Your turn.
What are your thoughts about Andrew Luck and all the media coverage? I would love to hear from you. Let me know in the comment section below.
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I can’t argue with any of that. A very good QB who had great moments.