Andrew Luck was no Michael Jordan when Jordan retired in October of 1993. No athlete will ever compare to Michael Jordan, but the Indianapolis Colts quarterback sent shockwaves throughout the sports world that shocked everyone.
Colts fans were understandably outraged. Some sports talking heads called him weak, but most others supported the 29-year-old’s decision to retire because his body just couldn’t keep up with the violent sport any longer.
And Vice President Mike Pence had this to say about Andrew Luck’s sudden retirement.
Nobody was more furious than Colts fans that booed him out of the stadium upon learning about Andrew Luck’s retirement while he was still on the field.
He was alerted to the situation that news had broke about his decision and left the field. The boos rained down upon him.
It’s one of those weird things where you can understand it from both sides. Luck’s body broke down and he also admitted his love for the game was no longer there for him.
He said in a post-game press conference on Saturday night, “injury, pain, rehab, injury, pain, rehab. And it’s been unceasing, unrelenting, both in season and offseason, and I felt stuck in it. And the only way I see out is to no longer play football. It’s taken my joy of this game away.”
On the other hand, why couldn’t he have made this decision way before training camp began? Now, the Indianapolis Colts have a serviceable backup quarterback but the organization could’ve made other plans preparing for his early retirement.
It wouldn’t be surprising for Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Ben Roethlisberger or Phillip Rivers to suddenly retire like that, given their respective ages. But for a 29-year-old quarterback? That’s shocking. There’s really no other word to describe it.
That’s especially the case when you consider that he’s been a football savant since he was 7-years-old.
Many people were taken off-guard by this news and one of them was Vice President Mike Pence, whose home state is Indiana and is a diehard Colts fan.
Pence said he was “disappointed” by Luck’s retirement news.
He told BlazeTV host Eric Bolling, “Andrew Luck is a great football player and he’s a great guy.”
Luck actually does seem like a great guy and you can tell by the way he reacts when an opponent hits him in the backfield.
If you don’t believe that, watch this video:
The nicest guy the game has ever seen. 💯 pic.twitter.com/O2vcQqNgm2
— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) August 25, 2019
Does that seem like a guy you can root against? No, that takes a level of humility to be aware that everybody has a job to do at the same time and simultaneously respecting what they have to do at theirs even when it means you getting knocked to the ground.
Pence added, “He’s gone through a tough four years, a lot of injuries, and I’m disappointed to see him retire from the Indianapolis Colts as an almost lifelong fan of the Colts, but I wish him well.”
Pence is right about that. Luck has torn his labrum to the point where he admitted he can’t pick up his children anymore.
Maybe Luck just needs to take a rest and heal before coming back to the game.
Pence also said, “He’s a young man and, I don’t know, we may see him in football somewhere down the road.”
He’s right about that. We probably haven’t seen the last of Luck. Although he’s made $100 million in his career, it shouldn’t surprise anybody if he made a comeback down the road. He’s still young.