As those of you who follow the NFL are surely aware of by now, Colts quarterback Andrew Luck up and announced his retirement last night. Guys retire from the NFL all the time, of course, but quarterbacks of Luck’s stature only do so if they’re old and washed up. Luck was neither. He was injured, as he had been many times in his career (hold that thought), but I still was shocked to hear this. To say that it is unprecedented for a relatively young franchise QB to retire at all, much less with a couple weeks to go before the start of the regular season, is an understatement.
Here’s the thing, though. I may be shocked by this turn of events, but I’m hardly surprised. Playing in the NFL wrecks both bodies and minds, and demands of its players that the limit their self-expression for the privilege of accruing these injuries. No one should ever do it again, and the particulars of Luck’s career are instructive of this. Andrew Luck had some damn good seasons, made some damn good plays, and even had a few highly impressive playoff wins under his belt, but he spent the entirety of his first five seasons getting his ass kicked.
His injury history is horrific, and involves pissing blood. He spent all of the 2017 season on the shelf, and even back then I wondered if he was gonna play again. Also, the Colts were about as dysfunctional as a regular playoff team can be in his first three seasons. I acknowledge that I am in no way made of either the physical or mental stuff required to be a pro quarterback, but this all sounds like a job worth quitting to me. I can’t fault Luck for concluding likewise.
Here is my theory/prediction – more football dudes of prominence are going to start retiring early. Playing football is a bitch, and then your body is broken and washed. The money top stars earn is more than I’ll ever see in my life, but I can envision how even the fat stacks aren’t worth it with minimal expenditure of imagination. All jobs, including (and sometimes especially) the dream jobs, are ultimately just jobs, and playing football increasingly seems like one of the worst jobs out there. I expect more football guys will, like Andrew Luck, decide it’s not even worth it.
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