Anyone Criticizing Andrew Luck Needs to Re-Evaluate Their Own Lives

I'm sure by now if you follow Professional Football, you know now former Indianapolis Colts QB Andrew Luck stunned the NFL and Athletic World by announcing his retirement.

Citing mostly health reasons, Luck decided it was no longer worth putting his already battered body through the rigors of another NFL season.

Andrew Luck is 29-years old. He missed the entire 2017 season after trying to play through a bad shoulder injury in 2016, returning to the field for 2018--he rejuvenated a Colts team that had gone 4-12 without him. The Colts made the 2018 playoffs under Luck, going 10-6.

The son of a former NFL QB, Oliver Luck, Andrew new the toll playing football could take on him and after getting his degree at Stanford, jumped in head first after being the #1 Draft Pick by the Colts in 2012.

Needless to say--in just nearly 5 seasons of play, Luck established himself as one of the NFL's most elite QB's. A difference maker and the guy who made the Colts relevant in any conversation about the league's best teams.

It's not all of this which brings me to why I'm even writing this. It's the strange and extremely disappointing reaction by many Colts fans and several Sports Talk hosts. I should note--I say this fully understanding the Sports Hosts exist mostly to troll anything that can be used as a "Hot-Button" topic to argue about during their shows. It's the fan reaction which was to put it politely--was disappointing.

If you are reading this and you support or agree with these fans, you've got some serious life issues. Before going all snarky here, let's think clearly for just a second---

Imagine you work a physical job, in a warehouse or someplace that requires you to lift things over your head every day and suddenly your back gives out. You get surgery to repair it, but the pain doesn't go away.

Do you stay on your job? Do you ask for a different job or do you find something else to do?

Go ahead, think about that for a minute.....there is no totally correct answer.

Listen--it's real easy to sit there in your $100 stadium seat or on your couch or even the stool at your local sports bar and say "These guys get paid $20 million a year to play a game" and "Guys get injured and come back all the time". And honestly you aren't totally wrong. Those are individual choices.

But do any of you REALLY understand how bad the game of football takes a toll on your body? Do any of you know what it's like to struggle through 5 months with bruises and sprains and a host of other aches and pains only to have to put your body through the same thing every 5-7 days?

If you've ever met a former NFL player, look at their hands. Watch them walk. Very, very few NFL players have ever made it through a career without at least one surgery for an injury. Maybe not during a season--but if you only knew how many of them get offseason procedures you never hear about.

I won't even go into the Concussion issue here because it would make this rant even longer.

Football has a problem the other sports can never equate and that's the physical toll of the game. Yeah, sure, basketball players knees and ankles wear down after 10-15 years of playing and baseball players have shoulder and arm issues over time but it isn't the same thing as having 250-lb guys who run really, really fast crashing into you 40-60 times a game.

Andrew Luck is a very, very smart guy who has the ability to do a lot of things with his life that don't involve having the Aaron Donald's of the world looking to separate his head from his body.

Let him do what he wants, when he wants to on his terms.

While fans certainly have a vested interest in their respective teams--at the end of the day, they don't hold an ownership stake (except Green Bay). A fan has a right to be disappointed if his favorite player decides to retire or walk away from the game, I have no problem with that and neither does anyone else. It's a natural reaction.

But, to steal a really bad cliche', don't hate the player--hate the game. The player (in this case Luck), gave you everything he had while he was there and there's no reason, no excuse not to respect that.

And I hate to say it because I know several awesome people from Indianapolis but booing your franchise player for making a life decision in his best interest speaks a hell of a lot worse about the people in that stadium than it does Andrew Luck and every one of you who did boo or bitch online about it---deserve to be called out for it.