A change in sports for the better
Luck commended, not reviled for his decision to call it a career at 29
That loud and ludicrous booing Andrew Luck heard while leaving the field in Indianapolis as a retired man?
Multiply the vile exponentially. Keep that volume for days, weeks, even a full season. And then subtract the largerwave of compassion and support for Luck that immediately swamped any anger.
Thatwas RickyWilliams’ retirement from the Miami Dolphins a football generation ago.
Maybewe’ve progressed this much as a sportsworld. Maybe we understand the game that brings such fun in thewatching doesn’t always create for those playing.
Or maybe the fact Luck talked, personally and eloquently, after his surprise announcement Saturday night allowed everyone to understand his love of the game didn’t supersede the pain in his life.
The real surprise of Luck’s retirement is it doesn’t happen more often. Whowouldwant to constantly injure their body and fear what’s coming down the timeline of life due to football?
The litany of Luck’s injuries in six seasonswould be staggering if itweren’t so common in the NFL: a partially torn abdomen; a lacerated kidney that left him urinating blood; a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder, a collapsed lung; torn cartilage in two ribs, one reported concussion; and nowan odd calf or ankle issue that kept him out of this preseason.
“I’m in pain, I’m still in pain, I’ve been in this cycle for four years,’’ Luck said. “Shoulder, ankle, and this and this and this. I
don’t feel like I can live the life I want moving forward [with football.]”
Here’s the dirty truth NFL players don’t tell: Their love of the game often diminishes the longer they play. Not everyone is DanMarino, whowould play today if his body allowed, or TomBrady, whowants to play until he’s 45.
I once asked a Dolphin, now retired, howmany players actually enjoy playing football. “Maybe half,’’ he said.
And the other half? “They play because they either need the money or don’t knowanything else,’’ he said. “Like most people in careers, right?”
Luck didn’t need the money. He obviouslywants to try something else. The fallout of thiswill fall for a while. There’s the football fallout of Indianapolis dropping fromSuper Bowl contender to average team.
There’s the Dolphin fallout of another team needing a franchise quarterback. There’s also, if you enjoy a chuckle, howRyan Tannehill is the best, top-10 quarterback pick of that 2012 draft nowthat Luck has retired and Robert Griffin III so injurydiminished.
The debate also is on about the most surprising NFL retirement. Jim Brown retired from Cleveland at 29 after he led the league in rushing. Barry Sanders quit in Detroit at 31on the eve of training camp to shock and anger from all sides.
“Wait’ll your kids growup,’’ Sanders’ father, William, said. “One day they’ll do something thatmakes youwonder if they’re the same kids you raised.”
Thatwas the same reaction to Williams quitting on the Dolphins, at 27, on the eve of the 2004 training camp. He led the league the previous two years with 383 and 392 rushing carries. For perspective, Dallas’ Ezekiel Elliot led all rushers with 305 carries last year.
“My body had enough,’’ he once said. “My mind had enough. I just had enough.”
So he retired without comment to a tent in Australia and smokedweed. That added to the outcry at the time. A year later, he returned for a reason anyone can understand: Money.
Luck left a half-billion dollars on the table, Indianapolis owner JimIrsay said. But if you needed to understand his decision, he explained in a strong voice and anguished face.
We can debate if therewas a more surprising retirement in sports. But Luck had themost eloquent sudden retirement. He thanked everyone. He took all questions, even right to the booing.
“Yeah, it hurt,’’ he said. “I’ll be honest, it hurt.”
That mood quickly changed, though. Luckwasn’t booed as the decision sunk in. Hewas, in manyways commended. Maybe the sportsworld is improving.