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INDIANAPOLIS – In the night of Saturday to Friday, Andrew Luck quarterback of the Indianapolis Colts, Andrew Luck, announced that he was withdrawing from the NFL, claiming that constant injuries had deprived him of his love of football.
Luck, who turns 30 on Sept. 12, had met with Colts owner Jim Irsay earlier to inform him of the decision.
The Colts played their third pre-season game Saturday night in Indianapolis against the Chicago Bears. Luck had already been ruled out of the game due to an ankle injury, but he was sidelined, laughing and conversing with his teammates.
After the match, Luck announced his decision to retire at an impromptu 25-minute press conference. He said that an official announcement was not expected until Sunday afternoon, but it changed course once the news was announced during the preparatory game.
"I'm stuck in this process," says Luck stopping several times to gather his emotions. "I have not been able to live the life I want to live in. This has taken away the joy of this game … the only way forward for me is to retire from football."
"It's not an easy decision – it's the hardest decision of my life – but it's the right decision for me."
Luck's early retirement puts an end to what had begun as a promising career for first-place pick in 2012, chosen to replace Peyton Manning. Luck led the Colts to the playoffs in each of his first three seasons in the NFL, including consecutive AFC South titles and the AFC championship game in 2014.
But his career went bad when he suffered a shoulder injury during the third week of the 2015 season. He ended up missing 26 games, including the entire 2017 season, due to injuries to the shoulder, kidneys and ribs. It was during the 2017 season while Luck was wondering if he would be able to continue his career.
But luck came back strong last season.
He collected 4,593 yards and 39 touchdowns to win the NFL Player of the Year award and take the Colts home in the playoffs for the first time since the 2014 season, showing that he remained one of the top quarterbacks in the league. the league.
But earlier this year, Luck was injured as a result of an injury to his calf that prevented him from participating in the activities and minidamp of the offseason. The chance only took part in three days of training camp – none of them as a full participant – before it was announced that he was closing it because he had hard to move in the pocket.
"I have pain, I still have pain," he said. "This cycle of pain and rehabilitation has been going on for four years – it's a myriad of problems: calf strain, posterior ankle strain, high ankle sprain, and my next step is finding a way to feel better. "
Luck told reporters Saturday night that he had begun thinking about retirement two weeks ago, and his general manager, Chris Ballard, said the two sides had begun discussing the eventual decision sooner last week.
"It was Monday," Ballard said. "We all sat down and had a discussion and continued the whole week, emotional discussions on our part, not negative emotional discussions, just some really honest discussions, but I did not make sense. I saw Andrew go through the shoulder, his routine and how he rehabilitated and worked through things.He followed the same process since entering the building.He arrived on Monday and started to work through that. "
This is great news for a Colts team that went to the second round of the playoffs last season and who, in the eyes of many, had a Super Bowl caliber training in 2019.
"It's very difficult," said Luck. "I like this team, I love my teammates."
Luck ends his career with 2,000 finals, 3,290 attempts, 23,671 yards, 171 touchdowns and 83 steals. But some Colts fans seemed to forget those numbers, ogling him as he was leaving the field after Saturday's game.
"I'd be lying if I said I did not hear it," said Luck about boos. "Yeah, it hurts."
Now, the Colts will turn to Jacoby Brissett, the 26-year-old quarterback acquired from the New England Patriots in 2017.
While Luck suffered various injuries in 2017, Brissett had started 15 games for Indy, totaling 3,098 passing yards, with 13 touchdowns and 7 steals. The Colts posted a 4-11 record in 15 starts, placing 27th out of 30 qualifiers with a total QBE of 43.3 and 30th out of 32 with a winning percentage of 58.8%.
But Luck, Ballard, Irsay and coach Frank Reich all supported Brissett in the regular season in two weeks.
"We have a good football team – it's a good football team," Ballard said. "We are young, we are good on both fronts, we have some good players, and a good quarterback, we will not ask Jacoby Brissett to be Andrew Luck." Andrew Luck was a unique player but Jacoby Brissett is a winning football player in this league and, I think you've heard Andrew, Jacoby Brissett is a rare leader.He is.He is a rare human being, man. Cloakroom likes Jacoby Brissett. "
Sportsbooks reacted quickly to the announcement of the odds, dismissing the points table of the Colts 'Week 1 game with the Chargers and extending Indianapolis' chances of winning the Super Bowl, AFC and AFC South.
The Colts had been the underdogs of the Chargers in four points. Caesars Sportsbook has shifted the Indianapolis Super Bowl rating from 12-1 to 30-1, the AFC rating from 7-1 to 15-1 and the AFC South rating from -135 to +210.
But it did not matter to the Colts at a party that was going to change franchise.
"We only have gratitude and gratitude for the blood, sweat and tears that he has shed as number 12," said Irsay. "Part of our heart is broken tonight, we know we have to go ahead."
The information provided by David Purdum and Adam Schefter of ESPN has been used in this report.
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