By: Siddharth Anmalsetty
Andrew Luck missed the entirety of the 2017 season with a shoulder injury. In fact, he’s missed 24 games in the past 5 seasons. He has had to recover from serious injuries and rehabbing isn’t as easy as it seems. It takes a lot of mental strength to go through the process again and again simply to try and play. While football isn’t exactly gladiatorial combat, at least athletes get paid, it can lead to severe consequences and risking your body and mind for the entertainment of the masses. Yet it seems like a lot of fans don't understand this. When news broke, Andrew Luck walked off the field to boos from the crowd that has loved him since he was drafted. Not too many fanbases luck, pardon the pun, into two franchise quarterbacks. Take it from me, a Lions fan. Instead of booing Colt’s fans should be singing his praises for giving them good times. Anybody remember when Andrew Luck came back from down 28 to the chiefs in the 13’ playoffs? Back to Luck as a person. Luck is not mentally weak. He wasn’t unprepared to leave. He didn’t stop loving football. Luck should not be looked upon as a player who couldn't handle the NFL, he should be a pillar of strength. Someone who walked away on their own terms. Luck knew what was best for him and he decided to follow it. He had the will to walk away from the game he loved and millions of dollars, for his own health. Football is and will forever be a dangerous sport. As fans, it’s necessary for us to understand the risks professional athletes take. They can’t work a 9 to 5 job for 40 years. Not every professional athlete plays 20 years in the league. It’s time we stopped looking at athletes as personalityless entities on a TV screen but as real people. We should praise Andrew Luck for what he did. We should praise Patrick Willis for hanging it up before for a potentially Hall of Fame career. We should praise Calvin Johnson and Barry Sanders, the Chris Borlands and the Tiki Barbers. They did what was good for them, not the organizations or the fans. I wish Andrew the best in retirement. And it’s probably not too good to count out the Colts. Andrew’s backup, Jacoby Brissett might silence the critics.
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Dylan EdelmanWilson Senior Archives
February 2020
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