He used phrases like 'I have a lot of clarity in this' and 'it is the right decision for me.' The cycle of getting hurt, rehabbing, getting hurt again, had brought him to this place, he said. Nobody, not even Luck, would be celebrating this one. Usually, retirements are celebratory events at the end of storied careers. He wrote longhand on a notepad and then typed parts and pieces into his laptop, polishing and rearranging as he went, titling it: ALUCK - FIRST DRAFT. He sat at the counter in his kitchen and composed a retirement speech. When it came time to tell the rest of the world, Luck wrote it down. He also knew, no matter how guilty he felt, that he wasn't going to change his mind. He knew they wanted him for a shot at a Super Bowl, and he knew he wasn't going to deliver. But his eyes dampened and his face reddened when he told them. They said they'd seen his pain and now sensed his relief. When he had told his teammates he hadn't been able to live the life he wanted to live, they said they understood. 'When you going to turn it on?' they asked two weeks before the season began. When Luck had told Indianapolis Colts executives that he was going to walk away from football, they didn't believe him.

25, 2019, and he was in a fog over what he had done. He stepped back and waited for the water to get hot. THE DAY AFTER he retired, Andrew Luck reached into the shower in the bedroom at his Indianapolis condo and turned the knob. You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browserĪndrew Luck finally reveals why he walked away from the NFL

Angels Cried by Stephen L. Wilson