The Indianapolis Colts recently made a major investment at quarterback, although they traded one of his weapons. But were there shenanigans in the past? Did GM Chris Ballard force Andrew Luck to retire in 2019? The former QB cleared the air after the explosive allegation, according to fox59.com.
“Chris and I had a wonderful partnership, especially through my decision to retire, and we remain close,’’ Luck said in an email to FOX59/CBS4. “Any notion of internal pressures that influenced my decision are without merit.’’
Lukc shocked the Colts when he retired in late August of 2019. He was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft. And he figured to have several more seasons of high-level play remaining in his career.
“(Luck) held an emotional press conference after the game and pointed to a personal need to break the cycle of injury-rehab-injury-rehab,” Mike Chappell wrote.
Was there more to the Andrew Luck story?
During Eric Ebron’s “On My Soul” podcast, Ebron insisted things went differently.
“He’s so tired of injury that he just doesn’t want to do surgery,’’ Ebron said on the podcast. “You know who the man is around there that gets on everyone’s nerves. (Ballard) over there behind that desk.
“He tells Andrew, ‘You’re either playing this year, or we’re moving on.’ Who the (expletive) would tell Andrew Luck that, right? Andrew Luck now says, ‘I’m not going to be ready, I’m tired of playing with pain. I’m going to retire.’’
But there’s something worth noting in this back and forth. If Ballard did indeed say, ‘You’re either playing this year, or we’re moving on,’ why would that matter to Luck if he contemplated retirement anyway? What leverage did the Colts hold at that time that Luck could not have erased by retiring?
It seems like a very strange story. And the only reason to dredge it up almost seven years later, it seems, would be to get clicks for a podcast.
