Luck says he done

Well great. I drafted him in a fantasy league today.

I don't blame him a bit. He could have toughed it out and possibly had some good years with fewer injuries, but that becomes less likely with each season. The guys we've seen through the years toughing it out and playing into their late thirties and beyond have often regretted not bailing out sooner.

I think it was John Elway I saw quoted about his retirement and he said that in the early years, you suffer injuries and you rehab from them over the off-season and that's just part of the job. But every year the rehab takes longer, and one day you find yourself starting the new season still suffering with the injuries from the previous one, and you start to think about retirement.

Bart Starr played through so many concussions that his brain was so damaged that during those last years on the field, it was common knowledge that he had a "glass head" like some boxers get a "glass jaw", and any decent thump to his helmet would put him on the deck. I remember seeing Carl Eller, the great Viking DE, coming around into the Packer backfield and scooping Starr up in his arms the way you'd scoop up your eight-year-old, and laying him gently on the field, rather than tackling him normally and possibly causing him further harm.

Bret Favre famously played through much pain and long and painful rehabs for years, and was admired for his toughness, but he says now he endured too much and should have got out sooner.

Payton was sacked so often during his early years as a pro, that he made some changes to the offensive schemes in self defense, like his frequent "hard count" to catch the defensive line in jumping the gun, to prevent them from having more advantage over the offensive line, and using the "no huddle" to wear the defenders down more quickly and sap some of their speed and strength. And he still ended up with a neck injury that nearly left him crippled.

Some QB's are able to avoid injury with their extreme mobility, and some have great offensive lines that allow them to stand in the backfield for several seconds without being touched, like Aaron Rodgers. But Luck isn't a scampering lightweight, and the Colts have long been a team with a suspect offensive line, and I think his decision was the right one.

Season ticker holders won't be happy. Play until you can't anymore, save your money, that is what he did. Same thing my cousin did as a back up tight end for a couple teams, he knew physically every play could be his last. Just a brutal game at that level.

On the bright side, Brissett has shown some promise, I hope he does well. Smart decision by Luck, he is financially set, and played like a champion, quit now before you endure a lifetime of pain.

I’m the same way I like the game I don’t put all the blame on the players about taking a knee no they should not have done it yes it me off but all it would of taken is the NFL and owners to say do it and your out of the game do it twice your out for the year with out your paycheck

The marketplace sets the pay scale as long as they can sell seats teeshirts and the likes the pay will be there, and that’s for all sports not defending them but a lot of the guys only have a few years to make money sure it is a bunch but they need to make enough to last the rest of there life most of them can’t quit and go into a high paying job

They can quit and just go get a job like the rest of us. Don’t have to be high paying just because they made millions before to showcase whatever sports talent they had. A lot of them are supposedly college educated, so welcome to the real life boys.

Lol. Well said. That brought quite the chuckle.

If he was smart with his $$, he CAN retire. Face it, compare what he made over his "short" football career compared to a regular blue collar working stiff that has worked for 45-50 years before retiring. Who made more? While I don't fault him for retiring, he sure could have timed it differently.

And he's just retiring from football, maybe not retiring and not working at all. Heck how many people have switched jobs/careers in their lifetime?

I'd be surprised if football is around 25-30 years from now. Players keep getting bigger, stronger, and faster & injuries keep getting worse. It's just an irrefutable fact that when two objects collide, something has to give. When those objects are 250lbs going at track sprinter speed, something bad is going to happen sooner rather than later.

I think parents are becoming more reluctant to encourage their kids to play. My life-long best friend was the biggest chest thumping football meathead I've ever met. He has three sons and will not let them play football, period.