Wednesday, August 28, 2019

No Luck at all

"I've been stuck in this process. I haven't been able to live the life I want to live. It's taken the joy out of this game. The only way forward for me is to remove myself from football. This is not an easy decision. It's the hardest decision of my life. But it is the right decision for me."

Those are the words of former Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck, who decided that there was a whole world out there for a young man with a family and enough money so they won't have to clip coupons, so why spend another year getting his brains beat out playing football?

Actually, his brains might be the only thing truly intact on this young man after all the battering he took in a Colts' uniform on a team that was known for having an offensive live that afforded him about as much protection as the Maginot Line. His injuries since turning pro include a sprained shoulder in September, 2015, a lacerated kidney and a partially torn abdominal muscle in November of that year,  torn cartilage from sometime in the '15 season which was reported in January of 2016, a concussion in November, 2016, shoulder surgery in January, 2017, which caused him to miss that entire season, and finally, a calf strain suffered this spring which has kept him from training and practicing.

When the word broke on Saturday night, as the Colts played a meaningless exhibition game and Luck stood uninvolved on the sideline, fans in the Indianapolis crowd began to boo. 

Perhaps they were booing the fact that fate had them spending at least one night in a drab Midwestern town, or perhaps they felt that Luck had not given them their money's worth as fans, and possibly should suit up for the opening game against the Chargers on September 8 and take the chance of losing a limb or the ability to walk unassisted.

Sure, they are jealous of the money he's made, and the money ($122 million remaining on his contract) from which he is walking away, but I quite certain that if any of those fans had received anything near the sort of on-the-job injuries that Luck got while they were working at FotoMat or Earl's Transmission or teaching high school geometry, they would love to be set for life and not have to worry about BOGO deals on Cheese Whoppers to feed their family. 

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