3 Reasons I Don’t Blame Andrew Luck

This weekend one man made a decision, and the impact opened a series of questions from all parties involved.

Enter this thought experiment with one prompt: Do you think Andrew Luck wanted to retire?

Though we each have our own opinions and endless questions, there are 3 reasons I know I cannot blame Andrew Luck.

1) THE PAIN IS REAL

Sitting at the end of your bed you feel the soreness. Yesterday you had a tough workout and your legs ache, your overall being is just tired. 

Now imagine if it wasn’t an ache, if it was a true pain. One that isn’t mental but clinical. As you step into your slippers you feel the turf toe, hear the pops in your ankles, and question if your back is up to the challenge of rising from a sitting position. Not to mention the collision that has made it difficult to see anything over your left shoulder. Today, you are not tired but fatigued and drained, knowing that the clock has started on a 48-recovery process to get ready to do it all again.

This is the reality of waking up during season. The effects of each car crash do not show until your body has begun the healing process. It is easy for people to say ‘you get paid to do it’ but the truth is that pain causes every player on the field to question retiring every season, at least once.

When you begin to add up injuries and surgeries and recoveries, that total starts to take its own toll.

After the first week of training camp you are not really 100% until March.

After your first injury, you are never really 100% again.

When a grown man speaks about pain, one in which we have been trained to hide for a long time, you know it’s real.

2) APPRECIATION OF GREATNESS

No one, not a single sole walks into an NFL building without pursuing greatness. Eyeing the Super-Bowl is the catalyst of everything but truly just being in the building and around the competition you are going against, this is the best in the world!

That appreciation, knowing what it takes to measure up in this spotlight, boils down to nothing but respect for the game.

The challenge to start up and walk out into the field knowing if you aren’t giving everything you are guaranteed to lose.

For someone who has tasted the level, put out Pro Bowl caliber seasons, and held the title as one of the best in the world for over a decade (including college) you can only imagine the pressure he puts on himself.

When you have tasted that, there is only one thing that will satisfy your hunger for it again. Greatness.

When you look in the mirror and realize you may not have the grind to achieve or your body may not have what it needs, your love and respect of the game’s greatness is too much to go out there and fake it.

3) RISK TO REWARD

When you get behind the wheel of a car for the first time you have entered into an agreement with yourself, you accepted the risk for the reward.

When you step out on a football field the agreement is the same, you accept the risk for the reward.

All our lives, since we were kids, people have asked us “why do you play?” For us, the answer was always quick and decisive - the reward!

In fact, whether it is the possibility of going to school, of having a chance at riches, or just the sheer enjoyment of the sport, the reward is often so overwhelming the risk rarely comes into the picture.

But have you ever thought about the guy who goes past those rewards? A man where school has been achieved, he has tasted riches and his enjoyment well it is there but mostly reserved for the bright lights. Not to mention the fact he got to experience the games fruit for a decade longer than most.

Is the reward still so overwhelming?

At some point your measurement changes, and the question that has been so easy to answer has some discussion.

At some point whether it is pickup basketball, all night drinking, or too much red meat, at some point the risk begins to outweigh the reward.

I applaud Andrew Luck for defying what everyone makes athletes out to be - one dimensional.

When the road ahead seems like it is paved in golden brick, he chose the road less traveled and for that we should be proud of the image that while the game is great, we all need to see ourselves as more than just the game.

Lastly, shame on the fans who allowed him to leave a field where he has given so much to an echo of ‘Boo’s’. How better to tell athletes you truly don’t give a damn about them, than to throw them away the moment they won’t help you.

About the Author: Jedidiah Collins is a former NFL fullback and current Director of Financial Education for Brighton Jones.

In his role as Director of Financial Education, Jedidiah pursues his passion of educating people around how to USE money!