"Everyone has the right to choose” - When Tom Brady opened up on Andrew Luck’s shocking NFL retirement

When NFL great Tom Brady’s greatest rival Peyton Manning left the Indianapolis Colts in 2012, he was replaced by a young and talented quarterback, Andrew Luck. Picked no.1 in the 2012 draft from Stanford, Luck was expected to continue the legacy built and left by Manning.

The Heisman Trophy runner-up for the 2010 and 2011 seasons also won the Maxwell Award in 2011 and later led the Colts to the playoffs in his rookie season. He threw for 4,374 yards in 2012 and later led the Colts in 2014 when they reached the AFC championship game.

Despite a promising start, Andrew Luck called an early retirement on his career at 29 due to injuries. When Tom Brady was asked about Luck’s sudden retirement in August 2019, he expressed his disappointment and said,

“It is his life. Everyone has the right to choose what he wants to do. He had a great career, and he was a great player. Everybody wishes they could be healthy all the time. It is a contact sport, and he's certainly had his fair share of injuries, so guys retire at different times.

"Some at the end of the season, and I have seen a lot of guys retire before the season gets going and this is just one of those examples.”

Andrew Luck left frustrated after multiple injuries

Luck suffered an injury on his right shoulder in the early part of the 2015 season but continued playing. However, he later sustained a lacerated kidney and a partially torn abdominal muscle and then missed seven games.

In the 2016 season, he suffered a Grade 1 head cranial concussion when he took a hard hit during a week 11 game. Luck saw a major dip in his performance caused by injuries but later made a strong comeback in 2018, winning the Comeback Player of the Year award.

However, Luck again suffered two major injuries in the 2019 season. Earlier, he suffered a Grade 1 leg calf strain and a Grade 3 Pedal ankle sprain. Frustrated by his injury-prone career and fatigue, Luck called time on his career.

"I felt stuck and the only way out of it is to no longer play football," Luck told ESPN. "It's taken my joy away from the game.”

Luck finished his career as a four-time Pro Bowler with 23,671 passing yards and 171 touchdowns.