Crowd Boos Quarterback Andrew Luck, Whose Retirement Devastates Indianapolis Colts’ Postseason - Odds and Predictions

After shocking the football world on Saturday by announcing his sudden retirement from the NFL, a physically (and mentally) injured Andrew Luck heard boos from some Indianapolis Colts fans while leaving the sidelines after the third preseason game.

Though their disappointment is understandable, their hurtful disrespect to Luck is not, given that the twenty-nine-year-old has dedicated his adult life and sacrificed his body to play the game of football for the city of Indianapolis, to the point where he says the suffering he continues to endure from all his injuries has “taken my joy away from the game.”

As the shock of the news (and boos) subsides, oddsmakers have drastically adjusted their opinion of how the Indianapolis Colts will fare during the upcoming 2019-20 NFL season.

Now the Luck-less franchise has gone from being in the Super Bowl conversation to having no chance at all, so we take a close look at Luck’s story and the adjusted odds and predictions of the Colts’ postseason.

Quick Bio: who is Andrew Luck?

Andrew Austen Luck is the twenty-nine-year-old NFL quarterback who has started under center for the Indianapolis Colts since 2012 (more or less), his father being Oliver Luck, the current commissioner of the XFL.

Andrew played his college ball at Stanford and was a 2x Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year, winning the Maxwell and Walter Camp Awards, both prestigious honors, and was a runner-up for the Heisman Trophy for two consecutive years.

As a pro for the Indianapolis Colts, Luck was a 4x Pro Bowler and passing touchdowns leader as he brought his team to the playoffs in four of the six full seasons he played in.

Why Is Andrew Luck suddenly retiring?

The short answer – his injuries became too much to manage, both physically and mentally.

For the last four seasons, Luck has been battling all sorts of serious injuries (see below) and has had to constantly play in pain, undergo surgeries and spend all of those offseasons rehabbing his body.

Having to be in either an injured or recovering state not only affected Luck’s body, but it also broke him down mentally, as well, Luck saying the injuries he’s endured have taken a toll on his psyche and his ability to enjoy life and the game of football.

In Luck’s own words as he (emotionally) announced his retirement to the media:

“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.”

Why is Luck’s retirement such a shock?

For several reasons – first, because he was reportedly healthy enough to play in Week 1, so the idea that he would quit the game entirely never really entered into anybody’s mind, especially because he was named NFL Comeback Player of the Year in 2018 after taking his Colts to the playoffs in his first season back from shoulder surgery.

Secondly, it’s shocking news because many football experts see Luck as one of the top NFL quarterbacks in the game, predicted to be a future Hall-of-Famer since his college days but who most likely won’t get in without more games and a championship or two to his name.

And finally, Luck is just 29-years-old, and in a league where more than a few talented quarterbacks live to play in their forties, it’s shocking that he didn’t even make it into his thirties, the decade when many pro quarterbacks play their best football because of the wisdom they’ve accumulated.

What is the average retirement age for football players?

It’s tough to say since many players enter the league at different ages, to begin with.

But according to current statistics, here is the average playing career of players in the NFL by position:

• Kickers and Punters: 4.87 years
• Quarterbacks: 4.4 years
• Cornerbacks: 2.94 years
• Wide Receivers: 2.81 years
• Running Backs: 2.57 years

Luck’s seven-year NFL career (technically six since he missed all of 2017 due to injury) is longer than average but shorter than typical for a player of his high ability.

Who is the youngest player to retire from football?

One name that comes to mind is twenty-four-year-old Chris Borland, an All-American inside linebacker who the San Francisco 49ers drafted in 2014.

After just one NFL season where he posted 107 tackles, a sack, 2 interceptions, 5 passes defended and a fumble recovery, Borland announced his retirement.

His main concern – serious head trauma, and as a result of leaving the game Borland had to return three-fourths of his $613,436 signing bonus.

What injuries has Luck suffered playing professional football?

Due to various injuries, Luck missed a total of 36 games in his professional career.

Here are most (but not all) of the injuries Luck has suffered:

• Shoulder Lacerated kidney
• Partially torn an abdominal muscle
• Concussion
• Shoulder
• Ankle
• Calf

Those are the injuries that kept Luck from playing but don’t forget that there are many injuries and sorenesses that he endured while on the field, as well.

What is a career-ending injury?

A career-ending injury is any injury a player receives that prevents him from playing the game of football anymore.

Back and neck injuries are often career-enders, but broken bones and injured shoulders have done the trick plenty of times, too.

Some injuries are instant career-enders (see next), whereas in other cases it doesn’t become apparent immediately that the injury is a career-ender, as is the case with Andrew Luck.

What was the worst NFL injury ever sustained?

Plenty of those in the history books, but three come to mind.

For its sheer gruesomeness, Joe Theisman’s brutally broken leg is one of the worst ones, especially since the whole world saw the bone sticking out on national television.

Two famous broken backs are some of the worst injuries sustained, the first one was the Oakland Raiders’ late Darryl Stingley in 1978, who was never able to walk again, and more recently was Pittsburgh Steelers Ryan Shazier, who sustained a spinal contusion during a vicious head-on tackle in 2017 and is just now beginning to walk and jog again.

How much money was Andrew Luck making with the Indianapolis Colts?

Back in the summer of 2016, Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts agreed to a six-year contract extension worth $140 million, with $87 million of that money guaranteed.

The financial talking heads have speculated that in retiring, Luck is walking away from about $500 million.

In a swell move, the Colts are allowing Luck to keep almost $25 million that they could have requested back, $6.4 million of a protracted signing bonus in each of the next two seasons, plus $12 million in roster bonuses.

Who will be the Colts’ starting quarterback now?

Right now, everybody in the Indianapolis quarterback room has been bumped up a notch.

Jacoby Brissett is currently listed as the Colts’ starting quarterback, the man who filled in for Luck during his 2017 season and completed 276 passes for 3,098 yards and 13 touchdowns with 7 interceptions.

The Colts went 4-12 that season and finished third place in the AFC South.

Who will be the Colts’ backup quarterback now?

Behind Brissett is Phillip Walker, an undrafted free agent whom the Colts signed for their practice squad in 2017.

Last season, Walker was released in December but then re-signed three days later and in January of 2019, he signed a reserve/future contract.

The only reason Walker is listed as backup right now is that the true backup, Chad Kelly, will be suspended the first two games of the season.

Why is backup Chad Kelly suspended for two games?

Colts backup quarterback Chad Kelly, who played with the Denver Broncos last season, has been suspended for the first two games of 2019 for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy.

The incident occurred in October of 2018 when Kelly entered a woman’s place of residence after leaving then-teammate Von Miller’s Halloween party.

Kelly was charged with (and pled guilty to) misdemeanor second-degree criminal trespassing for the incident and will sit in Weeks 1 and 2 this season as a result.

Will the Colts look for another quarterback outside of their current roster?

A trade is said to be unlikely at this point, though there are some names being mentioned that general manager Chris Ballard could consider:

• Brian Hoyer, New England Patriots
• Kyle Lauletta, New York Giants
• Chase Litton, Kansas City Chiefs

However, most teams are not going to give up a legitimate backup quarterback without asking for a big return, a player or two that Ballard (at this point) might be unwilling to give up.

Did some Indianapolis Colts fans actually boo Luck on his way out of a preseason game?

Yes, as Luck was walking off of the sidelines after the Colts’ third preseason game against the Chicago Bears on Saturday, fans who had already gotten wind of his retirement were heard booing.

It wasn’t everybody and the crowd was sparse, but the boos could be clearly heard and there was no attempt by anyone else there to cheer over them.

Luck didn’t have much to say about it, but did admit he had heard them and when asked how that made him feel, he answered simply, “It hurt.”

Did Luck’s retirement affect the Colts’ postseason odds and predictions?

Luck’s retirement announcement drastically affected the odds of the Indianapolis Colts seeing the postseason this year, certainly not in a good way, either.

With Luck on their roster, the Colts were seen as one of the AFC teams in the mix to make a run for the Super Bowl, something the team hasn’t done since its last appearance in 2009 with Hall of Famer Peyton Manning under center.

Now sans Luck, the Colts are expected to do a repeat of their other Brissett-led season when the team went 4-12 and ended up in the basement of the AFC South.

For more details on the Colts’ prior odds and predictions, check out our prior coverage:

The Indianapolis Colts’ Biggest Offseason Moves And 2019 Odds And Predictions

Quarterback Andrew Luck’s 2019 Output With Indianapolis Colts, Odds and Predictions

Here are the adjusted current odds listed for the Colts’ postseason in 2019-20

If you live in New Jersey and want to bet on futures in the NFL you can do so on 888Sport and BetStars NJ.

Check out the latest odds here:

Good luck!

Adjusted Odds and Predictions of Indianapolis Colts’ Postseason

Indianapolis Colts to win the AFC South:

With Andrew Luck: +105 (ranked 1^st)

Without Andrew Luck: +500 (ranked 4^th)

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In the eyes of the oddsmakers, the Colts go from winning their division in 2019 to being in the last place, which hasn’t happened since the 2011 season, a true testament to Luck’s value as a player and leader in Indianapolis.

Indianapolis Colts to win the AFC Championship:

With Andrew Luck: +700 (ranked 3^rd behind Chiefs and Patriots)

Without Andrew Luck: +2500 (ranked 9^th)

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The Colts go from being in the hunt for the AFC Championship to being an also-ran, all because of one player, which goes to show why the news of Luck’s retirement stung some enough to shout out boos.

Indianapolis Colts odds to win the Super Bowl:

With Andrew Luck: +1400 (ranked 5^th, tied with the Browns)

Without Andrew Luck: +5000 (ranked 20^th)

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This is the biggest hit of all since the Luck-led Colts were in most Super Bowl conversations this season, but now the team drifts down into the “ain’t gonna happen” category, which nobody, particularly Colts fans, expected this season.

Here are the Indianapolis Colts odds to win the Super Bowl after Andrew Luck’s retirement, provided by DraftKings. If you are in New Jersey you can place a bet. Good luck!

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