It was a major shock to the Indianapolis Colts organization and its fanbase when quarterback Andrew Luck announced his retirement just three weeks before the regular season started.
It is becoming more of a distant memory now, and the fact that he’s not coming back is settling in. However, there were a lot of questions at the time surrounding the situation—particularly with how transparent the Colts were with Luck’s injury at the time.
General manager Chris Ballard, while on 1070 The Fan with Dan Dakich, doubled-down that there was no deceit on the situation.
“I get why, because it was so hard to pin down exactly what the injury was,” Ballard said. “There was no misleading. You’ve been around me long enough. If you ask me a question, I’m too stupid to freaking lie. I just give you an answer. There was no misleading.”
The injury that seemingly put Luck over the edge in terms of his decision to retire appeared to sprout during the spring practices, of which he didn’t partake at all.
Then he dealt with the calf/ankle injury during training camp and the preseason and ultimately called it quits. It was a decision sprung on the fanbase with little information.
Ballard reiterated that they didn’t feel it was truly going to happen until the week of when they were preparing to host the Chicago Bears during the third week of the preseason.
“The Monday before we played Chicago (Luck retired 5 days later), Andrew came in and we had a meeting with Mr. Irsay, Frank, Andrew and I. That’s the first time we knew. In terms of (Luck’s) attitude and his excitement for football, he was frustrated during Training Camp, but I had seen that frustration before, with the shoulder.”
Luck decided to do what he thought was best for him. The Colts had to move on quickly, and now they have to figure out their next step at the position. Do they stick with Jacoby Brissett and try to build around him? Or do they try to find a different solution elsewhere?
Regardless, Luck isn’t coming back. But Ballard reiterated that there was no deceit from the organization.