Tennessee Titans biggest rival retires, Indianapolis Colts QB Andrew Luck done
By Will Lomas
Did the Tennessee Titans just get a huge bump?
Take a deep breath, but it looks like the Tennessee Titans biggest threat just retired from football.
In a stunning late night tweet from ESPN’s Adam Schefter (which has been seemingly confirmed by Bleacher Report and others) news is that Indianapolis Colts QB Andrew Luck has retired from the NFL.
Filed to ESPN: Andrew Luck has informed the Colts he is retiring from the NFL, per source. There will be a press conference Sunday to make it official, but Luck is mentally worn down, and now checking out.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 25, 2019
Andrew Luck already has met with Colts’ owner Jim Irsay to tell him that he is retiring, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 25, 2019
After that there were a flood of other tweets ranging from shocked disbelief to more details inside of what may or may not have happened. Most notably, Jay Glazer has chimed in with what may be the cause behind the retirement in different words.
He and the team have been baffled over why he can’t recover from the high ankle sprain that’s led to pain in the calf for a while.
— Jay Glazer (@JayGlazer) August 25, 2019
Color my shocked or baffled or whatever you would like. While I never believe that Andrew Luck was truly elite or that he could drag an offense to a championship like Russell Wilson or Aaron Rodgers have in the past, there was no debating that he made the Indianapolis Colts significantly better.
This is an epic change for the Colts, and not in the cliche use of the adjective. This is something that will change the course of franchise history.
Jacoby Brissett will take over as starting QB, and eventually I will write about “what’s next” for them, but there is just so much to take in right now.
First of all, the man who has been undefeated against the Tennessee Titans since he entered the NFL in 2012 will stay undefeated which isn’t fun.
Secondly, a team that has habitually drafted in the top-5 without the likes of Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck now faces a similar challenge with a sneaky bad roster.
Finally, we have no idea what kind of impact this has on players like Justin Houston, T.Y. Hilton and others who have stayed with the Colts because they believed it was their best chance to win a ring. Will they ask for a trade or a release, or will they attempt to play for the backup QB?
I’ll end with some thoughts on this because it is the most recent news.
1. Andrew Luck has retired. Few things shock me in sports. This is number one. Ever. By a mile. Little intel—Two weeks ago, interviewed his father. We sensed, behind the scenes, this was a VERY touchy subject. Out of respect we stayed away from Andrews health as a topic.
— Colin Cowherd (@ColinCowherd) August 25, 2019
2. In recent days, I have fished around. Lots of confusion and mystery. Could not get a straight answers. Not sure anyone could. Not sure anyone really knew. Feel terrible for Colts organization.
— Colin Cowherd (@ColinCowherd) August 25, 2019
Either this is the most elaborate hoax in the history of verified Twitter, or this is a monumental story that no one saw coming.
No matter what the case, the Tennessee Titans now have the most veteran QB in the division and are the only team that is returning their QB from last year while also having an offensive line that isn’t made up of career backups (looking at you Houston).
I haven’t seen any betting news, but I am going to imagine those odds on a Titans AFC South crown get a lower before tomorrow morning.
Wow.