Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - LOCKED ON COLTS 8/25/19: Andrew Luck shockingly retires from the NFL

Episode Date: August 26, 2019

Wow, This is real isn't it? Andrew Luck suddenly retired from the NFL this weekend. The Colts' signal caller has hung up his cleats at age 29. This emergency podcast will relay my thoughts on this whole situation plus the incredible career Luck put together in Indianapolis.Colts fans have been spoiled over the past two decades with Peyton Manning and Luck. The Stanford product willed a poor team to three straight seasons of 11 wins, including progressing further each year in the playoffs before the injuries eventually caught up with him. The list of injuries is long and tedious, so you can't blame Luck one bit for what he did.On the topic of booing him, that doesn't represent the whole fanbase but it's an unfortunate way to end this era. Hopefully Colts owner Jim Irsay rights this wrong soon enough and Luck is back in the fold for his deserving standing ovation.In the end, trust the new regime. Chris Ballard and Frank Reich still are one of the best GM-HC duos in the NFL. None of the young talent left alongside Luck. It's on the shoulders of Jacoby Brissett now to prove he's a top 20 QB like Reich says.An unexpected end to an era. The Andrew Luck reign was so fun to follow along with. Good luck to him in his future endeavors outside of the football field. Rightfully, I wanted Luck himself to close out the podcast, so the full 25-minute presser closes out today's show if you haven't heard it yet or want to have a second listen through. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello everybody, welcome back into Locked On Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Today's item is Evan Sutterman joining us Sunday evening here because as you probably heard by now last night, it's incredible even saying this, but the Indianapolis Colts franchise quarterback Andrew Luck has unexpectedly retired at the age of 29 years old, which to me is just, I never thought we'd get to this point. And I wanted to have at least 24 hours to digest this, because I know many were wanting an emergency podcast moments afterwards, but I think just for myself, and probably for other Colts fans too, I think it was just a good idea to take about 24 hours or so.

I think we're about 24 hours at this exact point when Andrew Luck officially announced his retirement from the NFL at age 29. He had his impromptu press conference afterwards when ESPN's Adam Schefter reported during the fourth quarter of the game that Andrew Luck was mentally exhausted from all the rehab process over the past four years and decided to hang up his cleats for good. Very, very young in his NFL career, six, seven years in, and understandably all the injuries catching up to him with a mismanagement from Ryan Grix in the past

with just no offensive line up front of him. You can't blame him at this point. You hear about what happened now with his ankle. He has an ankle impingement. He had a high ankle sprain and a calf strain at the same time. According to Luck himself, which I'll play the full press conference here at the end of this episode, because I think that's what it should be done

if you're a Colts fan listening to this. I grew up, I obviously grew up a Colts fan. I grew up really throughout my high school and college years to get a little personal. I grew up throughout my high school and my college years watching Andrew Luck play quarterback for the Annapolis Colts. And to have it end this sudden, this soon,

is just very, very shocking and disappointing for me. But good for Andrew Luck on his end. If he believes that this is the right time to step away, I'm not going to blame him at all because he's worked tirelessly. He's given his blood, sweat, and tears to the organization. There's no need for anyone to criticize Luck at this point because if you've seen the stats, you've seen the wins. He put up three straight seasons of 11 plus wins to start off his career with a horrible roster around him, a bad general manager, a bad coach. Somehow, someway, Andrew Luck, when he was 100% healthy, would just carry the team to the playoffs every single year. First year, it was the Wild Card game. Second year,

it was the Divisional round. Third year, it was the Conference title game. But after that, the injuries caught up to Andrew Luck and then from there it just slowly went downhill and unfortunately we're in this point in 2019 now where he was drafted in 2012 and six and a half years later he's out of the league and it's just I still can't fathom it, to be honest.

It's just incredible that I have to do this podcast, to be honest, because it's stunning. It honestly is. And you just see what happened here with Andrew Luck. And it's even tough to talk about just because if you're a Colts fan growing up, if you're a Colts fan in the city or anywhere in the country, you know how important Andrew Luck was to this franchise, how important he was as the bridge from Peyton Manning,

the greatest Colt of all time, to Andrew Luck. And obviously Peyton Manning delivered a Super Bowl here, but as far as talent goes in the early parts of their career, Andrew Luck was outperforming Peyton Manning at this same time of his career. He was on the path to maybe supplanting Peyton Manning as the greatest Colt of all time with the roster around him. It really is sad to just think about, guys, because Luck was just entering the prime of his career at this point

he's going to turn 30 years old in two weeks, quarterbacks nowadays play until their late 30s some even, that's Tom Brady, Drew Brees for example, they're playing until they're 40 or past that, in today's NFL with the least amount of hitting possible on a quarterback, usually there's about 7 or 10 more years we'd see that production having an elite quarterback. And Andrew Luck, who as we all know, when he's healthy, he's a top five quarterback in the NFL. The numbers back it up.

And really all other metrics back up that point. And just suddenly, two weeks before the regular season, Andrew Luck decides to hang it up. Man, as you can probably tell, it's just so hard to talk about because the leader of this franchise the last seven years all of a sudden is just up and gone. Just suddenly like that, mental exhaustion from the, as Andrew Luck put it in his press conference postgame, just the rigorous, continuous, unrelenting rehab injury, rehab injury, rehab injury. Since 2015, the original shoulder injury, he played through played through throughout 2016 which if you look

back on for obvious reasons he should have gotten the surgery back then and not forced it and it caught up to him the injuries and all the hits caught up to him and an interesting note here from Scott Kazmar who was formerly a peripheral outsiders he had a a note that kind of goes to show just how mismanaged the Andrew Luck era was by the former regime. If Chris Bauer was a GM, this would have never happened, in my opinion, because you guys can tell. He quickly fixed the issues that plagued this team throughout the first five, six years of Andrew Luck's career. He finally got him an offensive line. He spent the draft capital.

He got Quentin Nelson. Anthony Costanza has been the mainstay left tackle throughout his career. Wayne got Mark Lewinsky off of waivers. Braden Smith in the draft as well, alongside Quentin Nelson. Ryan Kelly in 2017, he kept him around. That was the final Ryan Grixen pick before he was fired a few months later. It's just everything was in place for Andrew Luck to finally get the respect and the notoriety he deserved.

He had the playmakers. He has the defense now, but all for naught. And like I said at the top of the podcast, you really can't blame at this point. He's done everything for this franchise. And the people who try to blame Andrew Luck say this is a wussy thing to do, so to say, you're wrong. You're 100% wrong because Andrew Luck doesn't need that criticism. Him being booed off the field, especially, that doesn't represent all the Colts fans who tirelessly cheered on number 12 throughout his career in Indianapolis. Those fans, those couple thousand fans who decide to boo, obviously it's a raw reaction

that moment, but just think of the optics for a second. Andrew Lux said post-game when he was asked about by Mike Chappell what it felt like to hear those boos. He said it hurt. It really hurt. And if that's the last time Andrew Lux's ever on the field for the Colts as a member of this team, just think about that. Think about why in the world you would boo off a player like Andrew Luck,

who arguably, in my opinion, just off pure talent alone, off pure talent alone, he is probably the second greatest Colt in franchise history behind Peyton Manning. And his lasting image will be retiring suddenly, but being booed off the field because the news leaked during the game. And that's just, for me, it's hard to really take in that. Because for a personal note here, I really was actually at the Colts game with my father. He took me to the Colts game. We sat in our usual seats.

My dad's had Seagate tickets since they came here in the first year. 36 years strong. My dad is a Seagate ticket holder. Been there throughout the very beginning. Going to that game last night, no one imagined when walking out of that stadium that Andrew Luck wouldn't be on the team anymore. He officially was put on the NFI retired list today by the Colts. This is real.

It's very real. He won't be back this year. He probably will never be back because he was very strong in his words last night that this is the right decision for himself. He's made all the guaranteed money. We saw a report as well from Adam Schefter today saying the $24.8 million remaining in Andrew Luck's signing boast, his contract rents through 2021. The Colts will not take any of that money from him, which is obviously a smart thing to do. Calvin Johnson, the Lions, we saw what happened with them.

If you try to take the signing bonus back, that relationship fractured immediately. Hasn't been back with the team since. And then the Colts are flush with Kaspis anyways. There's nothing to try to get fickle with money here. Jim Mercer did the right thing, but I just can't help but think how different things would be

if Andrew Luck just had Chris Power from the very beginning as his GM, if he actually had a team built around him. Because from 2013 to 2015, the second through fourth year when Andrew Luck was fully healthy those first four years, the first round picks Ryan Griggs put together was Bjorn Werner, who lasted a couple years in Indianapolis and was out of the league quickly, traded his pick for Trent Richardson, who ended up being Johnny Manziel for Cleveland, so it was kind of a wash, but horrible value there to trade for a running back with a first-round pick.

And I'll admit, back then, I was excited about it, but as we know, really all of Ryan Grixen's transactions really failed immediately. And also, the pick after that was Philip Dorsett the next year, even though they had T.Y. Hilton on the team, which I found really weird when Lane and Collins is still on the board, for example. It just goes to show just, again, how badly mismanaged the Andrew Luck era was. The first at least four or five years, the last two years when Chris Bauer was on board, he got the ship steered in the right direction, but unfortunately it was too little too late.

Just the injuries caught up with Andrew Luck. And if you go through the list of injuries, it really is incredible what Andrew Luck has dealt with. First off, he had torn cartilage in two ribs, a partially torn abdomen, a lacerated kidney left him peeing blood, at least one concussion, most likely probably more than that because he's one of the toughest players in the NFL,

a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder, and now this mysterious calf ankle injury that Andrew Luck later put, as I mentioned at the top of the podcast, an ankle impingement, a high ankle sprain, and a calf strain. All that tied in together and you realize why Andrew Luck finally said,

you know what? This is best for me. I have $100 million in the bank. I have a wife. I have $100 million in the bank. I have a wife. I have a kid coming soon. I'm about to turn 30. If I keep getting hurt, I'll probably have issues later on in life

that are longstanding. So might as well get out of it now when you can. And I don't blame him at all for doing that. I've heard people in the local media in Indianapolis, not gonna name names here, but it just seems like people are unrightfully criticizing Andrew Luck, saying he's not tough or anything like that.

That's just a horrible take. I'm sorry for the people who are trying to point out that he was rightfully booed or he was not right for what he did here. You're 100% in the wrong, and I'm just going to go all the way throughout the season. If anyone complains about that, that's the 100% truth there. I'm sorry to say that if you're in that other camp, but Andrew Luck is one of the greatest quarterback talents we've ever seen in the NFL,

and injuries has caught up to him too little too late. I did up a stat here on Pro Football Reference that I found just incredible, and really what could have been, again, because you see the success that Andrew Luck's had with the little town around, but now with what Chris Ballard's done the past couple years, playing the exact right pieces around Andrew Luck for him to succeed.

The most two recent players in NFL history with at least 53 wins and 86 or fewer games during their first six seasons of activity. Since 2000, by the way, I'll put the caveat in there. Tom Brady, the greatest quarterback of all time, and Andrew Luck. Andrew Luck was on the path to become one of the greatest quarterbacks, not only in the modern era, but in NFL history. If you would have had five to six, seven years with this quarter right now, I personally think they would have won a Super Bowl.

I think they personally would have won two Super Bowls. I think Andrew Luck was well on his way to rewriting his script. Unfortunately, the injuries definitely changed the tune of that. We heard Andrew Luck didn't live up to the hype from some people, but you just have to imagine the optics here. As you can tell, I mean, this is still incredible. I still don't feel like this is real, to be honest, because we were talking last week on the podcast about what Andrew Luck's

going to be like when he comes back, what's he going to be like if Andrew Luck's 75%, 80% healthy with Kevin Bowen of 1070 Defan. Now, all of a sudden, that's all for naught. All of a sudden, the Colts now have to go with Jacoby Brissett the rest of the season, maybe beyond. Do they go in 2020 and get a quarterback like Jordan Love at Utah State? Do they wait until 2021, pushing all their chips for Trevor Lawrence? I don't see any team that gets that top pick trading Trevor Lawrence at that point.

Or do they wait another year or two? Do they get a veteran free agent like Kirk Cousins until he's 21? I hope that's not the case, but maybe Jacoby Brissett is the answer. Frank Reich has said multiple times that he believes Jacoby Brissett is a top 20 correct in the NFL. And if you heard Reich talk about him, if you heard Chris Bauer talk about him last night, they truly believe Jacoby Brissett is the guy that can lead them forward.

And it's no surprise that they said that too because Chris Ballard and I quote said, Jacoby Bursette is a rare, rare leader. He was the one who actually called the team meeting last year when they were one and five. He was one of the few people that did that. Andrew Luck even told the Colts fans who were listening to the podcast

or to the press conference yesterday that he's confident in the Colts' future because of Jacoby Bursette. He believes with Bursette at the helm, this team can go far. The happy-go-lucky guy when he turned in 2017, the guy who was always joyful, that's what Luck was describing

to everyone listening to this press conference about Jacoby Bursette. He went out on his high horse, falling on the sword, so to say, and allowing Jacoby Bursette to really comfortably take over his spot. And as a Colts fan, we should realize just how lucky we've had it the last two decades. 19 of the last 20 years, we've had Peyton Manning or Andrew Luck, arguably two of the top 10 talents we've seen in NFL history. Talents, I will say. And other teams haven't had that. As we've seen throughout the years.

Cleveland just found their quarterback after like 25 years. They now have Baker Mayfield. They are toiled in mediocrity of quarterbacks. The Chicago Bears, I don't know if Mitch Trubisky is the answer there. They're still trying to find a quarterback after McMahon in 85. Countless other teams in the NFL still are toiling in that weird zone of not having a quarterback. So as Colts fans, Colts followers out there, realize how good we've had it. Realize these last 20 years were the golden era of Colts football.

Hopefully that continues, of course. They have the most talented roster I think they've had. If you sans the quarterback position, which is obviously the most important position in the NFL, if you get rid of that for a second though, skill positions, they are still stacked. Defense is young and up and coming. They're still stacked. Jacoby Brissett is going to have to prove he's a top 20 quarterback and all the pieces around to do that. He has the weapons. He has the defense. He has the offensive line, the best in the NFL. He has a up and coming running game at Marlin Mack. I think it's going to have a big breakout year for this team. This is the time where Jacoby Brissett can prove he's a top 20 quarterback

and show the Colts, show everyone that he is for real. He is legit. And Frank Reich, I trust Frank Reich and I trust Chris Ballard because this is a duo I feel like, since Tony Dungy and Bill Pullen, I haven't been more confident in a duo like this because you just see the chemistry they have and you see the team building model they have. And also Frank Reich, if you remember, in Philadelphia his last year there, when Carson Wentz got hurt, that quarterback was a backup and his name was Nick Foles.

He helped Nick Foles get an almost $100 million contract from Jacksonville this past year after his magical 2017 run. He beat New England in the Super Bowl with a backup. He went on a playoff run as the offensive coordinator with a backup quarterback at the helm, and they went to the Super Bowl, and they won it. So I trust Frank Reich. I completely trust his offense. As you saw last year, Andrew put career numbers in his final year. 39 touchdowns, 4,500 yards. Everything was going right for him. It's just sad to say, I hate to throw NBA comparisons here because this is an NBA podcast, but I'm going to remember he's almost

like the Derrick Rose of the NFL. Derrick Rose, we saw, was an MVP candidate at the age of 23, won at the age of 23, but then he tore his ACL, his knees just stopped functioning really, and he just lost the prime of his career. Andrew Luck, the shoulder issues, the ankle issues, the lower body issues, the glacerated kidney, all these issues in six years. He got out, played his butt off every single Sunday for the Colts, and led them to win after win after win with little talent around him, with mismanagement around the first four or five years of his career.

But unfortunately, at age 29, it's all for naught. Andrew Luck, I hope, and I hope he will, be in the ring of honor for the Colts. I'd be shocked if he's not. His number, I think, will be retired by the Colts, number 12. Going from 18 to 12, I'll close out with this. Just going from 18 to 12, as far as Manning to Luck, I'm so glad I grew up in this era.

I'm so glad that my childhood and my college and my mid-20s was filled with Peyton Manning to Andrew Luck. I am very envious of myself and for the people who grew up in the late 90s, early 2000s, because we've been very spoiled with Colts football over the past few years, with Andrew Luck, with Peyton Manning. And I truly believe, like I said, that Andrew Luck would have won two Super Bowls for this team with the talent around over the next five, six years. Everything was in place for him.

But now it's on Bursette's shoulders. Now it's on the coaching staff, like Matt Eberflus, defensive coordinator, Darius Leonard, the star linebacker. Everything is different now. Obviously, it's a bombshell. I was on the way back from the game yesterday. I saw my phone. My phone immediately started blowing up before I even saw the Adam Schechter tweet. I wondered what was going on. I see Andrew Luck retire from the NFL. I couldn't believe it. Over 24 hours later, or 25 hours

to be exact at this point, I still can't believe it. I can't believe this is actually real. And as you can tell, the emotion's pretty raw here because I grew up in the Andrew Luck era. I've witnessed the entire Andrew Luck era from start to finish. The day after the NFL draft, I went and got Andrew Luck's jersey at the pro shop because I knew this kid was special.

I knew that he was going to be able to lead this team for the long haul. He was the one player that I was the most confident in ever since Peyton Manning. I grew up and I missed the first young years of Peyton Manning. Obviously, I was a little young for that at that point. But Andrew Luck, right away in his rookie year, comeback wins. Comeback wins. Second year, comeback wins, comeback wins, second year, comeback wins, beat Peyton Manning in the divisional round. He beat Peyton Manning in the divisional round of the playoffs,

went to Foxborough, they got whooped in Foxborough, that led to Deflate getting all that scandal that happened, but just think about that for a second, everyone. Andrew Luck dragged the team by himself. You can't say that about many quarterbacks in NFL history that had such little talent around him, but each year was a constant 10-11 wins. Constantly. Constantly had a team in the playoffs. Constantly was defeating division opponents. He was 11-0 against the Tennessee Titans. The Houston Texans over the last few years got some success against Andrew Luck, But before that, he owned the Texans.

He's owned the Jaguars. He's owned a lot of AFC teams. Out of conference too. Good luck guarding Andrew Luck. Good luck secondaries. It was incredible, the duo that Andrew Luck and T.Y. Hilton was. If you saw T.Y. Hilton's tweet, it actually happened when I was recording this podcast. The emotion from everyone's raw, of course.

This is from T.Y. Hilton at T.Y TYHilton13 on Twitter about an hour ago at this point. Every time I think about it, tears start to flow. No one understands you like I do. Our bond is one of a kind. I've decided to dedicate my season to my best friend. I love you 12. Hashtag luck to Hilton. Eric Ebron also sent a very, a very noticeable tweet last night.

LTE luck to Ebron was such a fun thing to watch. And just to see it end so quickly after years, it's unfortunate. But he said, Andrew Luck will be somebody I tell my kids about the person and the player respect Andrew hashtag LTE luck to Ebron. Wow. I just can't believe it. I can't believe we're here on this Sunday evening. Tag LTE luck to Ebron. Wow.

I just can't believe it. I can't believe we're here on this Sunday evening. I'm glad I didn't record this last night because it would have been a little too raw. I would have been a little too one side or the other. But this is more of a stance in the middle here because this is the right way of doing it, in my opinion. Just thank you, Andrew Luck. I'll close with saying this before we go on to Andrew Luck. I imagine everyone's heard the press conference by now,

but I think it's the right way to do it if you haven't already. If you're a national person listening to this, thank you for listening on today's podcast. But if you haven't somehow listened to the full

Andrew Luck press conference, I will leave the 25-minute excerpt below in this podcast. But thank you, Andrew Luck, for the wonderful years you've provided the Annapolis Colts from 2013, from 2012 to 2018. I know you missed 2017,

but what an incredible quarterback, what an incredible person, what an incredible human being. Andrew Luck, you will be missed. You're going to do great things outside of football, whatever you decide to do, wherever you go.

And it just, it just sucks that it had to end like this. It sucks that he had to be booed off the field. I know that's not the main fan base who did that because a lot of people who didn't go to that game, a lot of St. Ticklers didn't go to that game because it's preseason. But I hope that the Colts do something with Andrew Luck this year, whether it's leading him out on the field, putting him in the ring of honor. He cannot go out like that.

So I just want to close by saying thank you, Andrew Luck, for providing a really fun seven years of football for the fans of Indianapolis and around the NFL. It truly is a sad day that you retire from the NFL at age 29, but it's for the best of you. I'm not going to complain about that. And again, I hope you do incredible things in whatever you do in your next chapter of life. So that does it for my little excerpt of today's podcast. I appreciate everyone listening in. I know it's probably very shocking, very emotional maybe for some people out there, but this is just the life of the game. This is the life of the NFL.

Stuff like this happens. You got to just regroup and move on like Chris Ballard said as well. I trust Chris Ballard, one of the best GMs in football. Frank Rick's an incredible coach. They have a lot of young stars on this team like Darius Leonard, Quentin Nelson, Kenny Moore, Malik Hooker, just name a few of them. There's so much more under 25 talent on this team still. And they have all the ammunition they need next year to maybe trio for a quarterback. Or if Jacoby Brissett proves me wrong, he could be a player that's the long-term

answer to a quarterback here. So thanks everyone for listening on today's podcast, and we're going to go on to the next segment of today's show, which will be the full Andrew Luck Press Conference. We will talk to you guys tomorrow with Zach Hicks of Stampede Blue as we go more in-depth on the situation and look ahead to what's next for the Annapolis Colts. Hello. This certainly isn't how I envisioned this or planned this. But I am going to retire. This is not an easy decision.

Honestly, it's the hardest decision of my life. But it is the right decision for me. For the last four years or so, I've been in this cycle of injury, pain, rehab, injury, pain, rehab. And it's been unceasing and relenting, unrelenting both in season and off season. And I felt stuck in it. And the only way I see out is to no longer play football. It's taken my joy of this game away.

I've been stuck in this process. I haven't been able to live the life I want to live, taking the joy out of this game. And after 2016, where I played in pain and was unable to regularly practice, I made a vow to myself that I would not go down that path again. I find myself in a similar situation. And the only way forward for me is to remove myself from football in this cycle that I've been in. Come to the proverbial fork in the road and I made a vow to myself that if I ever did again I would choose me in a sense. It's very difficult. I love this team. I love my teammates, the folks in our building, the fans, the game of football.

And as part of this team, as a member of this team, and because of how I feel, I know that I am unable to pour my heart and soul into this position, which would not only sell myself short, but the team in the end as well. And it's sad, but I also have a lot of clarity in this. It's been a difficult process, but my wife, my family, my friends, Mr. Ballard, Mr. Ursae, the Ursae family and Frank Reich have been incredibly helpful, supportive, uh, and I'm so grateful for them. It as I told the guys earlier in the locker room, it's been the honor of a lifetime to represent the horseshoe and the city of Indianapolis both on and off the field to Mr. Ursae and your family. Thank you. Thank you so much. I am so grateful to have been drafted here. Your unwavering support is incredibly appreciated.

I cannot fathom another owner who loves their team as much as you do. And we feel that as players. We appreciate that as players. It permeates through the building. And from the moment, and we talked about this earlier, but from the moment I arrived in Indianapolis, I felt like I could be myself. And I felt like I did not have to fill Peyton, one of the great, you know, of all times. I felt like I did not have to fill his shoes. I could be me.

And for that, and I know that starts with the person up top. And for that, I'm very, very, very much appreciated. So many people to thank. So many people to thank. It's I think maybe fitting that Chuck was the coordinator for the opposing team tonight because he had so many positive points and moments and such an impact on my life and BA as well, who's obviously not here tonight, but with Tampa. All my former coaches, but it did feel a little bit full circle walking out there tonight and being able to give Chuck Pagano a hug, who provided so many great memories for me and Colts fans everywhere. Former teammates. There's a lot of guys

I need to thank that I've played with that I'll get around to personally when the time is right. But I'd like to start with a couple of guys that stand out. Robert Mathis, who quickly became and will always be my football hero. I love playing with him. I loved watching him play. He was as good a teammate as I've ever had. Reggie Wayne, what a thrill it was to throw with him. I loved watching him play. He was as good a teammate as I've ever had.

Reggie Wayne, what a thrill it was to throw to him. What a thrill it was to throw to you. I thank you for the incredibly positive impact you had on a young player in this league. So many wonderful guys like Joe Reitz, Jack Muhork, so many great linemen that I had a chance to play with. And I was a part of some amazing quarterback rooms that helped me grow and become a man in this game. Clyde Christensen, who ran it for a while with Drew Stanton and Chandler Harnish, Shadi and Scotty Tolzien, especially Matt Hasselbeck. I know that was a great, great influence on me.

I learned so much from all of y'all. And so many of y'all are lifelong friends. They are lifelong friends. And again, I'm much, much appreciated for that. So I'm going to take a moment. I think it's, I guess, fitting that I'm in my retirement press conference in an athletic shirt. I know I look pretty ratty up here after games.

So sorry, Mom. I can't have a better appearance right now. There are so many people in the Colts organization that make it run that folks maybe don't know about, but they do an incredible job. Doug, Troy, and the crew, Pete Ward, everybody in the cafeteria, Tex and the security staff have done an amazing job for me. Everyone in the scouting department on the personnel side, Todd Vesvari and Matt Turpening picked me and a bunch of other Stanford guys up my rookie year from Indianapolis Airport and took me to

Jason's Deli in Carmel for my first meal in Indianapolis as a colt and it was awesome. The training staff and the medical attention I've received here has been incredible. Bone doctor, EB, Carrie, Kyle, Marcus, Wally, all the doctors, the help and care has been top-notch, especially in times that are tough, which is usually when you're seeing the doctor or the trainer. David Thornton, a simple thank you for your compassion. Matt Conte and the PR team, Matt, you have a thankless job wherever you are and you do a great job at it. So thankful for you. Our strength staff, Rusty, Rich, Zane, and Podell. I do feel like I'm missing folks in the

building, but so many of you have helped me in so many ways, and I'll have a chance to come say thank you, and you know who you are. And then some folks out of the building, Tom, Willem, Yost, and Karen. Thank from, we say Indianapolis. It's our home. The support we felt here from lifelong friends, from the people that we love, the 500. This has been an incredible place to make a home and to grow. And many of my most fulfilling moments here off the field involve children. Riley camps around the state, getting a chance to be with kids and have fun.

Going to the hospital and having a chance to talk with parents and children. Reading to kids at schools, hanging out, Children's Museum, the wonderful things they do there. So a big thank you to this city. It's always will hold a special place in my heart. And I guess I'll transition to this current team and why it makes it so difficult, I guess, for me to stand up here and say I'm retired. It's a great group of men.

It's a great group of guys. A group that makes coming to work every day feel very, very special, and I feel incredibly lucky for that. And fans and people need to know about the men in that locker room. They're great. They're honest. They're real. There's no bigger fan of them than me.

Chris Ballard, thank you. You know I have so much respect and admiration for you. We've had a lot of tough conversations. I've learned so much from him. The honesty. It's incredible. Frank, you're so thoughtful, driven, kind. Again, I've learned so much. So, there were times last year I'd have to pinch myself and say, is this for real?

Am I allowed to have this much fun on a football field? And it started with you. Nick Sirianni and Marcus Brady, it's the same. to miss being with them every day. They're good people. All the rest of the staff, they make coming into work a joy and something that I certainly, certainly will miss. Coming back last year and playing, a lot of people had a lot of help me in a lot of ways and they'll never know how important that was to me. And I'm again so, so appreciative.

And my teammates, I feel so conflicted because of my love for these men. But it is clear to me that's what's best for this team is me. Does not involve me. And I'd like to say a quick note about a few of them as we get towards the end here. But when I was a seven-year-old, my father drove me up to Amsterdam, and I watched Adam Vinatieri kick for the Amsterdam Admirals in NFL Europe. Then when I was in seventh grade, my father took me to the Super Bowl in Houston, and I watched Adam Vinatieri kick a game winner against the Carolina Panthers. And then,

of course, my first win as a Colt involves Adam Vinatieri kicking a game winner against the Minnesota Vikings. And I told him all this earlier today. I stand in awe of Adam Vinatieri. He's a great man, a great teammate. And, again, he's one of those guys I'll tell my grandkids I got to play with him. The guys on the O-line, Braden, Glow, Ryan, Q, Hagrid, Loravine, Boehmer, Josh, and, of course, Anthony. They've been a pleasure to play around and there's so many more that I've played with in the past. But they were a big part of last year

being very special for me. Obviously the success of the team. And I'm so grateful and appreciative to have had a guy like Anthony Costanzo be in the building from the day I walked in. Jacoby Brissett is an awesome dude. He's got a bright future. He's diligent, sharp, loves football.

I hope I can continue to support him in different ways. I am so grateful for our friendship. I, on a personal, well, getting a little more personal, but coming back into the building early last year, I was very jealous and resentful of this fun, happy dude that was in my spot as a quarterback on this team. I obviously didn't have a lot of confidence in myself at that time either. But I could not have been more wrong, And he helped me grow in so many ways. He's a lifelong friend.

He means so, so much to me. He's a big part of me having one of the more rewarding years of my football life last year. I cannot wait to support him and see him lead this team. I am excited for the future of the Colts, in large part because of Jacoby and also all the other men in that locker room. There's so many guys on offense and defense that have had a pleasure to play with. Clayton

Gathers, I love watching Clayton Gathers run around and play football. All the running backs and Raffy, the tight ends. Eric Ebron was fun to play with. I'm so excited for his future. He's a great friend. Mo, Jack Doyle, Jackie Jack and I have been through a lot together. I'm going to miss him a lot on the football field, but we're friends forever. And the rest of the guys, I have so, so, so much respect and love and it runs so deep in me for them, and I hope they feel that because I know so many guys in that locker room have had such a significant impact on my life in so many ways.

And lastly, in terms of guys on this team, T.Y. Hilton. I had more fun throwing the football to T.Y. than should be allowed probably. When I was away in 2017 for the for the latter half of the season I had to figure out why I wanted to come back and play football and I boiled it simply down to the fact that I like throwing the ball to my friends and I love throwing the ball to TY Hilton. He's the best football player I've ever played with. He's a better teammate than he is a football player. In conclusion, my folks who aren't here tonight, but Mom, Dad,

Mayor, Emily Add, Uncle Will. All my friends. Thank you. And my wife, Nicole. Thank you. I love you. And I guess in a philosophical sense, I want to thank football for so many wonderful moments in my life

and the pressure, circumstances, environment that pushed me to grow, learn, change in so many meaningful ways. It's the greatest team sport in the world. And please, if you have questions, I'd like to ask them. Was this planned today? Was this planned today? Mention retirement.

No, I'll be honest. I was going to tell my teammates after the game. And 3 PM tomorrow, the title is going to talk to you guys. So this is absolutely a new situation. Go ahead, Shep. No, no, I didn't wake up this morning. A week and a half, two weeks. It's been a little bit fast and furious.

And the lack of progress on my ankle. And I'm in pain. I'm still in pain. I've been in this cycle, which feels like, I mean, it's been four years of this injury pain rehab cycle and for me to move forward in my life the way I want to, it doesn't involve football. Was this the typical point that this was the typical point? Yeah, I don't, I guess that's the reality is I have this and I've had had this and you know, so I don't, I don't know if tipping point, but you know, it's

it's shoulder and an ankle and this and this and it's, yeah, it's, it's, I've not been on, I don't feel like I've lived a life, you know, I can't live the life that I want to live moving forward with this year. Is that first time retirement a serious life? Yeah, a couple weeks ago, a week and a half ago. Not even last year? No. How much of an emotional role has the ball been in your life? Yeah, I feel quite exhausted and quite tired.

I do know once I hit the sort of point where I felt like I knew what I needed to do for myself and talked to Nicole and my folks and some close friends and family that and then had some you know some very difficult conversations with with Mr. Frank and Chris but it did feel like in a sense of weight was lifted then but but it's it's been tiring I feel tired and not just in the physical sense. What was the final straw? Was it a workout? What was it you said?

I don't know if there was a final straw per se. The lack of progress, I think, just built up. And run into one, okay, turn the corner. Okay, let's run into another stomach buck, turn the corner, okay, let's run into another stomach buck, turn the corner, turn the corner. And I can't remember if there was one thing that, like a tipping point or final straw. But, yeah, again, I feel so much clarity and, again, so grateful for the experiences and the positive times that I have had here.

How do you know, say, a year from now, when the ankle's finally healed? Yeah, I can't see the future, Zach. I'm not going to sit here and say it. But I very clearly in my mind see that I won't. It's not, yeah. For CCC, do you know what the ankle is? It's a myriad of issues.

Calf strain, posterior impingement, high ankle sprain. It's part of my journey going forward. We'll be getting out of pain and figuring out what's going on and how to feel better, obviously. So I don't have any definitiveness in my mind on it, and we'll continue working on that. It's going to be quite a timeline to deal with that if you're going to be playing. Yeah, I'm not, so it's – you're right about that.

The ribs, the shoulder, the shoulder, the ankle, all that over the years is what led us here. Is that correct? Yeah. And I'd like to say, too, this has been my personal journey in football, obviously, and everybody's journey is different. And, you know, over the past week I'd sit and think, you I, am I going to have a bunch of resentment towards this game or spite towards, you know, coming to this building? And I don't.

All I feel is love for this game and love for my teammates and walking in. And I know my journey has had some, you know, some ups and downs. And physically, it has taken its toll over the last four years. And that is why I'm here. And the mental and emotional toll that takes as well. Yeah. But you never could have imagined walking away from ball game at 29. Yeah, I'll be honest.

I didn't imagine retiring when I didn't imagine retiring until two weeks ago. But no, I didn't think of until two weeks ago so but no I didn't think of it in that way no yeah yeah I I I had a good idea that it might I had thought that this might be my last time throwing on Lucas Oil as a current member of a Colts team. And it was almost like I made sure to go out and enjoy it. You know? You've always been one of those people who took the blame on anything,

whether it was an intercept or whatnot and stuff. Did you ever try to say, all right, maybe I should try to play through this because I don't want to? That's a good question. And in 2016, after that season, which I played through some stuff, I made a vow to myself that I would never do that again. I got in not a good place. And I felt that the past week and a half, two weeks, and that's also a big part of why I'm here right now talking about this.

You said that quite a few times. Yeah. I mean, this game does require you to put yourself in second oftentimes, right? I mean, just, you know, talking about team first and elsewhere, that's what you have to do. I mean, just how, when you've done all that you've done, how were you able to reconcile all that? You know, I mean, that's a tough calculation, I guess, to make sometimes.

Did you ever reconcile that right now or in the past? I mean, over the years, you know? Yeah, no, look, I, yeah. Are you on autopilot? It's about, you know, what kind of things, you know? in the past. Yeah, no, look, I, yeah. No, I wouldn't say. I never felt like, I guess in my mind I never looked at it as me or the team.

I'm part of the team and do my best for the team and also do my best for the self, for myself in a sense. But it's, I mean, it's the greatest team game in the world. I've loved being in that locker room. It's truly been the honor of a lifetime to suit up next to many of those guys, and that's part of what makes this very, very, very difficult.

Andrew, a couple more. Not that I'm negative, but all that you've meant to the team and the city and the stunning miss over the decision, any reaction to the fans? Yeah. Yeah, I'd be lying if I didn't say I heard the reaction. Yeah, it hurt. I'll be honest, Jeff. It hurt. It's hard to reconcile with the fact that you didn't get your fair chance necessarily. You know what?

This is how it ends, not how it I don't, I don't look, I certainly feel like I got my fair chance and I'm very grateful for every snap that I got to take and, you know, the lows and learn from them and the highs and then all the positive things that happened in this building that I got to be a, you know, be a part of. So, so I, I, I, I don't hold any resentment, I guess, in that way. I do feel like I got a fair chance and I tried to make the most of my chance. And right now, my journey just doesn't include football going forward. And I'm, again, so grateful to have, I'll feel like a Colt forever. I know I will. I'm so grateful again for the Ursae family, for Frank, Chris,

everybody in that locker room that I've got a chance to take the field with. It's truly been the honor of a lifetime. And I understand the suddenness and maybe the surprise behind it. I really do. But I also know I have so much clarity about my next steps moving forward. And I'm so excited for this team. It's a great team. Okay, thank you, guys. Yeah.

It's being a father. How much is that? Yeah, not really. You got it all. Yeah. A bit of an unusual situation, but how much do you anticipate? You mentioned how much you love this franchise, how much they give you.

Being around still, the season's about to start. What are your plans? Take a full backseat or you plan on being around? No, I'm friends with so many guys in this locker room. I mean, we live here. Yeah, this is our home. So, support the guys the way I can, and I certainly need to rehab and get feeling good.

And, yeah, I got some folks that I need to call and thank them. And it might be a late night on the phone with some friends and some crying and laughing and some teammates. And I guess before I get off, I should also thank those of you who have covered me for most of my career, all of my career. I appreciate getting to come to work and talk to you guys, gals, every now and then.

And I guess a small part of me will miss you as well. But thank you. I very much appreciate it. Mr. Ursae, Chris, Frank, Ursae family, thank you very much. Appreciate it.