:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65105017/152094787.jpg.0.jpg)
On Saturday night, one of the best players in the National Football League made an announcement that will bring a significant change to the NFL landscape.
In a move that can only be described as “stunning,” Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck has announced that he is retiring from the National Football League at the age of 29, citing mental fatigue. Luck has also dealt with a number of physical injuries over the past couple of seasons, including a shoulder injury that caused him to miss the entire 2017 season.
Our Minnesota Vikings were a part of the infamously named “Suck for Luck” race during the 2011 season, as they were one of the worst teams in the NFL. However, they wound up earning the third selection in the 2012 NFL Draft (eventually trading down to #4), and watched as both Luck and Robert Griffin III were drafted ahead of them.
In Week 2 of that 2012 season, the Vikings were the source of Luck’s first victory as an NFL quarterback. The Colts took a 20-6 lead into the fourth quarter of that one, but the Vikings put up a 14-point comeback, capped by a touchdown pass from Christian Ponder to Kyle Rudolph with 30 seconds left. Luck, however, managed to maneuver his team into position for Adam Vinatieri to kick a 53-yard field goal with time running out, giving the Colts a 23-20 win in Indianapolis.
Luck’s only other appearance against the Vikings came at U.S. Bank Stadium in 2016, and the Colts put a beatdown on the purple that afternoon. The Vikings were still, mathematically, playing for a playoff spot, but those thoughts came to a screeching halt as the Colts got out to a 27-0 halftime lead en route to a 34-6 victory that ended the competitive portion of the Vikings’ 2016 season.
The Colts will now turn to Jacoby Brissett at quarterback.
We wish Andrew Luck the best now that he’s made the shocking decision to hang up his spikes much earlier than a lot of people probably anticipated. For more on Andrew Luck’s retirement and the fallout from it, be sure to check out our friends over at Stampede Blue.