Luck refutes claim about retirement decision
Chris Simms and Mike Florio react to Andrew Luck's recent comments regarding Eric Ebron's story about his retirement, examining the quarterback's decision to leave the NFL and more.
Video Transcript
Was in August of 2019, I remember exactly where I was when it happened, 'cause I thought somebody's Twitter account had been hacked.
Andrew Luck abruptly retires just days before the start of the 2019 season.
It became an issue again because his former Colts teammate, Eric Ebron, a first round pick of the Lions in 2014 when they coulda had Aaron Donald, by the way.
Ebron had ended up with the Colts by 2019, and here is his version of how Andrew Luck's retirement came about.
Andrew then decides that he's so tired of He don't tell nobody this.
This is the backstory.
He's so tired of injury, and he just doesn't wanna do surgery.
You know who the man is around there that gets on everybody's nerves, Big Drawers over there behind that desk.
He tells Andrew, this is word, bro.
He tells Andrew, "You're either playing this year or we're moving on."
Who the would tell Andrew Luck that, right?
That's crazy.
I didn't know that.
Andrew Luck- That's crazy.
Andrew Luck now says, "I'm not gonna be ready.
I'm tired of playing with pain.
I retire."
We all find that out, what, week three?
And we playing the Chicago Bears.
Mid-game.
Mid-game.
Mid-game.
Bro.
Mid-game.
Mid game- It was mid-game.
we find out we're not gonna have our starting quarterback for that year.
Now, I will say this, it was bullcrap that someone leaked to Schefter during the game, during the preseason game, that Andrew Luck was retiring, because that created some ugliness as he was walking off the field.
I've never heard any suggestion that Chris Ballard, and we know Chris.
Does Chris seem like the kind of guy that's gonna say to Andrew Luck, "Either play this year or we're moving on"?
Is he really gonna say that to Andrew Luck?
Well, yeah.
I think there's two things here.
I mean, two things.
The first thing is the, m- we're in this business, and the fact that we've never heard that story before, yeah, makes me wanna throw the challenge flag.
I mean, I just Those are kind- Not even a whisper of it those are the kind of stories, again, like, you know, l- time would tell you that I, I find the story, that story out a hundred, out of a hundred times.
A hundred.
I'm batting 1000 on stuff like that.
Not that I'm breaking the story or anything like that, but shortly after it happens, I talk to somebody who's talked to somebody, or I've talked to the somebody, and when it went down.
Like, so that, the I've never heard that.
So that's why it's hard for me to believe that.
The second part is what you said, exactly right.
Forget Chris Ballard.
I don't think it's in his way of doing I don't think any GM would say that to Andrew Luck, one of the five best quarterbacks in football at the time.
"Hey, we're gonna give you an ultimatum," one of the five best players in football.
Like, I, I just, I have a hard time buying that one right there.
So maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'll find out something different, but yeah, that doesn't seem like it adds up to me all the way there.
And by the way, I failed to mention Big Drawers is Chris Ballard.
I did not know that was his nickname, but from now on- Big Drawers I will refer to him- as Big Drawers.
But this is the kind of thing where it's been seven years now, it'll be seven as of August.
We've never heard this.
There have been enough people who have come and gone from the Colts that it would be out there at some point.
Somebody would've reported it.
It would've been a Sunday splash report for some Colts home game.
Something would've happened.
Someone would've leaked it.
Someone would've talked about it.
It's too big of a deal for something like that to stay quiet for that long.
So it's entirely possible that Eric Ebron is misinformed- Yeah about what actually happened, and that happens, too.
I'm misinformed all the time.
I mean, we've already discussed Have you, have you met Miles?
So people can make mistakes.
We all make mistakes.
Well, the biggest thing we know about being misinformed is that, I mean, Andrew Luck kind of debunked it right away.
So like- Yes that, that to me is like- I forgot to mention that ding, ding, ding.
Like, Andrew Luck saw that and sent an email in and was like, "Uh, no, that's wrong."
So, and I'm paraphrasing of course, but yeah.
I mean, that, that's the- Here it is.
Here it is.
Yeah, go ahead.
He told Mike Chappell of Fox 59, "Chris and I had a wonderful relationship, especially through my decis- decision to retire, and we remain close.
Any notion of internal pressures that influenced my decision are without merit."
That's Andrew Luck.
Yeah.
So Aw.
Aw.
There's the answer.
"Dearest Mother," "Chris and I had a wonderful partnership, especially through my decision to retire."
All right
