Andrew Luck’s abrupt retirement ahead of the 2019 season still haunts the Indianapolis Colts. FollowingLuck’s decision to walk awayfrom football at age 29, the Colts have struggled to find a new franchise quarterback.
The man in charge of leading that search, team general manager Chris Ballard, may have put himself in that awkward position, as former Colts tight end Eric Ebron claimed on his podcast that Ballard issued an ultimatum to Luck that ultimately resulted in thequarterback’s retirement.
Luck, however, disagreed with Ebron’s assessment, saying the former tight end’s claims are “without merit.”
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The whole situation began with Ebron, who claimed during his “On My Soul” podcast that Ballard toldLuck he had to play or he would be replaced, per NFL.com.
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"Andrew then decides that he's so tired of injury and he doesn't want to do the surgery, and you know the man around there that gets on everybody's nerves, [Ballard] over there behind that desk, he tells Andrew, 'You're either playing this year or we're moving on,'" Ebron said on his podcast. "Who the [expletive] would tell Andrew Luck that? Andrew Luck now says, 'I'm not going to be ready, I'm tired of playing with pain. I'm going to retire.'"
Luck refuted that version of events in a brief email toMike Chappell of Fox59.com. The quarterback said he had a “wonderful partnership” with Ballard.
"Chris and I had a wonderful partnership, especially through my decision to retire, and we remain close,'' Luck wrote Chappell. "Any notion of internal pressures that influenced my decision are without merit.''
Luck’s decision to retire sent shockwaves around the NFL. While the quarterback had battled injuries in the past, he was coming off a a Pro Bowl year in which he took the Colts to the playoffs. Things were looking up for the franchise.
But Luck abruptly retired during the 2019 NFL preseason, citing the constant process of getting injured and having to go through rehab to get healthy again.
The Colts missed the playoffs in 2019, and have reached the postseason only once since Luck’s retirement. The team lost in the wild-card round in that appearance.
Ebron has plenty of reasons to still be upset about how things played out. In his only season with Luck as his quarterback, Ebron gained a career-high 750 receiving yards and hauled in 13 touchdowns, making his first and only Pro Bowl appearance.
In his final three seasons in the NFL, Ebron caught nine total touchdowns.
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