You can if you want listen to the NFL Ringer emergency podcast that went up yesterday.
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In that podcast you'll hear a comment from Kevin Clark that really hit home with me. In Luck's first three seasons he was hit 60 more times than any other QB in the League. Clark points out that it only takes one hit to end a career or begin the process of ending a career. Just think Bo Jackson. When you get hit 60 more times than anyone else you are really increasing your chances of ending a career early.
The people who should really be sweating things after Luck's announcement are the Houston Texans fans who have to sit and watch Deshaun Watson get banged around game after game in part because the Texans seem incapable of fixing his offensive line, just like the Colts could never fix Luck's.
I don't watch much football these days, but I read about it and listen to people talk about it all the time. You can read the piece Kevin Clark wrote on Luck's retirement. Luck is beloved by the young writers I follow and their frustration over how his career was managed is quite apparent when they talked about it and will talk about it. All these writers were so happy for Luck last year that he finally found himself in a system where he wasn't getting hit all the time, but it seems it was too little, too late.
I am listening. But if this turns out to be just some bait and switch where I listen to a bunch of smart alecks beating up the Dolphins, it's you whom I'm going to be mad at.
ReplyDeleteI like this show fine.
ReplyDeleteSo far.
On his podcast this week, Tony Kornheiser made the Andrew Luck/Greg Cook comparison, which made 1973 me very happy.
ReplyDeleteOK, this show was fine.
ReplyDeleteThis Andrew Luck situation also reminds me of what my mom said about Ricky Williams back in the day--that it must be hard to be good at something that is not making you happy and that a person should make the hard choice to go for the happy.
ReplyDeleteOh, man, Ricky Williams was on this past season of Celebrity Big Brother, and I missed the whole thing! He finished runner-up. Good for Ricky Williams!
ReplyDeleteI had forgotten that Ricky Williams announced his first retirement from the Dolphins on my 36th birthday.
Luck and RG3 were picked 1 and 2 in the same draft, and now both of their careers have effectively been ended by injuries. If I were a Texans fan, I would be very worried about DeShaun Watson.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, Tom Brady is apparently going to play forever.