8. Andrew Luck

Team: Indianapolis Colts

Position: QB

Experience: 7 Years

Andrew Luck was a sure thing. Coming out of Stanford he was clearly head and shoulders above his peers. This is why the Indianapolis Colts let go of future Hall of Fame quarterback, and up to that point “Mr. Colt”, Peyton Manning so that they could hand the reigns of the franchise over the Luck immediately. His talent was evident right away but the supporting players around him didn’t match his level to help the Colts produce wins immediately. Still, the team felt that they had their franchise quarterback locked in for the next decade-plus.

Then, on Saturday August 24, news leaked that Luck—who had missed the bulk of minicamp and training camp this offseason with lingering ankle and calf issues—was going to retire from the NFL. Everyone was shocked. It didn’t make sense that a 29-year-old All-Pro quarterback would decide to walk away from the game in his prime. Especially with the changes to how the game is officiated and how quarterbacks are more protected now than ever. However, Luck is gone for now and all we can do is look back on his career instead of looking ahead as we’ve done for the previous selections on the SneakerReporter Top 30.

In his seven seasons Luck easily cemented his status as one of the elite players at his position. His numbers were among the top tier year-in and year-out. He made the Pro Bowl the first three seasons of his NFL career. In 2014 he eclipsed Peyton Manning’s single-season record for passing yards by throwing for 4,761 yards. It was very evident that he would have written his name in numerous record books had his career continued past 2018. During his time with the team there weren’t many players elsewhere that were better.

Injuries were ultimately the downfall of his short-lived career. In 2016 he suffered a shoulder injury on his throwing arm that eventually forced him to sit out for the entirety of the 2017 year. He followed that up by winning AP Comeback Player of the Year in what would end up being his final season in the league. Earlier we alluded to the ankle and calf injury that kept him sidelined to begin this summer. The daunting task—both physically and mentally—of another prolonged rehabilitation made Luck decide that it was time for him to call it quits and hang up the jersey.

In the end, even though we didn’t get as long of a career out of Luck as we are accustomed to he still made his mark on the Colts and the NFL. Instead of harping on what we will be missing it’s best to reflect on the seven years that we were able to watch one of the premier players in the league’s history. Luck earned his spot on this list even though he will ultimately not play a single down this season.