Luke Kuechly and 5 star players who retired in their primes

Andrew Luck

Yeah, this is the biggest one in recent memory. Andrew Luck was a quarterback that was in the playoffs year in and year out. He seemed destined to make a Super Bowl one day. The Indianapolis Colts took him with the first overall pick after many called him the best prospect since John Elway. He was legitimately great already, he just had to work his way through some injuries.

Well, it seemed like he didn’t want to do that anymore, and he said goodbye to the game of football just weeks before the 2019-20 regular season was set to start. He didn’t seem overly emotional, he was just in shock that it leaked like it did. He obviously loved the game, but he seemed relieved he no longer had to go through some sort of rehab.

What we sometimes forget is Luck’s dad Oliver is a former starting quarterback in the league. He’s been doing football since he was born. When you’re surrounded by something, and it is no longer a passion and it becomes work, you want to take the money you’ve already made and walk away. He left $58 million on the table when he walked away. That’s hard to do, no matter how you feel about rehab.

Luck is the biggest example of a star player picking his health over everything. He didn’t care about money, his team or the game of football as much as that. It’s admirable, and something that could keep happening as we head into a new decade of NFL football.