The Indianapolis Colts have put together a competitive team in the two seasons since Andrew Luck abruptly stepped down from football.
But they have a hole in the main position of the game after the significantly less beautiful retirement of Philip Rivers this season. Colts owner Jim Irsay has a name in mind to replace him.
“We want him to be our quarterback”
“He knows how much we want him to be our quarterback, there’s just no doubt about it,” Irsay said Wednesday according to Luck according to the Indianapolis Star.
The decision, of course, is not up to Irsay. It depends on Luck, who gave no public hints that he was thinking of returning to the NFL at age 31. And Irsay does not count on it. He just says the obvious while planting a seed.
“We know it has to work out, he has to be the one who says, ‘You know what? I’m ready, ” Irsay continued. “I really want to create a bit of history in unprecedented aspects.”
Colts is not a QB
After the 2019 7-9 campaign in the wake of Luck’s sudden preseason retirement, the Colts bounced back as a force in the AFC with an 11-5 record and a playoff spot in 2020. They have a top-10 defense built around one of the games best young defenders in lineout player Darius Leonard. They led a balanced top-10 offense with a falling 38-year-old Rivers behind center.
If Luck is considering a comeback, the Colts are an enticing opportunity.
And perhaps most importantly, when it comes to Luck, they built one of the game’s best offensive lines, a unit anchored by All-Pro guard Quenton Nelson, which ranks Pro Football Focus as the league’s seventh best. in 2020.
Would Luck consider an NFL return?
Happiness did not emerge from any animus for the Colts. He retired after six seasons because he was tired of the constant beating his body had behind a porous protection.
‘For the past four years I have been in this cycle of injuries, pain and rehabilitation. Injury, pain, rehabilitation, “said Luck during his retirement in 2019. ‘And it was relentless, relentless – both in season and out of season. And I got caught up in it, and the only way I see it is to stop playing football anymore. ”
The irony that the Colts finally put together a capable line after Luck retired is not lost here.
Irsay’s generous gesture to Luck
Irsay’s makes no secret of the fact that he wants Luck to return. He left the door wide open in 2019 with a generous gesture at the exit of Luck. The Colts allowed Luck to walk away with $ 24.8 million in bonus money that they could obtain with his unexpected retirement.
Irsay was referring at the time to Michael Jordan’s decision to return to basketball less than two seasons after his sudden retirement in 1993. He joked on Wednesday about watching a fax from Luck’s I’m back.
Now he sings the praises of Luck and lets him know that the door remains wide open.
No pressure.
“He’s a good Colt and he knows he can come back whenever he wants, but at the same time we respect that he made the decision.”
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