Texas Football: Andrew Luck retirement impact on Horns, College Football

What does the shocking retirement of the former Indianapolis Colts star quarterback Andrew Luck mean for the Texas football program?

As we enter the 2019 college football regular season with the fireworks put on display by the Florida Gators taking down the Miami Hurricanes and the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors upsetting the Arizona Wildcats, news also broke that was a big downer. The former Stanford Cardinal generational talent and Indianapolis Colts Pro Bowl quarterback Andrew Luck announced he would be retiring from the NFL on Aug. 24. How does this impact the Texas football program and college football as a whole?

Luck was the No. 1 overall pick of the Colts in the 2012 NFL Draft. He arguably led Stanford and former head coach Jim Harbaugh to the best individual season in program history in 2011. He helped Stanford’s ascent to relevance in college football under Harbaugh and current head coach David Shaw while the Texas Longhorns football program was starting to fall under Mack Brown.

However, the news of Luck retiring caught the entire football world by surprise. Fans of the Longhorns and beyond had to be shocked about this news that dropped in the midst of a Colts home preseason showdown against the Chicago Bears.

I myself grew up a big Colts fan and was thrilled when they took Luck with the top pick in the 2012 NFL Draft. Just after the Peyton Manning-era ended in Indy, the Colts looked to be on the up and up with a new face of the franchise. Luck helped to immediately turn to the Colts around in the post-Peyton era with a Wild Card Round playoff appearance in his rookie season in 2012.

Luck would then lead the Colts one step further in the playoffs in each of the two following seasons. The Colts were mauled by the New England Patriots in the 2014-15 AFC Championship Game. But the fact they made it that far was a huge feat for Luck and the Colts.

All the success Luck found in the NFL came to a breaking point this year after what he pretty much described as four years of constant pain. Luck went from taking the Colts to the Divisional Round last year before losing to the Kansas City Chiefs to retiring before the start of the 2019 regular season.

This retirement very much sheds light on the injuries that football can cause players and continues the trend of superstars retiring early. Other notable early retirements in the past two decades included Detroit Lions record-breaking wide receiver Calvin Johnson and San Francisco 49ers transcendent linebacker Patrick Willis. The Lions also had another star skill position player retire early in the late 1990’s, with former Oklahoma State Cowboys Heisman Trophy winner Barry Sanders calling it quits in the midst of his prime.

What impact does this carry on the Longhorns? Head Texas football coach Tom Herman already had one player retire due to injuries this offseason, with offensive lineman Denzel Okafor. Texas junior quarterback Sam Ehlinger is also in the midst of a career-filled with injuries dating back to his first year with Westlake High School.

Ehlinger was not able to make it through a full season of football since his freshman campaign at Westlake. Is this the first season in his time on the Forty Acres that Ehlinger is able to make it all the way through without injury? His style of play makes it difficult to not be more injury prone than most.

Moreover, by no means am I insinuating that Ehlinger is guaranteed to be bitten by the injury bug again. But his recent injury history is worth noting with how this early Luck retirement sheds light on the subject.

Recurring injuries are becoming more and more apparent in football at the college and pro level. The awareness of player health will continue to be a more and more discussed subject. Whether that be for the Texas football program in particular, or just college football as a whole, this retirement news is going to carry a massive impact for a long time. A generational star like Luck doesn’t just retire at 29-years-old without these discussions emerging.