The Mystery of Andrew Luck

Let me paint a picture for you real quick.

It’s January 5^th, 2019, and Andrew Luck is preparing for one of the biggest playoff games of his life as the Indianapolis Colts prepare to face the Houston Texans.

But, just one year ago today, Luck wasn’t even sure if he would be able to play football again. It’s crazy how in one year, everything in your life can change.

Let’s go back to where this all started. At the end of the 2015 season, Luck tore his labrum in his right shoulder in a game against Tennessee. In 2016, he was never fully healthy, but pushed through 15 games until his doctor advised him to get offseason shoulder surgery.

That shoulder surgery turned into Luck missing the whole 2017 season for the Colts, and it got to the point where many medical professionals felt that it would be unsafe for him to continue to play football with the hits he takes regularly due to his style of play.

In fact, when the Colts were looking for a new head coach in 2018, the biggest factor that deterred many candidates was the idea of starting over with a new quarterback from scratch if Luck could not come back to the team. But for Frank Reich, the current head coach for the Colts, he knew Luck would play again.

Reich, the former offensive coordinator for the Eagles, took the Colts job with the intentions of molding Luck into an elite quarterback once again.

Luck has admitted this season, that in 2017, he had to learn his throwing motion all over again. He had to go back to basics, and learn to play the game he has loved his whole life in a different way.

Doctors warned Luck that one bad hit on that right shoulder could end his career, but that never worried Luck. He has played with no fear in 2018, and in the process has led one of the best comeback seasons of any athlete in professional sports history.

Luck has made a case for MVP candidacy in 2018 with a season where he has taken the Colts back to the playoffs, and has thrown for 4,593 yards with 39 TDs and a passer rating of 98.7. All of these statistics rank at the top amongst all quarterbacks in the league right now.

So, as Luck prepares today to face Deshaun Watson and the Texans in Houston for the wildcard round of the NFL playoffs, he will never forget how far he has come in just one year.

From possibly never playing football again to becoming an MVP candidate, life has come full circle for Andrew Luck. Never underestimate a man that almost lost everything. One thing is for certain; the Texans will face the heart of a warrior come kickoff Saturday.

-Allen Perez (Senior at Kennesaw State University, Sports Director of KSU Owl Radio, radio play-by-play announcer for Kennesaw State Men’s basketball and sports talk show host) (Twitter: @therealATLfan, email: allenperezsports@gmail.com)