Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck shocked the masses over the weekend by announcing his retirement from football at the age of just 29.
A long string of life-altering injuries forced Luck and his family to consider other professional options, with the four-time Pro Bowler admitting he had lost his love of the game.
In the aftermath of his stunning announcement, several current and former members of the New York Giants reacted not just to the news of Luck’s retirement, but to the booing and criticism he’s faced in the announcement’s aftermath.
Giants safety Michael Thomas, who was high school rivals with Luck before becoming teammates at Stanford, also weighed in.
“Not shocked,” Thomas said, via Giants.com. “Not even that he’s been talking about it. If he’s making that decision, then it’s the best decision. One hundred percent, 100 percent, that’s my brother. I know exactly where he’s at mentally and for him to make that decision, I support it 100 percent.
“To everybody else, I could see how it could be a shock, to get to wake up to that it was a shock. But once I realized and I reached out to him, it makes sense. Big picture, it wasn’t a shock.”
Thomas went on to call Luck one of the best of the era.
“He’s one of the best to do it, especially in our era,” Thomas said. “You are not going to look at Andrew and not respect his game, or not put him up there as one of the best quarterbacks up there. There are not too many things you can do to fool him. He takes risks but at the same time he tries to put his teams in the best situations. It’s hard for you as a DB to anticipate things with him because he has all the perfect mechanics, looking you off and can put the ball anywhere he wants to put it. He had a hell of a career, a hell of a ride. You hate to see injuries, like with any position, you can think of many guys where if it wasn’t for him getting hurt he could have been X, Y, and Z. I’ve got nothing but the best for his next chapter.”
