Two retired Indianapolis Colts disagree on how things went down leading up to Andrew Luck‘s franchise-altering decision to retire in 2019.
Former tight end Eric Ebron, during an episode of his “On My Soul” podcast, said general manager Chris Ballard pressured Luck, issuing a mandate to play, leading to the QB’s abrupt retirement.
In an email to Fox 59’s Mike Chappell, Luck refuted Ebron’s claim.
“Chris and I had a wonderful partnership, especially through my decision to retire, and we remain close,” Luck wrote Chappell. “Any notion of internal pressures that influenced my decision are without merit.”
News broke about Luck’s retirement during the third quarter of a preseason game against the Chicago Bears in 2019. After the contest, the QB held an emotional press conference, in which he said he wanted to get out of the injury cycle that had engulfed his career.
Ebron, who had his lone Pro Bowl season with Luck in 2018, said last week that the Colts were frustrated with Luck bringing in his own staff, and that the GM insisted the QB play through his latest injury.
“Andrew then decides that he’s so tired of injury and he doesn’t want to do the surgery, and you know the man around there that gets on everybody’s nerves, ‘Big Drawers’ (Ballard) over there behind that desk, he tells Andrew, ‘You’re either playing this year or we’re moving on,’” Ebron said on his podcast. “Who the (expletive) would tell Andrew Luck that? Andrew Luck now says, ‘I’m not going to be ready, I’m tired of playing with pain. I’m going to retire.’”
Normally, disagreements between former players wouldn’t rise to the level of notability. However, the discourse underscores that the fallout from Luck’s retirement continues to hover over the franchise like a thick smog. The fact that Ballard has never been able to fully replace Luck has plagued the franchise. The club is betting big that Daniel Jones can finally be that answer.
The Colts have been to the playoffs twice since Ballard took over as general manager in 2017, and missed the postseason each of the past five seasons, despite playing in a winnable AFC South division. The pressure is on the GM to finally get over that hump in 2026, or the club might decide a decade was enough.
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