Leonard on Luck: “He’s going to stay retired”

Andrew Luck Retirement
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In August 2019, Andrew Luck retired from the NFL. At the time, and in the months that followed, many wondered if he would change his mind. Some still wonder that.

Colts linebacker Darius Leonard, however, does not.

“There's no doubt in my mind. I’m thinking he's going to stay retired, and I think that people got to realize that,” Leonard said on Tiki & Tierney. “It’s been two years now, and we have to move on from Andrew, all the rumors and all that stuff. We just got to thank him for what he's done and move on.”

The Colts went 7-9 in 2019 but 11-5 in 2020, making the playoffs for the second time in three seasons.

"The other players that’s playing, it's like a slap in our face that someone hasn't played in two years, and [people ask] ‘What is he going to do? What is he going to do?’” Leonard said. “We just need to focus on what we can do with the players that we know [will] be on the roster.”

That said, Leonard, a two-time first-team All-Pro, acknowledged that if Luck did change his mind, the Colts would welcome him back with open arms.

“He’s a great ball player,” Leonard said. “It sucks that he retired as early as he did, but when your body tells you you got to shut it down, you got to shut it down. [It’s] the same thing I said about Philip [Rivers]: I believe that he has more years in him. I thought Philip had a great year, and I thought Andrew had a great year. It sucks that their body’s telling them they got to shut it down because they’re such great players.”