Survival And Disaster

Andrew Luck retired. He is twenty-nine years old. He will turn thirty next month.
Two schools of thought have sprouted about this decision: Good for him, and What was he thinking?
There is a third school, the one that mingles the Who is Andrew Luck and Why should I care considerations into a package best suited for a shorter blog.
When I first caught wind of Mister Luck's choice, it made me smile. This is a man who is leaving a professional football career after just nine years. Nine years of being thrashed mentally and physically for months at a stretch. Nine years of being compared to everyone who ever played his position professionally, as well as all those autumns and springs spent preparing for what became his career choice. He became known for his habit of popping up after a particularly hard hit and congratulating the defensive player who drilled  him. Andrew understood the game and played hard enough to have a number of different lingering issues: shoulder surgery that had him sitting out the entire 2017 season and a high ankle sprain that gave him time to sit on the bench this preseason and consider his options.
While I was smiling, there were those who were up in arms. How could he walk away from half a billion dollars, the money he might have made had he chosen to continue his career for another ten years. Orenthal James Simpson, former NFL running back and murder suspect, complained that Luck's retirement had messed up his fantasy football draft. Given Mister Simpson's temperament, Luck might want to keep looking over his shoulder.
Lots of people were "depending" on Andrew Luck to keep showing up and winning football games. The city of Indianapolis who have waited patiently for more than a decade for another Super Bowl win. Which I can sympathize with, however briefly, but this is one guy. One guy with a Stanford education who made a pretty evolved choice to be able to walk when he is forty.
Andrew Luck appeared in an episode of "Parks and Recreation." He is going to be a father. He has made millions of dollars. I might pause and rest on my laurels had I accomplished any of those. As a matter of fact, I have. Without a degree from Stanford.
Will he be back? Since he was booed as he walked from the field after announcing his retirement during a Colts preseason game, I can't imagine that Indianapolis would hold much of a future for him. But I suppose the fans demand their sacrifice.
Stupid fans.
Luck is a very thin wire between survival and disaster, and not many people can keep their balance on it. - Hunter S. Thompson