In the 2025 season, the Indianapolis Colts were desperate to find an answer at quarterback after Daniel Jones tore his Achilles tendon in Week 14. The team could have logically turned to backup Riley Leonard, but instead called long-retired Philip Rivers and asked him to come back. What was interesting was that Andrew Luck wasn't a real option.
Sure, Luck retired even longer ago than Rivers (the former after the 2018 and the latter initially after the 2020 season), but Luck was younger when he hung up his cleats. Rivers was 44 years old when he came back last season. Luck is still just 36.
This all comes back to something former Colts tight end Eric Ebron recently said on a podcast about then-and-current general manager Chris Ballard. Ballard was the GM when Luck retired, and, according to Ebron, it was partly because of a stance Ballard was taking.
Eric Ebron states the Indianapolis Colts pushed Andrew Luck to play hurt
Ebron said on a podcast called On My Soul that he had an injury that he couldn't really discuss with anyone, and Luck also had an injury at the same time. The tight end stated he was in "cahoots" with the quarterback during the offseason. Ebron said he was pushed by Ballard and the Colts to return for training camp in 2019, but he was overweight due to not being able to work out.
As part of his recovery, Ebron learned that he had bone spurs in his ankle, and Luck learned about the same issue in the 2018 offseason. Both players needed to have surgery to correct the problem, but Luck had his own staff of medical advisors and wasn't practicing
According to Ebron, Indianapolis was upset that the quarterback had his own staff instead of just pushing to play as the Colts wanted. Ebron stated that Luck was "so tired" of being hurt that he didn't want to have yet another surgery.
Ebron then stated, "You know who the man is around there that gets on everyone's nerves, big drawers behind that desk, (Ballard) tells Andrew, 'You're either playing this year, or we're moving on.' Who the (expletive) would tell Andrew Luck that? Andrew Luck then says, 'I'm not gonna be ready, I'm tired of playing with pain. I retire.'"
In Week 3 of 2019, during the middle of the game, Ebron said the team learned that Indy wouldn't have its starting quarterback that season. This, of course, had to be a brutal blow to a team culture set up to believe that Indianapolis was a title contender.
Now, one has to believe completely what Eric Ebron said. He definitely has had his opinions about playing for the Indianapolis Colts. What he said does make sense, though.
Moreover, general manager Chris Ballard also still comes off quite often as extremely arrogant to the media, even though he hasn't won the AFC South in nine seasons and his team has only made the playoffs twice. Does what Ebron said sound like Ballard? The decision is up to you, Colts fan.