Andrew Luck makes first public appearance in Indianapolis since retiring
The last time Andrew Luck left the field at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis in 2019, he was showered with boos from fans who had just learned that he was retiring after playing seven professional seasons.
It was a warmer reception for Luck on Friday night in his first public appearance in the city since stepping away from the game. Luck was at the Colts' facility for a cancer fundraiser organized by former Colts head coach Chuck Pagano and he called Indianapolis "a massive part of the fabric of who I am and where life has gone and highs and the lows and everything in between."
Luck said he feels love from the city and reflected on his time leading the team to four playoff appearances and an AFC title game.
"We were not perfect," Luck said, via Stephen Holder of ESPN.com. "I know I was not perfect. All of us wished we'd had multiple Super Bowls and done things and sort of vanquished some of those enemies that we didn't quite ever get to. But I could probably speak for all the other guys, and I know I could speak for myself again — it wasn't perfect, but we tried our best. We tried our hardest, and I hope we gave folks something to cheer about and something to be proud of. And I do get the sense that we [did]."
Luck went to Stanford and has moved back to that area to go to graduate school, but has also found a desire to "reintegrate" football into his life as a volunteer coach at Palo Alto High School. He said he "feels like it's my turn to give back into this game" that gave him a lot before the toll of injuries became too much for him to bear.
