Skip to content

'Let's get another opinion': Luck opens up about season-ending kidney injury

Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images Sport / Getty

During his four-year career, Andrew Luck has experienced his fair share of adversity.

The Indianapolis Colts quarterback has multiple playoff losses to the New England Patriots on his resume, struggled mightily at times with turnovers, and was forced to lead a team that was robbed of its head coach for the majority of the 2012 season after a cancer diagnosis.

Though not always successful, Luck managed to take these obstacles head-on while on the field.

In 2015, however, Luck was sidelined for the majority of the campaign and saw his season come to end after he suffered a lacerated kidney in Week 9 against the Denver Broncos.

In an in-depth look by the Indy Star's Zak Keefer, the 26-year-old opened up about how he dealt with missing the first games of his NFL career and exactly how he felt after being crushed between two Broncos defenders on a scramble.

Luck recalled how he wondered if he'd even be able to call the next play after struggling to catch his breath. Oh, how relieved he felt after the Colts quickly scored and he was able to go and sit on the sideline; and oh, how he found blood in his urine the next morning.

"At first, I was like, 'I'll be back. I'm an athlete and athletes heal quicker," Luck said. "But as the day wore on and the week wore on, it just sort of hit me: This is gonna take a lot longer than I thought. You're disappointed. After that game, it just stunk."

Despite his affable nature, Luck is known for being one of the league's fiercest competitors. His never-say-die attitude is both a blessing and a curse. It's the reason the Colts have had so much success of late, but also why he opted to take the hit and not slide against Denver.

That attitude continued when he was informed of his injury, as he initially refused to believe it.

"Let's get another opinion," he said.

After his diagnosis, Luck traveled back to his family home in West Virginia to spend the bye week resting. He played video games with his younger brother and slept 12 hours a day. But for someone whose life has revolved around football in the autumn, Luck struggled without it.

"He missed the game," Oliver Luck said of his son. "He's been playing football every fall since he was in the fifth grade, basically. Then all of a sudden, all he can do is rest. I'm sure last season feels incomplete to him."

Luck will return to the field a much richer man. The Colts and owner Jim Irsay made him the highest-paid player in NFL history this offseason, meaning he is under further pressure to come back strong in 2016.

"I've never seen him more motivated ..." Irsay said. "That fire is in his eye in a special way."

Daily Newsletter

Get the latest trending sports news daily in your inbox