Andrew Luck deserves credit for putting 'his health over his bank account': ex-NFLer

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Andrew Luck is "setting a good precedent" by putting his health first, says an ex-NFLer who runs an addictions rehab clinic for former athletes and veterans. 

The Indianapolis Colts star quarterback announced this week that he's retiring from football at the age of 29 after a series of injuries kept him off the field for long stretches in recent years.

When he walked away from Saturday's 27-17 loss to the Chicago Bears, the crowd booed him. But Randy Grimes, former centre for the Tampa Bay Bucaneers, says he has nothing but respect for Luck. 

Grimes developed an addiction to opiates as he played through the pain of his own injuries, and says athletes should consider their own health and wellbeing when making decisions about their careers.

Here is part of his conversation with As It Happens guest host Helen Mann.

What do you think about Andrew Luck's decision to retire from football at the age of 29?

I really respect his decision to value his health over his bank account. I mean, he's walking away from a lot of money.

I also know what it feels like to be in a locker room and not belong — you know, where you're kind of on an island by yourself. ... It's just a really dark place to be.

It can't have been an easy decision. And then we see at this pre-season game on Saturday, Colts fans actually booing Andrew Luck. What do you think of that?

That is so sad. I mean, people just don't understand the feelings and the emotions that go into a decision like this. I mean, when I left football it was like a death.

He's walking away from his identity and his self-worth and everything that he's been about since Day 1.

He's valuing his health over that. And, you know, for people to treat him like that, that's just unbelievable to me that anybody could stoop that low.

There is such a physical and psychological price to football. Can you share your own experience with that?

My addiction started as a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers because I was willing to do whatever I had to do to stay out on the field. I didn't want to be always on the injury report. I wanted to be the best centre that played the game.

So I took a handful of pain pills to stay out on the field. And, you know, I looked at it like it was a necessary evil. I didn't look at it like what it became — and that was a full-blown addiction to opiates.

And how much was that a deciding factor for you in moving beyond the game?

Moving beyond the game, I took that addiction into my private life. Because not only did the injuries just keep getting worse, but so did the tolerance to the medication. I just needed more and more.

For the next 20 years, I battled that thing. And it was only about a decade ago that I finally raised my hand and asked for help and started the program that I work now, and that's with the NFL and Major League Baseball and all the different sports leagues helping other former guys, former athletes through their substance abuse and mental health issues.

That's that warrior mentality that us guys are raised in. We suffer in silence and we do whatever we have to do to stay out on the field.

I give Andrew Luck credit for not falling into that trap and valuing his health over everything else.

Beyond the physical pain and the mental effect it has on people, the number of athlete suicides we even see, there's also these rising concerns about concussions — chronic traumatic encephalopathy — caused by repeated blows to the head. What are you seeing in terms of the effect these things are having on pro football players?

In the case of the guys that I worked with, we have to remove that substance abuse and self-medication that they're doing first so that we can see, you know, just the extent of the CTE or the brain trauma that's going on. But it has a lot to do with it.

Mr. Luck said at his news conference that he got to the point where he just didn't enjoy the sport anymore. And this is coming from a guy who was a top draft pick, who had come back from serious injury, appeared to be doing really well. So this has to be pretty concerning, I would think, for the NFL when you're dealing with someone retiring at this age. How big a concern might that be for the league?

I would think it would be a concern to them ... that the guys are valuing their health now over the paycheck.

Back when I played, it was a matter of we had to play. You know, I had to get in there and play to feed my family.

Now guys have such big contracts. They have such guaranteed money. You know, they can make more logical decisions like what Andrew did than, say, back when I played in the '80s.

Guys are being more educated now, you know, and they know their bodies and they know what's ahead of them in 10, 15, 20 years.

Just in practical terms, what kind of tools do you give people leaving professional sports for how to move forward?

First of all, we get them clean and sober, and we give them the tools to stay clean and sober. But also, you know, we give them back self-esteem. We give them back their sense of pride and their self-worth. And that's what it's all about.

When I didn't have football anymore, I didn't have an identity. Or that's the way I thought about it.

How long did it take you to get over that feeling?

It wasn't until I came into rehab and professional treatment that I finally grieved the death of my career, and that was 20-something years later.

So I carried that around with me, you know, that identity.  I allowed football to become who I was instead of just something I was really good at.

Do you think we're going to see more early retirements like Andrew Luck's?

It's hard to say, but I think he's setting a good precedent that people should follow, and just make your own decisions based on your own health and your family.

What's the message you would deliver to the die-hard fans who really maybe don't understand this, who don't get why Andrew Luck is making this move?

It's not about money, you know. It's about your own sanity. And this is a very emotional game. It takes a real emotional toll not only on the player, but also on their families.

That's the message I want people to know — that, you know, these guys are humans. They're just like everybody else. They just happen to be really good at football.

Written by Sheena Goodyear. Interview produced by Richard Raycraft. Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.