FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, August 26th, 2019
PETER KING ON ANDREW LUCK’S RETIREMENT EXCLUSIVELY FOR “FOOTBALL MORNING IN AMERICA” ON NBCSPORTS.COM
King Speaks with Colts Head Coach Frank Reich and General Manager Chris Ballard
“I’ve been trying to put in perspective where this ranks in terms of stunning NFL retirements…I think the Luck retirement is the biggest shocker of them all.” – King
“I knew, knew in my heart, he wasn’t going to change his mind. He seemed to have great clarity and peace.” – Frank Reich on Luck’s decision
King Also Talks with Rams Head Coach Sean McVay and USWNT Player Carli Lloyd
STAMFORD, Conn. – August 26, 2019 – Peter King breaks down Andrew Luck’s surprise retirement announcement and talks with Colts head coach Frank Reich and general manager Chris Ballard in this week’s edition of Football Morning in America, available now exclusively on NBCSports.com.
King also speaks with Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay about learning from the Rams’ Super Bowl LIII loss, and chats with USWNT soccer player Carli Lloyd after she successfully kicked a 55-yard field goal at a Ravens and Eagles joint practice.
The following are highlights from this week’s edition of Football Morning in America:
LUCK’S RETIREMENT
King: “For about 42 of the last 47 months, dating back to the original shoulder injury in September 2015, football meant pain to Andrew Luck. Not joy. Pain…Which led Luck to Jim Irsay’s office last Monday. The meeting last a little more than two hours. Ballard and Reich soon realized this was not I think I’m going to retire. This was, It’s over.”
King: “Luck said he didn’t imagine retiring till two weeks ago. But once he started thinking about it, one source said, it made more and more sense to him. He was tired. He felt like if it wasn’t one thing, it’d be another.”
King: “I’ve been trying to put in perspective where this ranks in terms of stunning NFL retirements. I can compare it to three others: running back Jim Brown…running back Barry Sanders…and wide receiver Calvin Johnson…I think the Luck retirement is the biggest shocker of them all.”
Colts head coach Frank Reich on his meeting with Luck: “It’s like we were saying goodbye. I knew, knew in my heart, he wasn’t going to change his mind. He seemed to have great clarity and peace.”
Colts GM Chris Ballard on Indianapolis’ future: “The outside world thinks we’re crumbling. But we’re pretty solid inside the building. Don’t worry about us. And don’t write the end of our story yet.”
Reich: “I love [Luck] like crazy. He is an incredible generational player. This hurts, and it hurts deep. But at the same time, I can be equally excited about our season and for our team, and for Jacoby [Brissett]. Those emotions don’t have to be mutually exclusive.”
SEAN MCVAY’S SUPER BOWL LESSON
King on McVay: “McVay’s always been good at being honest with himself and his team. You might hear the relentless Vermeil-like optimism, but he is good at self-scouting the bad stuff too. And when McVay looks back at the three-point nightmare of the Super Bowl, he knows that to ensure his team plays deep into January consistently he needs to continue to emphasize – in play-calling and player-molding – who the Rams are.”
McVay on re-watching Super Bowl LIII: “If you’re going to say it’s a learning opportunity, you can’t run away from it…The cool thing about both Jared [Goff] and myself is we’re growing together…I think what we’re both gaining a real appreciation for is the experience.”
McVay on learning from the Super Bowl loss: “It’s one thing to train guys for capability. It’s another thing to train them for capacity. Capability, guys can follow directions if you give specific orders. But capacity is the ability to give them contingency plans and the tools to be able to solve the problems even if it’s maybe something that you haven’t gone in and really practiced throughout the course of the week.”
McVay on his mindset coming off last season: “Best I’ve ever felt going into a season…I slept better. I was able to kinda just unplug. I think that created a renewed sense of energy and enthusiasm.”
CARLI LLYOD
King: “Carli Lloyd, 37, is a two-time FIFA women’s world player of the year and a two-time World Cup champion with the U.S. women’s national team…She went to Eagles camp in Philadelphia…While there, she was invited to kick with the Ravens special teams…Lloyd booted a 55-yard field goal cleanly through.”
Lloyd on her day at training camp: “I love the Eagles. I’ve been an Eagles fan my whole life…I brought my boots. I could kick all day long. I could kick field goals all day long. I absolutely love it. There’s a lot the same with kicking a soccer ball and kicking a football.”
Lloyd on the reaction from her kick: “The coaches and GM, they all saw the video. They were like, ‘What is she doing next week?’ I’m laughing about it, but the more I think about it, this has the chance to be sort of a pioneering moment for women.”
Lloyd on if a woman could be a successful NFL kicker: “I think I could do it and do it well. It could be a huge pivotal moment. There is no reason why a woman could not do this…Let’s just say I did try. Maybe I change the landscape a lot.”
Lloyd on the potential impact a female kicker could have: “Oh, that would be massive. Pretty massive. If I was a little girl watching and I saw an NFL kicker that was a female, that would be cool.”
Read the rest of the column here and catch the weekly Peter King Podcast here.
A new “Football Morning in America” posts every Monday morning exclusively on NBCSports.com through the NFL season. It was announced in May that King signed an exclusive agreement with NBC Sports Group that included writing a weekly Monday morning NFL column for NBCSports.com; making regular appearances on NBCSN’s and NBC Sports Radio’s PFT Live with Mike Florio; and continuing to contribute to Football Night in America, the most-watched studio show in sports.
—FOOTBALL MORNING IN AMERICA—
