[Megatron96]

Let me begin by saying that I'm not even a Luck fan. My brother is, which is why I've watched him over the years, and have grown to respect and admire his game and his sportsmanship.

Empirically, gladiators (not all gladiators were criminals, but let's skip that part for now) were meat thrown into a meat grinder for the amusement of the masses.

To a degree, NFL football players are subject to a similar set of experiences. They play the most violent sport in modern history for a fan base that only cares about how they perform. As soon as a player doesn't perform they way the fans want them to, it's "get rid of him," "he's trash," "I'm going to burn his jersey," etc.

In other words, the same zero tolerance for 'weakness,' or poor performance that ancient Roman fans exhibited for their gladiators. But don't take my word for it, just use yourself and some others in this thread and your rants in this thread as examples.

To drive the point home, NFL players suffer serious to life-threatening injuries every year. How many players have had spinal injuries that cost them not only their places on their teams, but also their livelihoods, and even the use of their legs and arms? How many have committed suicide for what we now call CTE? Do you think Jim Brown, Earl Campbell, and the countless other retired players move and walk the way they do because they think it's cool?

All for the purpose of entertainment. Our entertainment.

Tell me again how there's no comparison between the physical and psychological experiences of ancient gladiators and today's NFL players.

As for Luck himself, you've said that he's fragile in both body and mind, that he doesn't care about the team/his teammates/the fans, which is the exact opposite of every act, every play, every interview that he's been involved in.

For example, Luck through his first five seasons was one of the most sacked QBs in the NFL, 165. Oh, and he was also hit about 400 times over that span. Further, it's important to note that in 2015 he only played 7 games, or half the season, and yet still was sacked 15 times,hit 35+ times. Had he played the entire season those number would've easily been doubled.

And yet, in spite of being sacked and hit at a historic rate, he played all 16 games in each of his first three seasons, taking the Colts to three 11-win seasons, with almost no help from his team.

He played through a lacerated kidney (if you've never had an injury to a kidney, trust me, it really hurts), and managed to actually win that game.

His 2015 season was cut short by the team doctors, because they feared for his long-term health. Never mind playing the next game or the next season. But he didn't sideline himself; the team made that decision for him.

So much for not being mentally tough.

He was sidelined in 2017 for his shoulder, which hurt every time he threw the ball. But he rehabbed "harder than anyone they'd ever seen, " according to his trainers, and returned to the field last year, only to have his statistically best season of his career, taking his team to the playoffs yet again, posting a TD total that was second only to Mahomes, 39. And he did that despite the fact that it was obvious that his shoulder was still not 100%.

Somewhere in there he had a serious concussion.

And yet, when questioned about how often he was being hit and sacked, he placed the onus on himself, saying repeatedly that it was probably his fault for holding onto the ball too long trying to make a play. On average, he was holding the ball approximately 0.28 seconds longer than Brady. That's less time that it takes the average person to decide to jam on the brakes in an emergency situation on the road.

In other words, Luck knew his OL was crap, that he didn't have a running game and precious few weapons in his receiving corps. We won't even talk about the D.

One look at the numbers would've told him that. And as a Standord grad, with an architectural degree, someone very comfortable with math, he probably knew the facts of the situation better than 99% of QBs at the time.

But he never complained, never threw his teammates, coaches, management, or anyone in the organization under the bus. He just posted stats that made him statistically one of the top 5 QBs in the league six out of eight seasons.

So stop with the "Luck is made of glass" crap. Anyone that can read and do math can see that your rant about his durability or his mental toughness is categorically ignorant of the facts.