Andrew Luck retires: Bears remember QB’s humility, toughness

INDIANAPOLIS — The Bears reacted the same way the rest of the football world did when news broke of Colts quarterback Andrew Luck’s retirement during the fourth quarter of their preseason game Saturday.

They had little time to process that stunner before getting to the locker room after a 27-17 win, but those who spoke had positive memories about their encounters with Luck.

Bears linebacker Danny Trevathan remembered planting Luck into the ground in 2015 — when Trevathan played for Denver — with a hit and the quarterback complimenting him for delivering such a forceful blow. Luck was completely unaware that the hit lacerated his kidney.

“He could take a hit and he loves the game of football,” Trevathan said, summing up his take on Luck’s career. “He got hurt and he didn’t even know it. He said, ‘Great hit.’ I’m like, ‘Man, I just stoned you, man.’ I just respect his passion for the game and the way he played the game.”

Bears coach Matt Nagy was a quality control assistant for the Eagles when Luck was a draft prospect in 2012, and the announcement brought back memories of seeing him at the Combine in this city.

Luck was the clear No. 1 pick in that draft class, but spoke with any team that wanted to talk to him.

“I have so much respect for him,” Nagy said. “Here’s the one thing I remember about Andrew that I think is a little story that not many people know about off the field: I remember sitting at the Combine, and everybody knew that he was gonna be the first guy taken. And here he is going around to these 32 tables that teams have all their coaches around to do interviews with a lot of players.

“These were informal interviews. Most guys don’t do that. Here he is, probably the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft, and he’s going around from table to table sitting down in these informal interviews with position coaches. That always stuck out to me. I said, ‘You know what, this guy’s gonna have a heck of a career,’ and that’s what he’s done. So it is obviously shocking to everybody, but I just have a lot of respect for him.”

Bears cornerback Prince Amukamara is friends with Luck and hoped to see him after the game before everything slipped into chaos. He sent a funny tweet to the parody Captain Andrew Luck account on Friday having no idea what was coming next.

Once the news broke, Amukamara bailed on trying to find him in the post-game scrum.

“It would’ve been great to catch up,” Amukamara said. “But I completely understand the situation.”