LOS ANGELES – Tom Brady has given his backing to Andrew Luck following the Indianapolis Colts quarterback's stunning decision to quit the National Football League at the age of 29.
Luck, one of the most highly rated quarterbacks in the league, shocked the sport on Saturday (Sunday, Manila time) after confirming he had decided to walk away from the game following an injury-plagued career.
"I haven't been able to live the life I want to live," Luck told reporters. "It's taken the joy out of this game...the only way forward for me is to remove myself from football."
The Colts star was criticized by some media commentators over the move, while Indianapolis fans booed the quarterback as he walked down the sideline after the team's preseason game against the Chicago Bears.
However six-time Super Bowl champion Brady, who will be 42 when he starts his 20th season in the league with the New England Patriots next month, said Luck had every right to call time on his career.
"It is his life," Brady told Boston's WEEI sports radio on Monday. "Everyone has the right to choose what he wants to do.
"He had a great career, and he was a great player. Everybody wishes they could be healthy all the time. It is a contact sport, and he's certainly had his fair share of injuries, so guys retire at different times.
"Some at the end of the season, and I have seen a lot of guys retire before the season gets going and this is just one of those examples."
Meanwhile former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman also hit back at criticism of Luck's retirement, lashing out at Fox Sports radio show host Doug Gottlieb.
Gottlieb had provoked uproar by ridiculing Luck's retirement on Twitter on Saturday.
"Retiring because rehabbing is "too hard" is the most millennial thing ever. #AndrewLuck," Gottlieb wrote.
Three-time Super Bowl winner Aikman — who is also employed by Fox Sports — was unimpressed.
"That's total bullshit Doug," Aikman wrote. "What qualifies you to decide how someone should live their life? So you’re now the authority on what motivates Andrew Luck?
"And if his decisions don't fit into what you think is best for him then you rip him? Guess that keeps you employed ... Nice."