What had become increasingly inevitable was made official Thursday when the Indianapolis Colts announced they were placing quarterback Andrew Luck on the injured reserve list, declaring Luck's season over before it ever began.
The 2017 season goes down as a washout for Luck and, almost surely, the Colts. The once-so-bright future of Luck and the Colts has been clouded considerably. When and if he returns to the team next season, the prospect he will take the franchise to Super Bowls while crafting a Hall-of-Fame career is far less certain than it once seemed.
"I wish I was better and 100 percent this season, but that's not the case," Luck told the team's website. "I know I'll be better from this. I know I'll be a better quarterback, teammate, person and player from this, and I'm excited for the future."
He might be the only person excited about the Colts' future at this point.
The Colts have a record of 2-6 in their lost season, doomed when Luck did not return as quickly or as successfully from shoulder surgery as the team's decision-makers seemed to anticipate. The Colts did not have a viable Plan B at quarterback heading into training camp or the preseason. They traded for the New England Patriots' Jacoby Brissett just before the season, rushing him into the lineup in Week 2 after an ugly opening loss with Scott Tolzien at quarterback.
Brissett has mixed promising moments with the sorts of mistakes typical of a young quarterback who never was expected to be anyone's starter or centerpiece player so early in his career. Luck returned to the practice field, but was shut down when his surgically repaired throwing shoulder still wasn't right. There was little reason to keep pressing the issue in a season such as this.
At this point, it seems to be a matter of when, not if, Coach Chuck Pagano will be dismissed. Owner Jim Irsay has stuck by Pagano in the past when it was widely assumed Pagano would be fired. But Irsay also stuck by Ryan Grigson as his general manager for a while. That ended when Irsay fired Grigson following last season, a second straight 8-8 season for the Colts, and hired Chris Ballard as GM. Many within the league anticipate Pagano is on his way out, at season's end if not sooner, so that Ballard can hire the coach of his choosing for next season.
There has been some speculation, denied by Luck's camp, that Luck wants out of Indianapolis. The Colts signed Luck last year to a six-year, $140 million contract extension. Certainly the organization does not want to start over at quarterback. It seems far-fetched that Luck will not remain in Indianapolis. But, then, it would have seemed far-fetched a few years ago to suggest the pairing of Luck and the Colts would not be producing wild success.
The Colts chose Luck with the top overall selection in the 2012 NFL draft in conjunction to bidding farewell to Peyton Manning. It looked like the transition would be seamless when Luck began his NFL career with three straight Pro Bowl seasons, taking the team a step further in the postseason each year.
But after the Colts lost in lopsided fashion at New England in the AFC championship game (AKA the Deflategate game) to close the 2014 season, little has gone right. Luck has battled injuries and disappointing play. Grigson was criticized for failing to assemble a better offensive line to safeguard the franchise quarterback. Pagano's job security has become an annual issue. The Colts have fallen, and fallen hard, from the ranks of the league's elite teams and consistent winners.
The 2012 quarterback class that included Luck, Robert Griffin III, Ryan Tannehill and Russell Wilson once seemed destined for all-time greatness. Luck and Griffin were taken first and second overall in that draft, and it appeared at the time that their on-field exploits would be chronicled side by side for, oh, roughly a decade or two. Even when Griffin's career began to unravel, there was little thought that Luck's would follow. He was considered a once-in-a-generation quarterback prospect, the ideal mixture of pocket passing, athleticism, toughness, temperament and football smarts.
It all has gone very, very wrong of late. It is possible, of course, that Luck will get healthy, regroup for Opening Day next season, put his career back on course toward Canton, Ohio, and take the Colts on a joyful ride that includes the multiple Super Bowl triumphs envisioned by Irsay.
As of Thursday, however, that suddenly looks closer to a long shot than a sure thing.