Heading into the Thursday Night Football game between the San Francisco 49ers and New York Giants, seemingly no one was aware, but in the postgame coverage and festivities, former Stanford Cardinal and Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck showed up on set.
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Not only did he show up on set, but he was dressed in Civil War-like regalia, paying homage to the parody account of him, @CaptAndrewLuck.
Before Andrew Luck shockingly retired from the NFL, someone launched a parody account for him — @CaptAndrewLuck.
Last night, he made a surprise appearance at TNF postgame in full uniform.
“The war is over.”
pic.twitter.com/seqoSQmBRX— Front Office Sports (@FOS) September 22, 2023
Charissa Thompson, a host for Amazon's coverage of Thursday Night Football, welcomed Luck onto the set.
The camera panned to him, and we immediately saw his outfit. He was greeted with much applause from fellow former NFL players, including Richard Sherman, Tony Gonzalez, Ryan Fitzpatrick, and Andrew Whitworth.
After he settles in, Thompson says, "This is where the kids say, 'if you know you know'—Andrew, welcome to the show and thank you for being here. How have you been?"
Luck responds, "Great! The war is over."
As Thompson mentioned "If you know, you know." The account @CaptAndrewLuck was sensational during Luck's playing days. The account's content was based on Luck being a Civil War character and penning letters to his mother while using lingo to mention the teams he played that week.
Here's an example.
Dearest mother —
We have heard rumblings that Bears may be headed our way. I have ordered all the rations be buried in hopes they are not lured to our camp. I am still not drilling. The sawbones feels I need more time to ensure I am battle ready for the actual campaign.
— Andrew— Capt. Andrew Luck (@CaptAndrewLuck) August 21, 2019
As you'll see, that post was from August 2019, just before Luck retired. So, not only did we lose Luck in the NFL, we lost this fantastic parody account.
Dearest friends —
A heartfelt thank you. And a fond farewell.
— Andrew https://t.co/vReoCytpJw
— Capt. Andrew Luck (@CaptAndrewLuck) August 28, 2019
One of the account's last tweets was on March 29, 2020, but returned on May 8 and 22 this year. Since then, it had been dormant until Luck returned to the show.
Dearest mother —
I hope my appearance on the magical, moving picture box filled you with joy. As you could see, my resolve has never been more robust. Squirrel oil and your peppered chipmunk feet have kept me sturdy. Life is splendid. Give the cows my best. I love you.
— Andrew https://t.co/8s8VW0xEBD— Capt. Andrew Luck (@CaptAndrewLuck) September 22, 2023
As mentioned, Luck abruptly retired before the start of the 2019 season. There were many reasons for the retirement, but injuries were undoubtedly part of it.
He was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft. In his final season with the Colts, he completed 66.2% of his passes for 5,018 yards, 42 touchdowns, and 16 interceptions. He remains one of the biggest "what ifs" in football, especially based on his final season, which still consisted of 16 games.
Today, Luck is more of a private person, which made this appearance much more jarring, but he has recently been seen helping coach high school football.
