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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 27, 2019)
A8 THE ASTORIAN • TuESdAy, AuguST 27, 2019 CONTACT US FOLLOW US Gary Henley | Sports Reporter ghenley@dailyastorian.com facebook.com/ DailyAstorianSports Astorians help win HTC High School Challenge The Astorian It isn’t often when some locals make the awards stand in the Hood to Coast. But this year’s list of winners included three Astoria runners in the High School Challenge portion of the 2019 relay, which included 26 teams. Astoria High School students John Clement, 14, and Sophie Long, 16, were part of the Oregon Road Runners, who blitzed over the hill from Portland to Seaside (129 miles) in 12 hours, 51 min- utes, 34 seconds, topping the sec- ond place Bushnell Bushwackers (14:00:34) by over an hour. Astoria 14-year-old Jack Col- quhoun also ran for the Road Runners. Clement, a freshman-to-be at Astoria, helped build the team, SCOREBOARD THURSDAY Volleyball — Knappa at Warrenton, 6 p.m. Cross-Country — Seaside at Hillsboro Invitational FRIDAY Football — Astoria jamboree, at CMH Field, 6 p.m.; Warrenton jamboree, 6 p.m. Volleyball — Astoria at Catlin Gabel, noon SATURDAY Volleyball — Warrenton Tournament, 10 a.m. which included friends he races with in USA Track & Field competition. In addition to Colquhoun and Long, the “dream team” of high school runners had Central Catho- lic’s Liam Murphy, Wesley Shipsey and Tristan Sullivan, Logan Law from Milwaukie, and Carter Cut- ting from Wilsonville. Each runner ran 15 to 21 miles in three legs. Chris Long The Oregon Road Runners, from left to right: Sophie Long (Astoria), Carter Cutting (Wilsonville), Wesley Shipsey (Central Catholic), John Clement (Astoria), Tristan Sullivan (Central Catholic), Logan Law (Milwaukie) and Liam Murphy (Central Catholic). QB Luck finds cost of football too pricey By MICHAEL MAROT Associated Press Ted S. Warren/AP Photo Former Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Doug Baldwin takes part in an interview Monday at the location in Renton, Wash. where he hopes to spearhead the construction of a community center. Baldwin is donating $1 million toward the project with the goal of raising another $5 million in collaboration with the city of Renton. Baldwin was released by the Seahawks in early May with a failed physical designation after an offseason where he underwent surgeries on his groin, shoulder and knee. Baldwin moving his focus from football to philanthropy By TIM BOOTH Associated Press R ENTON, Wash. — In his previ- ous occupation, the final week of August was a time Doug Baldwin would be in the final stages of prepar- ing for the grind of the upcoming NFL season. On Monday, Baldwin sat in an empty field, talking about the next stage of his life away from football and with a focus on philanthropy and helping others. “The goal has always been to effect change in the world on a very large scale,” Baldwin said. “I really do feel, and I know it’s an ambitious statement to make and sometimes could be a naive statement but as I think through what I want to accomplish through the rest of my life and also for my children I want to change the world in a positive way.” The former Seattle Seahawks wide receiver is no longer a football player, and one of his first projects in the post-playing career is spearheading construction of a community center in the Seattle suburb of Renton. Baldwin is donating $1 million toward the proj- ect with the goal of raising another $5 million in collaboration with the city of Renton. “I think this center will be a portal where they can be seen, can be under- stood as human beings, can be recog- nized that there are things they need that can stabilize their lives or further their lives and this facility will present those resources,” Baldwin said. The youth center Baldwin is cham- pioning has been nearly five years in the making. Baldwin lived in the area near where the proposed center will be built during his rookie season. He found sim- ilarities in the area to his upbringing in Pensacola, Florida, but without a gath- ering point for youth. Baldwin began conversations with the city of Renton about ways to make a youth center a reality. “This project is a personal passion,” Baldwin said. “This facility that we’re building it’s very similar to a facility and program where I grew up back in Pensacola, Florida. It’s a place I called my second home. There were resources and people that genuinely cared about me not only as a student and an ath- lete, but more so about me being a well- rounded human being. There was so much involved in that you can’t really put a measurement around. I owe a lot to them, to that organization, to that facility, to that second home for me see- ing the world the way I see it today.” It was the first time Baldwin has talked publicly about his decision to step away from football — although he has yet to file retirement papers with the NFL. Baldwin was released by the Sea- hawks in early May with a failed physi- cal designation after an offseason where he underwent surgeries on his groin, shoulder and knee. His release was a transactional move, but its significance was final. Baldwin doesn’t sound like someone who intends to return to the NFL. “I think the fundamental ques- tion at the core of it was, ‘What am I trying to accomplish here?’ with the thought process of not playing football again,” Baldwin said. “Essentially what it comes down to is, ‘Can my body do this and me still have a resemblance of a quality of life afterward?’ “And at some point, I think at some point for everyone in life, whether you work at a desk job or you’re a profes- sional athlete, at some point you have to make a decision. Is this what is best for me and my family long term? And in some cases playing football or staying at a job is not. And that’s everybody’s personal journey and personal decision. That’s the basis of it all.” Baldwin played his entire eight-year career with the Seahawks and finished with 493 receptions for 6,563 yards and 49 touchdowns in the regular season. He entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent and left as one of the core pieces of Seattle’s championship run earlier this decade. Baldwin said he’s missed the cama- raderie of being around his teammates. “The receivers still come over to my house. They’ve been over to the house a couple of times so I still have that connection with them,” Baldwin said. “I’m still present when they need me to be. I think most guys who retired say that, what they miss most is the locker room.” INDIANAPOLIS — Andrew Luck was unique. He loved football. He loves life even more. So when the 29-year-old Luck thought another long, laborious comeback journey jeopardized his future, he believed walking away from the sport and potentially hun- dreds of millions of dollars was the only logical choice. “For the last four years or so, I’ve been in this cycle of injury, pain, rehab — injury, pain, rehab — and it’s been unceasing, unrelenting, both in season and off season,” Luck said following Saturday night’s loss to the Chicago Bears. “I felt stuck in it, and the only way I see out is to no longer play foot- ball. It’s taken my joy of this game away.” The announcement and the timing — two weeks before the Indianapolis Colts’ season opener against the Los Angeles Chargers — shocked the football world. But this was not a spur-of-the-moment decision. After three injury-plagued seasons, Luck returned last year with a new perspective about the physical pain, mental fatigue and emotional agony it took to keep fighting his way back. Late last summer, he described his state of mind throughout the continual rehab with words such as “sad,” ‘’misera- ble” and “scared.” Last month, as the lingering pain in his lower left leg forced him off the practice field yet again, Luck told reporters that he promised himself after playing through the shoulder pain in 2016 and missing the entire 2017 season, he would be honest with him- self, his coaches, teammates and the organi- zation about how his body felt. At the time, Luck said he thought even limited practices were detrimental to him- self and the team. “It took great courage to make his deci- sion to walk away from the game, but no matter how difficult he did what his heart told him and I am proud of him for being honest with himself and the team,” said for- mer Colts coach Chuck Pagano, now the defensive coordinator for the Bears. “With Andrew it was always about more than football.” While some fans booed Luck as he left the field Saturday night, other players sup- ported him. They understand how danger- ous and debilitating the sport can be, which is why some are quitting at earlier ages. Luck just happens to be the biggest name yet on that expanding list. “I think it takes an immense amount of courage, an immense amount of self-re- flection and a lot of guts to do what he is doing,” Houston defensive end J.J. Watt said. “I am sure people have their ways of looking at it and their ways of trying to say what they would do in his shoes. But the truth is, no one is in his shoes. Nobody has to go through what he has had to go through. Nobody has been through the rehab and the injuries. ... I respect the hell out of it. I think it takes a whole lot to walk away from a ton of money like that.”
