Doug Gottlieb Defends Andrew Luck Retirement Tweet, 'I'm a Smart Ass'

Doug Gottlieb says his Twitter shot at Andrew Luck's retirement was supposed to be a joke ... and wants to make it clear he's actually a big supporter of the ex-NFL QB.

The Fox Sports Radio personality got a TON of flak for his shot at Luck on Saturday ... when he said, "Retiring cause rehabbing is 'too hard' is the most millennial thing ever #AndrewLuck"

Gottlieb addressed the backlash on Monday ... saying the tweet was supposed to be funny, but people took it WAY too seriously.

"I'm a smart ass. I always have been. I always will be," Gottlieb said on his show. "And, if I can't find something funny with the things in life, well then you know what, strike me down because I like to make fun of things in life."

The tweet caught the eyes of names like Torrey Smith, who quickly brought up Gottlieb's past troubles with the law that famously got the former basketball player expelled from Notre Dame.

"If you wanna go to me stealing credit cards 23 years ago, you're gonna have to deal with the fact that those questions have been asked, that has been answered," Gottlieb said. "We've all moved on."

Gottlieb defends his take by saying Luck's reasoning for hanging it up falls under the "millennial" mentality ... and goes on to make a comparison to Luck's predecessor, Peyton Manning.

"And, the new generation, maybe they're smarter, maybe they don't care as much about the ultimate success, maybe they just get that it's a short-term profession -- get a lot of money and get out."