PHL Anon
Calvin Johnson has remained relatively quiet and out of the spotlight since announcing his retirement at 30 years old, while he was still in his prime and one of the best wide receivers in the game.
Many speculated Johnson retiring was due to the Lions’ losing ways, and that he’ll eventually reappear for another team that could contend for the Super Bowl. But I wouldn’t bet the mortgage on that one.
Although after nine seasons of playing in the NFL, and just coming off another stellar season in which he gained over 1,200 yards, he still seemed to have so much gas left in the tank. In a new interview with the Detroit Free-Press Johnson finally explained his reasoning for walking away from the game.
I’m not coming back,” the 30-year-old Johnson said. “You ain’t got to worry about that.”
“I know everybody wants to know why I retired, but it’s more so, I put a lot into the game and it’s taken a lot out of me and that’s where I’m at right now,” Johnson said. “I’m not going to get into the specifics of the things that I feel it’s taken away, but it definitely feels good, I guess I can say for myself, to spend more time around the family, my son, I just got married. So things are going good right now.”
Johnson underwent finger and knee surgeries after the 2013 season and barely practiced at times the last two years because of a nagging ankle injury. He said those injuries helped him decide before last season that it was time to call it a career.
My finger’s jacked,” Johnson said. “I mean, I’m beat up. After you play that long you’re going to be beat up so it’s just a time where you are content with what you did and I’m content with what I did so far.”
As for whether all the losing in Detroit played a part in his decision?
Nah,” he said. “Simply – I wouldn’t just quit because we were losing. It was just body. I was just tired of it, fed up. Just had enough.”
So you can add Johnson to a growing list of NFL players retiring in the prime of their careers due to injury, or future injury concerns. Should the NFL start being more concerned?
[H/T to UPROXX]