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The days and weeks fly by, yet the Calvin Johnson question remains unanswered.
Is he retiring for good? Is he playing chicken with the Lions organization, hoping to get released or traded to a contender? Or is the whole thing going to be a hoax, and he’ll be back wearing the #81 come training camp in August?
It’s impossible to predict, and really a situation you don’t come across that often in pro sports. Usually when a player retires prematurely, they do so suddenly, catching their team and the rest of the league off guard. It’s happened a number of times just these last few years; quality NFL players choosing long-term health over all else and calling it quits in their 20’s. But when they do so, it’s with an out-of-the-blue announcement and that’s that.
Johnson’s saga has been going on for weeks. Calvin is 30, not too young for a retirement to be altogether shocking, but also not so old that he couldn’t realistically produce for another handful of years. It is hard to imagine that the ineptitude of the Lions’ franchise is not playing a major role in this decision.
Incentive Missing?
If Johnson were a Patriot or a Packer for the last decade, it’s very likely that this story would be another 6-8 years away. He’d have gotten used to the adrenaline rush of the postseason, making historic catches in conference title games and Super Bowls. Each off-season would remain a grind, but it is justified when thoughts turn to January and February, and playing for the biggest prize of all.
But when you’re a Detroit Lion, that incentive simply doesn’t exist. It wasn’t there for Barry Sanders, and it hasn’t been there for Calvin Johnson. If this particular choice winds up being a full-on retirement from the game, it won’t be a coincidence that both of these Hall of Fame early exits will have come from the same stumbling organization.
Football is different than other sports. You can play baseball or basketball professionally from age 20-40 and still emerge a relatively healthy person. Of course, those sports carry with it their own risk of injury, but neither are like football. We have seen the physical toll the game takes on the body, and even if your knees and ankles remain intact after two decades on the field, your brain might not be so lucky.
That’s why the need for “something to play for,” besides just the money, becomes so important. Guys can keep pushing the rock up the hill, keep hitting the weight room day in and day out, when there’s a possible Super Bowl ring waiting on the other side.
But if the reward is purely financial, it just might not be enough to lure a guy like Johnson back between the lines. If you play nine years at an elite level in the NFL, as Johnson has, money is really no longer an issue. You can play golf and eat steak every day the rest of your life and still have plenty to take care of the next several generations of your kin.
There’s got to be something more once you cross to the other side of 30, and in this case, unfortunately there is not. Calvin could buckle up for another 16 games of punishment, but in the back of his mind, he’d know that the schedule would not extend to 17 or beyond.
Everyone thought Barry was crazy when he left football still at the height of his powers, and with Walter Payton’s rushing record in sight, but after seeing Calvin now wrestle with the same decision, you realize the toll that years of losing can take. Maybe Barry didn’t retire just because he was aloof and not into the spotlight, but instead because losing 12 games every other year gets tiring and it eventually becomes easier to stay home on the couch.
Angling for New Team?
The fact that Johnson is taking this long makes you think that perhaps he is angling for an opportunity elsewhere in the league. After all, if he had simply tired of the wear and tear, and wanted to begin his post-football life, wouldn’t such a statement have already been finalized and put out to the masses? It could be that he is weighing all his options and assessing the likelihood that he could potentially don a new jersey this fall.
In pro sports, history would generally suggest that Johnson’s NFL career is not over. Saying you’re calling it quits, or even doing so officially for a year or two, is far easier than making it stick for good. There’s a reason Roy Jones Jr. continues to fight well into his 40’s and Michael Jordan came back to hoop for the Wizards. Brett Favre retired on a dozen different occasions, and only now at age 46 can we be fairly certain he won’t be taking a snap again. So even if Johnson does tell us that this is it, don’t be surprised if he’s lining up in the slot for Denver a couple years from now.
So the Lions, and the Detroit fans, and the rest of the NFL, waits on Number 81.
There is still plenty of good football left in that 6’5” frame, but sometimes making those acrobatic grabs as a Detroit Lion is like a tree falling in the forest. If nobody sees it and it never occurs after December, did it ever really happen at all?
Unfortunately, that answer could very well be, “No,” thus leaving a very big hole at the wide receiver position for a team that cannot afford such unexpected departures.
Anyone have Herman Moore’s number?
