NFL: Calvin Johnson has retired

[sabresfan129103]

It sounds like his ankles are shot. He can live quite the life of luxury until the day he dies. I'm definitely jealous, but it's smart of him to get out while he can still walk.

 

[irunthepeg]

Crazy to think he will be gone from the game already. Hope he has a long and healthy retirement and can enjoy life with his family.

 

[Hadoop]

Damn, heck of a player and one of the best of all time in his prime. If this is indeed the end then best of luck to him in his future endeavours.

 

[Terry Yake]

wow, definitely wasn't expecting this

from what i'm reading, this has to do with injuries and not him being unhappy with the lions. if he really didn't want to play in detroit anymore, i'd assume he would've just asked for a trade instead of retiring. but good on him to realize that his health is the most important thing.

he's had one hell of a career even if it was short lived

 

[Tuggy]

Surprising for sure, but retiring early certainly more common in football. It's a tough, tough sport on the body.

 

[Gene Parmesan]

Retired for the same reasons Patrick Willis retired. Both from the 2007 draft. Both probably were surefire HOFers but called it a day early.

 

[Morozov]

I don't really find it that surprising, I think we're just going to see this more and more.

The stories continue to flow of guys who are busted up in numerous ways in their old age. If you can get in, make your mark, set yourself and generations of your family to come up for life and then get out before doing yourself too much damage then it's a very sensible decision.

 

[BigMac1212]

Wow. Can't believe Megatron would do a Barry Sanders early retirement. Such a shame. I thought Calvin would have a Larry Fitzgerald-type long career.

 

[Gene Parmesan]

Larry is similar to Rice in a sense that his hands, work ethic and route running are his main weapons while being an above average talent physically. Calvin is blessed with freakish athletic ability and is the size of an NBA small forward. Not saying he didn't work hard but the guys who rely on technique usually outlast the monster athlete. Foot injuries robbed us of Willis, ankle injuries of CJ.

 

[Voight]

Retired for the same reasons Patrick Willis retired. Both from the 2007 draft. Both probably were surefire HOFers but called it a day early.

There isn't really a probably factor with Megatron, he's going in for sure.

Willis is a maybe. Wasn't as elite as Johnson was but still had some great years.

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

Was a great player ,, A shame he ended up wasting his career on a non contender in Detroit

 

[Gene Parmesan]

There isn't really a probably factor with Megatron, he's going in for sure.

Willis is a maybe. Wasn't as elite as Johnson was but still had some great years.

That's laughable.

Go review Willis's credentials and get back to me.

 

[HisIceness]

Was a great player ,, A shame he ended up wasting his career on a non contender in Detroit

I was thinking more that it's a shame Detroit couldn't get any better with him there, I thought maybe they had finally turned a corner in 2011 and again last season but nah, same old Lions.

 

[MurrayBannerman]

That's laughable.

Go review Willis's credentials and get back to me.

Willis was the unquestioned best ILB in football for years.

 

[darko]

Taking a year off to heal his body could do wonders. Regardless if it happens in Detroit or elsewhere.

But Johnson isn't your typical WR either...much like Barry wasn't your typical RB

If i was Detroit I'd be pissed if he came back next season with another team.

 

[darko]

Willis was the unquestioned best ILB in football for years.

This.

Both are surefire HOFers.

 

[Ivan13]

That's laughable.

Go review Willis's credentials and get back to me.

Never been a fan of 49ers honestly, but Willis was the best in the game for a while.

Sad for Megatron at his best he was a force off nature.

 

[kingsholygrail]

30 is the new 40 in Football isn't it?

 

[Ivan13]

30 is the new 40 in Football isn't it?

It always was, wasn't it? Especially at the skill positions.

 

[Trap Jesus]

I'd put Willis in the Hall before Calvin. Willis was the model of consistency essentially his entire career. I just feel like Calvin had too much unrealized potential. Don't get me wrong, he did a ton in those 9 years, but it always seemed like there was a nagging injury "holding him back" or something almost every season.

 

[What the Faulk]

I'd put Willis in the Hall before Calvin. Willis was the model of consistency essentially his entire career. I just feel like Calvin had too much unrealized potential. Don't get me wrong, he did a ton in those 9 years, but it always seemed like there was a nagging injury "holding him back" or something almost every season.

Did you start watching football last year? I know you didn't but that's really selling him short. His 2012 was as dominant a season as you will ever find. He single handily made Stafford into an average/above QB. Frequently he'd have to fight off 2-3 defenders for jump balls.

Not comparing him to Willis because I don't think that's fair to either player.

 

[Ivan13]

I'd put Willis in the Hall before Calvin. Willis was the model of consistency essentially his entire career. I just feel like Calvin had too much unrealized potential. Don't get me wrong, he did a ton in those 9 years, but it always seemed like there was a nagging injury "holding him back" or something almost every season.

Huh?

Like WTF said dude had one of the most dominant peaks in NFL's history at his position and he was unstoppable for the most part of his stay in the NFL.

 

[Blitzkrug]

The only thing that makes sense in terms of "unrealized potential" is the the fact said dominant peak resulted in Calvin not winning anything of note. I still say he should have won MVP that season. Otherwise that statement makes no sense.

He may have to wait for a bit, but he's getting in the HOF at some point.

 

[Roboturner913]

Human knees and ankles really weren't intended to support 240-250 pound human bodies under such strenuous circumstances, plus remember he played a significant part of his career on turf - and I don't care how soft they say field turf is, there's still a hard concrete floor underneath and that's a big difference from dirt.

Regrettably we never got to see him play with a truly good QB over a long-term span of time. No surprise he put up some truly monster numbers when Stafford was at his peak.

 

[Trap Jesus]

Huh?

Like WTF said dude had one of the most dominant peaks in NFL's history at his position and he was unstoppable for the most part of his stay in the NFL.

Did you start watching football last year? I know you didn't but that's really selling him short. His 2012 was as dominant a season as you will ever find. He single handily made Stafford into an average/above QB. Frequently he'd have to fight off 2-3 defenders for jump balls.

Not comparing him to Willis because I don't think that's fair to either player.

Johnson is a receiver you would design in a lab. Everybody knew coming into the league that he had the potential to be an all-time great. Really, the only physical thing you could knock him for was that he didn't have the best hands, and he wasn't the most durable. Other than that, he was essentially a perfectly designed receiver. Knowing that, I do feel like his career as a whole should have been more impressive. It wasn't just missed games to injury, but there always seemed to be a reservation about "imagine what he could do if he wasn't playing through this injury", or "imagine what he could do with a better QB" etc.

There's two sides to the coin for being a receiver that is always double-teamed and still heavily targeted. On one hand, yeah it's impressive when he can put up big numbers like that when double teamed, but on the other hand, he's also seeing a lot of targets that he shouldn't be seeing. He's a big play waiting to happen, but frequently absolutely nothing will happen on those plays where Stafford just hucks it up to him, or even worse, it'll be picked off.

Since Johnson came into the league, only 3 receivers have a worse catch % than him (minimum 300 receptions), and they are Santonio Holmes, Vincent Jackson and Nate Washington. DeSean Jackson just barely edged Calvin out for a better catch %, and he's as close as you can get to a boom/bust receiver. At the same time, Calvin ranks near the top for yards per target, despite all of those missed catches. It's no secret that Stafford forced passes to Johnson in his career looking for the big play rather than a safety net. It's a big risk/big reward situation, but the point is that people only remember the "reward" part of that. Having a QB that only wants to look your way and doesn't let the downside of that prevent him from doing it will see you rack up record numbers when you have a receiver with the raw talent that Calvin has. He has crazy base stats, but I think a lot of people overlook that efficiency aspect when talking about Johnson.