Former Detroit Lion Calvin Johnson released a piece in “The Players’ Tribune” Tuesday about his life after retirement.
Johnson, a former first-round draft pick out of Georgia Tech, spent nine seasons with the Lions before announcing his retirement at the conclusion of the 2015 season.
In his piece on “The Players’ Tribune”, Johnson writes about his marriage, his stint on “Dancing with the Stars”, why he retired and why he has no regrets.
Johnson said ultimately, his body told him it was done playing football and he listened.
“So I didn’t just wake up one morning and decide, You know what? I’m going to retire today. I contemplated it for over a year... I didn’t want to worry about potentially being in too much pain to play with my son, you know?
“And that’s not all. My fingers are all kinds of jacked up. My job was to play receiver. I got paid to catch the ball. But there was a point when every time the ball hit my fingers, they ached.”
In nine seasons with the Lions, the All-Pro receiver racked up 11,619 yards, 83 touchdowns and six Pro-Bowl nominations.
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