Two of the greatest players in Detroit Lions franchise history are Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson. Sanders was a running back for the Motor City team from 1989 to 1998. Johnson was a receiver from 2007 to 2015. Unfortunately, both had to hang up their cleats without a happy ending.
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Sanders retired as the Lions’ all-time leader in many rushing categories, racking up over 15,000 yards on the ground while recording 99 scores. Johnson, meanwhile, had over 11,000 receiving yards and 83 total touchdowns. But did they have any playoff success to show for it? No.
Sanders held a 1-5 record in the postseason, while Johnson went 0-2. That level of continued failure is what led to Johnson’s retirement from the league. And he says he could have played a little longer if things had been different.
In an appearance on The Pivot Podcast, Johnson told former NFL linebacker Channing Crowder that he would have continued to play if he had been on a perennial playoff team. Those failures towards the end took the fun out of the game, he explained.
Could have played longer with a winning team
By the end of his career, Johnson felt it wasn’t worth the sacrifice he was putting his body through.
“Yeah, 100% man,” Johnson answered when asked if he would’ve played longer on a perennial playoff team.
“The losing didn’t help. I was at a time where the preparation that went into it, I wasn’t willing to go through that no more. It zapped all the fun out of the game for me… It just hurt a little bit too much. I feel like I lost all the elasticity in my pop, in my ankles, and that combined with the losing, body just telling you no, I think I’m done,” he added.
That’s quite an admission from the three-time First-Team All-Pro. Some fans even flocked to the comments section to point out how the Lions’ losing ways played a big role in both Johnson and Sanders stepping away. “Lions ruined Sanders and Johnson,” said one user.
Another fan wrote that Johnson would probably enjoy playing for the team today, given their recent success.
“I bet u would love playing now #golions,” one chimed in. Then, there were fans like a user named Mike Ollder, who pointed out how bad the team must have been to waste the talents of Johnson and quarterback Matthew Stafford.
“Imagine how bad the coaching and defense has to be to have Stafford and Megatron and lose every year after year….shame,” they wrote.
Johnson stayed loyal despite team’s failure
This isn’t the first time Johnson has opened up about this. Back in 2017, he also cited the Lions’ struggles as a major reason behind his decision to retire. Speaking to ESPN at the time, Johnson bluntly said that the team “stinking” played a big role in his departure.
“I was stuck in my contract with Detroit, and they told me they would not release my contract, so I would have to come back to them,” Johnson said. “I didn’t see the chance for them to win a Super Bowl at the time, and for the work I was putting in, it wasn’t worth my time to keep on beating my head against the wall that wasn’t going anywhere.”
Had Johnson been a free agent during the final year of his contract, he might have extended his NFL career a bit longer. Instead, he chose to sign extensions to remain a Lion — something he wasn’t obligated to do. Despite retiring earlier than expected, Johnson showed loyalty by wanting to stay with the team.
