The Detroit Lions made Calvin Johnson pay back $1.6 million when he retired before his contract was up and ever since that moment, Johnson has disowned the only NFL team he ever played for.
During a recent interview with Graham Besinger, Johnson revealed that the only way he will rejoin the Lions family is if they pay him back the $1.6 million. Oh, and Johnson noted that he is not about to work for money that he believes he already earned.
What do you make of their efforts to resolve it?” Bensinger asked Johnson.
“Not really an effort,” Johnson said.
So what needs to happen?
“I’m not saying they got to repay me the $1.6 [million] all up front, but they need to figure out a way to do it, and not have me work for it, because I already did the work for it.”
The Lions reportedly offered to pay Calvin $500,000 per year for the next three years, if he was willing to work 28 hours per year for the team. The Lions also offered to donate $100,000 to a charity of Calvin’s choice.
“That’s a joke,” Johnson told Bensinger. “I put it like this. Imagine you had a friend — well, maybe not even a friend, just somebody. They gave you something and then they take it back. And then are y’all gonna still really hang out? Are y’all still cool? And imagine you did a whole bunch of work for it, too. It’s the principle. It’s the principle of it. You cannot have me back unless you put that money back in my pocket. . . . I’m not working for it.”
Nation, how do you think this plays out?
STFU.Lions were within their rights. Johnson reneged on his contract. Simple. Petty.
I give CJ all the credit in the world as a football player. Among the top 3 of all time IMO. But he did get paid very well and he quit early to save his body. So there is the tradeoff. And the Lions were never going to win much so I don’t blame him. Clearly, the money he gave back was legally a part of his contract. I’m much more interested in the future of the team, not the past. I would prefer we just drop the subject and move forward. Besides, this dispute has gone on so long that whatever benefit that he “rejoin the family” has already been corrupted. We play the Packers Monday night. That should be all that matters now.
Calvin says he already did the work for it.
The facts and the team say he didn’t.