On March 8, 2016, former Detroit Lions receiver Calvin Johnson (also known as Megatron) announced via a statement that he was hanging up his cleats and retiring from the NFL.
During his nine seasons in Detroit, Johnson racked up 11,619 receiving yards and 83 touchdowns, including 1,214 yards and nine touchdowns in his final season. Despite being only 30-years-old at the time of his announcement, Johnson admitted that his body had taken enough of a beating and that he was ready to move on from football.
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On Saturday, Johnson was at Southfield High School for his annual “Catching Dreams” football camp and he has some interesting comments about how things ended with the Lions.
“I don’t even like to talk Lions too much just because the way our relationship ended,” Johnson said when asked about his No. 81 being retired. “If they see me around here, we’ll see. But hey, I don’t know.
“I just didn’t feel like I was treated the way I should have been treated on the way out. That’s all. I mean, it’s all good. I’m not tripping. I don’t feel any kind of way, just hey, that’s what they did. Hey, it is what is.”
Asked to explain how he was treated, Johnson declined to go into specifics.
“I mean, it’s simple,” he said. “It’s simple. It’s easy when you think about it.”
It seems likely that Johnson’s resentment towards the Lions stems from when the team made him pay back a portion of his signing bonus after he retired with a year left on his contract. By rule, when a player retires from the league prior to his contract running out, the team has the option of making the player pay back a prorated amount of the signing bonus or just allowing the player to keep it.
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Of course, it’s just a matter of time before the Lions retire Johnson’s No. 81, but it’s pretty sad the organization did not treat one of the greatest receivers in NFL history a bit better. That being said, one could also argue that the Lions were completely within their right to force Johnson to pay up since he did not honor the contract he signed.
Nation, what side are you on?
*Updated 5/21/17
I’m with the Lions, he didn’t fulfill the contract he signed. I have no issue with them asking for part of the signing bonus back no matter how good of a receiver he was.
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