Former Lions WRย Calvin Johnson admitted during an interview withย ESPN that it would have been harder for him to retire if the team was contending for a title.
โIf we wouldโve been a contender, it wouldโve been harder to let go,โ Johnson said, via Josh Katzenstein of the Detroit News.
A few weeks ago, Johnsonย told reporters thatย he is happy in retirement and not planning to return to the NFL at any point.
โIโm not coming back,โ Johnson said, via the Detroit Free Press. โYou ainโt got to worry about that.โ
Johnson explained that the decision to retire was because he was tired and “fed up” withย the impact it was having on his body.
โSimply โ I wouldnโt just quit because we were losing,” Johnson said.ย “It was just tired of it, fed up. Just had enough.โ
Back in March, Johnson formally announced hisย retirement from the NFLย and the Lions later placed him on the reserve/retired list, which will allow them toย control his rights if he attempts to return to the league at some point.
Johnson, 30, is a former first-round pick of the Lions back in 2007. He wasย in the fourth year of his eight-year, $150.5 million contractย that includedย $60 million guaranteedย andย setย to make base salaries of $15.95 million (2016), $16.5 million (2017), $17 million (2018), andย $18.25 million (2019).
In total, Johsnon played nine season for the Lions and totaled 731 receptions for 11,619 yards receiving and 83 touchdowns over the course of 135 games. He was a six-time Pro Bowler and selected to three first-team All-Pro units.
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