Ex-Lion Calvin Johnson: ‘I’m not coming back’
If you were holding out hope former Detroit Lions receiver Calvin Johnson was going to make an NFL comeback, you’re out of luck.
Johnson retired in March at age 30 and reiterated Tuesday night he doesn’t plan to change his mind.
“I’m not coming back, man,” Johnson told ESPN.com’s Michael Rothstein. “Look, man. I got stuff that’s going to hurt for the rest of my life. I got a finger that’s literally bone-on-bone. This bad boy, it gets smaller. The more and more I do, it grinds bone-on-bone.
“Literally from last year, I went this year to get another X-ray and this is after I retired, I knew it was messed up but I didn’t know to what degree because it was hurt.”
Johnson dealt with a myriad of injuries during his remarkable nine-year career in Detroit, from knee and finger ailments to a bum ankle that hampered him last season.
While he said he misses the camaraderie, Johnson added he doesn’t miss “the grind of the game” and waking up sore and in pain.
“I got chronic stuff that everybody has when they’re done playing football for any length of time,” Johnson said. “So the good thing is I’m able to walk. I feel good. I’m able to spend more time with the fam. I’m able to chill. I don’t have to go out and run three miles every day in practice, you know what I’m saying. Goodness gracious.”
Johnson recently competed on “Dancing with the Stars” in the fall and finished in third place with partner Lindsay Arnold.
He holds almost every all-time receiving record in Lions' franchise history, including career receptions (731), career receiving yards (11,619) and career receiving touchdowns (83).