Calvin Johnson Actually Wanted To Retire Earlier Because The Lions Were Such A Mess But His Dad Convinced Him To Keep Playing

[Source] - Johnson's father, using just a few words, convinced his son to delay retirement for a little bit longer. 

"He looked at me and was like,' You think you can do it one more time?' Johnson recalled. "I sat there and paused for a second, and once I paused for a second he was like, 'Alright, you can at least do it one more time.'"

"It was unfortunate," Johnson said. "You can't help but have the feeling like we obviously didn't maximize the talent that we had. And all anybody can do is point at themselves and say, 'What could I have done better?' I could have had, maybe, 2,000 yards or 1,500 yards one year, and that could have helped. Or maybe there was a ball that I could have, should have, caught. 

"Just the simple fact that we didn't maximize the talent. You  got me on offense, you've got [Matt] Stafford, you got Ndamukong Suh on defense. You've got some beasts all around the team in key positions that you should be able to have a winning team. We just didn't have the winning culture though. There's a lot more than goes into it than having those key players."

I find whenever Calvin Johnson does an interview absolutely fascinating because for the most he faded into the background. He had his spat with the Lions and having to pay money back from his contract and that being a reason he doesn't do anything with the team and he talks about that in the interview. But all things considered we don't get a lot of Calvin Johnson interviews and quotes. That's why I listened and read this a bunch of times, especially considering he was going to retire a year earlier. He already was viewed as someone who retired in his prime, imagine a year earlier. It doesn't seem like much, but his last year he had 88 receptions, 1,200 yards and 9 touchdowns. Pretty fucking good! The Lions even won 7 games! That's great for them. 

And listen, I credit Calvin for playing for the Lions his entire career. He could have somewhere else - shit he talks about how Aaron Rodgers tried to get him on the Packers. Him and Rodgers in his prime? That would be unfair. But instead he stuck around Detroit, barely winning games and being the best receiver in the game. He's what every old guy and purist love. You stick with the team you're drafted by, even if they are dogshit. The Lions were by all accounts dogshit. Look at his quote again. They couldn't maximize the talent. They didn't have a winning culture. He's essentially calling out the entire franchise by saying how there's more than having key players. 

Man, Calvin Johnson was awesome too and that's an understatement 

It's still crazy to think he went to Georgia Tech, considering they had the stretch of the triple option. Just one of those colleges/players combo that never made sense even if they weren't running the triple option with him. It's Georgia Tech. They shouldn't be getting awesome football players like Calvin Johnson. Georgia? Sure. Georgia Tech? Absolutely not.