Calvin Johnson retires.

33jacket said:
Dont get me wrong. He is a hof player in my eyes. I can just see the arguments making him borderline thats all.
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Oh, definitely. It won't be quite the sure thing it would've been with a few more solid years, but nonetheless, 2nd most receiving yards before turning 31 in NFL history. That alone should get him in.
 
33jacket said:
He shoulda changed teams when he had the chance. He may have been re energized
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This. If he didn't want to play for the suck ass Lions and their inept front office he should have bolted after his first contract ended.
 
JoltinJacket said:
Hung on until he was 37 and walk away with back-to-back titles??
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nope.

When the Colts said they were going to draft Elway, he said they could go f themselves and that he would never play for them. Notice how he didn't play for the Colts even after they drafted him?

In the 1983 NFL Draft Elway was selected as the first overall pick by the Baltimore Colts. (He is one of three quarterbacks in the history of the draft to be chosen first and later be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The other two are Terry Bradshaw and Troy Aikman.)[20] Elway was wary of playing for the Colts, then among the worst teams in the league, and his father advised him against playing for head coach Frank Kush, who had a reputation as a harsh taskmaster. While Elway preferred football his agent Marvin Demoff later stated that baseball was "a true option" for him at the time. More importantly, the possibility gave Elway leverage in negotiations with the Colts.[18]

After unsuccessfully attempting to negotiate a private agreement with the Colts in which Elway would cite his alleged desire to remain on the West coast to explain the team trading him, Elway publicly threatened to join the Yankees full-time if the Colts did not trade him; Demoff wrote in his journal, published three decades later, that "he would be a garbage collector before he'd play for Baltimore." Elway's refusal to join the Colts was controversial— Bradshaw denounced him, stating "you should play baseball … he's not the kind of guy you win championships with"—but many other NFL teams began negotiations with the Colts for the quarterback. One possibility was trading Elway for the San Francisco 49ers' Joe Montana, whose team had had a poor 1982 season. Another was a trade with the San Diego Chargers, which was negotiating a new contract with its star quarterback Dan Fouts. The New England Patriots were interested, but the Colts did not wish to trade Elway to a team in the same division.[18]

The Colts' general manager Ernie Accorsi badly wanted Elway as, Accorsi later said, he (correctly) did not foresee the 1984 Draft as producing any first-round quarterbacks, and announced Elway as the team's choice as soon as possible during the 15-minute window on draft day, surprising observers. Elway that day reiterated his wish to not play for the Colts at a press conference, saying "As I stand here right now, I'm playing baseball". (When a reporter pointed out that the Yankees were not based on the West coast, Elway replied "They play baseball during the summertime".) The Colts, however, were interested in offensive lineman Chris Hinton, who the Denver Broncos had chosen as the fourth pick in the first round. On 2 May Colts owner Robert Irsay and Accorsi agreed to trade Elway for Hinton, backup quarterback Mark Herrmann, and a first-round pick in 1984 (used to select Ron Solt).[18]
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I'm sorry Corndog & 33 but imo I think both of you are off base. Yeah numbers may be comparable to others but no one did it as fast CJ. Avg 1300yds/ 9TDs over 9 seasons is ridiculous!!! Also 86.1 yds/gym is 2nd best All-time. Only thing retiring has done eliminated from best of all-time discussion. No secondary thought should be made if he's a 1st ballot HOFer
 
This makes sense. It really sucks that he never got to play with a decent quarterback, but I think everyone who followed him closely knew that football wasn't his only goal or purpose in life, and given what we know today, it's tough to blame him for walking away.

I really wish he got to play with a good team in the NFL. I agree he is definitely a borderline Hall of Famer. I don't think I would vote for him. Right or wrong, the Hall of Fame isn't just about talent.
 
Beestorm said:
nope.

When the Colts said they were going to draft Elway, he said they could go f themselves and that he would never play for them. Notice how he didn't play for the Colts even after they drafted him?
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More like Eli Manning them. Elway had baseball
 
ibeeballin said:
I'm sorry Corndog & 33 but imo I think both of you are off base. Yeah numbers may be comparable to others but no one did it as fast CJ. Avg 1300yds/ 9TDs over 9 seasons is ridiculous!!! Also 86.1 yds/gym is 2nd best All-time. Only thing retiring has done eliminated from best of all-time discussion. No secondary thought should be made if he's a 1st ballot HOFer
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We'll see. I hope you are right. I certainly want to be waving a GT flag in Canton in 5 years. Like I said, I think he'll get in, but I don't see first ballot after stepping away so early because he is tired.
 
Congratulations on a spectacularly spot on decision, Calvin has nothing left to prove, he was one of the truly special NFL players of my 65+ years of experience!!
 
Do any of you remember Elway's last year? He was Peyton. Couldn't throw the ball 20 yards.

Congratulations Calvin, who already has his degree. He comes from a good family and made intelligent financial decisions. He will be fine and happy for the rest of his life. That's the goal.
 
andrew said:
Right or wrong, the Hall of Fame isn't just about talent.
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Which is why it's good that he put up very impressive numbers as well. One can argue that his numbers didn't measure up to his talent, but his numbers are öööö impressive regardless.
 
Dirty Jacket said:
The Lions are solely responsible for two of the greatest NFL players retiring because they didn't want to be part of their suck anymore.
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My first thought as well. Second thought, he will come out of retirement and sign somewhere else this summer.
 
Thomsonjacket said:
My first thought as well. Second thought, he will come out of retirement and sign somewhere else this summer.
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Not sure the details but pretty sure the lions would still have rights to him for the remainder of his contract. I think this the reason Barry wasn't able to do the same as many thought he would
 
ibeeballin said:
I'm sorry Corndog & 33 but imo I think both of you are off base. Yeah numbers may be comparable to others but no one did it as fast CJ. Avg 1300yds/ 9TDs over 9 seasons is ridiculous!!! Also 86.1 yds/gym is 2nd best All-time. Only thing retiring has done eliminated from best of all-time discussion. No secondary thought should be made if he's a 1st ballot HOFer
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Thank you, Calvin will make the HOF. He's just behind Michael Irvin in receiving yards, he holds the NFL's single season receiving yards record, quickest ever receiver to reach 10,000 receiving yards, and he has more TDs than 8 WRs currently in the HOF (including Cris Carter). The fact he played for a bad team and never had a solid NFL QB will also be considered. No question he is in, likely 1st ballot.
 
gtsmckdwn222 said:
Thank you, Calvin will make the HOF. He's just behind Michael Irvin in receiving yards, he holds the NFL's single season receiving yards record, quickest ever receiver to reach 10,000 receiving yards, and he has more TDs than 8 WRs currently in the HOF (including Cris Carter). The fact he played for a bad team and never had a solid NFL QB will also be considered. No question he is in, likely 1st ballot.
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Comparing players stats from the current pass happy league to years past when defenders could play defense is not a fair comparison.

And Cris Carter had 130 career TDs... So, try again.

We'll see how the voters view quitting so early. While I think publicly it'll get some cheers, most voters will privately hold that against him.
 
05GTCorndog said:
Comparing players stats from the current pass happy league to years past when defenders could play defense is not a fair comparison.

And Cris Carter had 130 career TDs... So, try again.

We'll see how the voters view quitting so early. While I think publicly it'll get some cheers, most voters will privately hold that against him.
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Larry Fitzgerald is widely regarded as a certain HOFer and has played in the same pass happy era and has just ~1700 more yards than Calvin and 15 more TDs in 12 seasons (compared to Calvin's 8).
 
I've said from the beginning of this thread, I think he gets in. I don't think he is first ballot lock though.
 
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