Why Calvin Johnson should follow Barry Sanders' path into early retirement

Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson has come to a career crossroads.

The future Hall of Famer confirmed he's mulling retirement earlier this month, a revelation that seemed shocking at first but made sense the more you considered it. Realistically, he probably should call it quits.

As the dust has settled on 2015 many have attributed Johnson's apprehension about his future to the normal mindset of veterans following the season, with beat up, exhausted, disappointed players more likely to talk retirement in early January than at any other time.

But that theory wouldn't make sense given what we know about Johnson. As his quarterback Matthew Stafford put it on a Detroit radio program recently, Calvin doesn't talk just to talk.

"I think, anytime Calvin says something, it’s not for show, it’s something serious," Stafford said. "I think you guys have covered him long enough to know that he’s a pretty measured person, and everything that he says to the public is a thought-out thing. So in that regard, I’m sure it’s thought-out."

So, given that this is not a bluff on Johnson's part, we're left with the question: Should he retire?

Getting 'Lionized'

Johnson could eke out another year or two, and produce a few more quality seasons on his talent and physical gifts alone. But where would that put him in two seasons? Risking more damage to an ailing body does not seem like a good idea when you've lost your desire to play a violent game.

The Lions have restructured their front office, finally cutting all ties to the Matt Millen era, and were able to go 6-2 over the final eight games of the season, so there's cause for some hope. But after nine seasons, Johnson likely knows better.

Let's be clear: The game isn't what Calvin Johnson wants to walk away from. It's the Lions. He should retire because the losing has gotten to him.

Johnson has been stuck on a team that's orchestrated a historically bad run of football for a franchise that has been historically bad at football. The Lions have missed the playoffs in seven of his nine seasons, experienced a winless campaign, and have endured gut-punch loss after gut-punch loss.

Why would any rational human believe the Lions will put together a Super Bowl contender in the near future, or ever at this point? No matter how much talent the team acquires, or doesn't acquire, new ways to lose are unearthed as stunned fans look on.

Many seem to think he should orchestrate a departure from Detroit to one of the league's Super Bowl-contending franchises. But ask Reggie Wayne and Andre Johnson, two of just the most recent examples of aging receivers finding no success on a new team, how that worked out for them. Maybe it would work out for Johnson, maybe not.

But Calvin Johnson is a special case.

The Barry Sanders connection

For context, let's turn to a similar situation. Once there was a generational talent so gifted he literally made jaws drop when he did things on a football field. He played for a terrible franchise with Honolulu blue jerseys located in America's rust belt. He retired after 10 seasons because he saw no way out of losing.

What really ended Barry Sanders career was hope. Or, a lack thereof. Years after retiring, Sanders admitted his time with the Lions crushed his competitive spirit and he found himself in a limbo between not wanting to play for another franchise, and not believing the Lions could build a Super Bowl-winning team.

Now Calvin finds himself in the exact same position as Sanders. Maybe competitive spirit only has about a decade-long shelf life.