Former Detroit Lions receiver Calvin Johnson continues to make the media rounds lately and provide some pretty interesting details about his playing career.
As an example, Johnson recently had an interview with the Detroit Free Press and hinted the Lions didn’t treat him well near the end of his career: “I don’t even like to talk Lions too much just because the way our relationship ended.”
Now Megatron has another interesting interview in which he confirmed he hid head injuries from the team, per the Detroit Free Press:
“Guys get concussions, they don’t tell the coaches,” Johnson said after his “Catching Dreams” football camp Saturday at Southfield High. “It happens. I don’t tell the coach sometimes cause I know I got a job to do. The team needs me out there on the field. And sometimes you allow that to jeopardize yourself, but that’s just the nature of the world.”
This seems like an ill-advised sentiment given what we know about head injuries, yet given the team-first culture of the NFL, it’s not too shocking to see an old-school guy like Johnson feel this way.
At the least, it’s clear the NFL has a long way to go with its concussion protocol. Better access to information and the league tightening its rules could help prevent players from trying to do this in the future.
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