January 31, 2016
Peter Solari Follow @4PeteSakeNY
It's no secret that Detroit, a once great American city, has fallen on hard times in recent years. Unfortunately for the citizens of the Motor City, their football team hasn't offered them much relief.
The Lions were a bottom feeding franchise before they drafted Barry Sanders third overall in the 1989 NFL Draft. Until then, the team had only made the playoffs three times in the Super Bowl era. Though Sanders never took Detroit to a Super Bowl, he did put Motown on the football map by rushing for 15,269 yards and leading the Lions to five playoff appearances, including an NFC Championship Game, in 10 NFL seasons. He was a 10-time pro bowler, a 10-time all-pro, and won the 1991 NFL Most Valuable Player Award. Sanders averaged over 1,500 yards per season over his career, which is why he shocked the football world, and crushed the hearts of an entire city, when he suddenly retired at age 31, prior to the 1999 season. Sanders was only 1,457 of Walter Payton's all-time NFL rushing record at the time.
Detroit might be feeling a little bit of deja vu today, as their Pro Bowl wide receiver, Calvin Johnson, has reportedly decided to retire from the NFL. ESPN's Adam Scheffer broke the news via his Twitter feed on Sunday.
While Johnson hasn't achieved the level NFL success that Sanders did, he is the face of football in Detroit, and has been the franchise's biggest star, by far, in the years since Sanders retired. In nine seasons, Johnson has been named to six Pro Bowls, and is a four-time all-pro. He also holds the Lions' franchise records for both receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. And while Detroit has only been to the playoffs twice since his rookie season in 2007, Johnson has been one of the few bright spots for a team that has never fully recovered from the loss of Sanders, nearly two decades ago.
The Lions' troubles undoubtedly stem from their unstable front office. Since Sanders retired in 1999, the Lions have made 18 first round draft choices, including 11 top-10 picks. Outside of Calvin Johnson, only four of those draft picks have appeared in a Pro Bowl. Defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh (drafted second overall in 2010) was selected to the Pro Bowl four times over five seasons in Detroit. Wide receiver Roy Williams (drafted seventh overall in in 2004), quarterback Matt Stafford (drafted first overall in 2009), and defensive end Ezekiel Ansah (drafted fifth overall in 2013) have each made one Pro Bowl appearance as members of the Lions.
Nobody is perfect, and teams will miss on draft choices occasionally. It's only natural. But, as the Lions have shown us, you can't miss that often and ever expect to prove. Successful NFL teams are built through the draft. It's the lifeblood of any franchise. Over the years, Detroit has been in a position to build something special, or, at the very least, become a contender, and have failed to do so. Johnson, however, was the exception to this. He was the best player at his position in the entire league, stuck on a team searching for relevancy.
In more recent years, the Lions have been better and more consistent with their draft picks. They've added pieces like Stafford, Ansah, and tight end Eric Ebron. But Johnson was the glue that held them all together, and replacing him won't come easy.
Barry Sanders was 31-years old when he retired from the Lions, and in 16 years, even with the addition of Johnson, the franchise hasn't fully recovered. Now, at age 30, it appears as though Calvin Johnson, perhaps the greatest Lion ever outside of Sanders, is ready to say goodbye as well. One can't help but feel sorry for these fans, losing another hall-of-famer in the prime of his career. Hopefully the team's front office won't make the mistake of repeating history.
The Lions franchise may never recover from another fall into obscurity, and the city of Detroit, which has been through so much already, couldn't bear such a scenario. It's been a long haul, but the Lions are finally relevant again, and it's up to the front office, their longtime achilles heel, to move the team forward through this difficult transition.
Detroit has seen it's fair share of hard times, and at the very least, deserves to see a winner on the field.
