Scroll through Twitter for about two minutes and you’ll come across about 50 tweets from football fans who believe Calvin Johnson can come out of retirement and play for their favorite team.
It’s a great thought, no doubt, but it’s not going to happen and that’s not just because Calvin Johnson doesn’t want to play football any longer.
The Detroit Lions hold Johnson’s contractual rights, so if the eventual Hall of Fame wide receiver did eventually want to make a return to the football field he’d need to do so as a member of the Detroit Lions.
Now, that’s not to say there aren’t some loopholes. Johnson could suggest that he wants to come back and play for a different team and the Detroit Lions could opt to trade him, just to get some type of reimbursement on their former investment. But that seems like a bit of a stretch and chances are, they probably wouldn’t even do that if given the opportunity.
Not to mention, unless that was to happen this offseason, few teams would probably give up anything of decent value for a guy removed from football.
So, if you’re like Mark Wahlberg, who thinks Calvin Johnson should come out of retirement and play for his New England Patriots, stop – it literally can not happen.
