Click here for an opposing view.

“When someone mentions Lions football, what is the first thing that comes to mind?”

“Calvin Johnson”.

“Calvin Johnson”.

“Calvin Johnson”.

The answer stays consistent. Whether you ask local fans or people across the country, anyone that follows the NFL will recognize that Calvin Johnson, also known by his nickname “Megatron”, is the top wide receiver in the game today.

There’s no doubt that Calvin Johnson is also one of the biggest names in football overall. Since he was drafted second overall by the Detroit Lions in 2007, he has been consistently producing and putting up huge numbers. Johnson has a rare combination of size (6 ft 5 in and 239 lb), hands, speed (40-yard dash in 4.35 seconds), strength, leaping ability, body control and hand-eye coordination.

No wonder why people say he is the second greatest receiver of all-time (behind the one and only, Jerry Rice). Jerry Rice played for 20 seasons. Calvin just finished playing his ninth.

Not only is Calvin Johnson the top wide receiver in the NFL right now, but he is also a sense of hope for the fan base of the Detroit Lions.

“Calvin is more than just a great player to me,” said Milford senior Stephen Diaz. “He gives us fans a reason to keep our head during the tough times (referring to the 0-16 season in 2008).”

The Detroit Lions are known as one of the worst teams in the NFL. But yet, these fans have never backed away from their team. Each season, they renew their hope of a Super Bowl winning team.

Every time preseason rolls around, you hear every Lions fan say, “This is the year! There’s no way we can’t win a Super Bowl with a team like this!” But every year, leads to more disappointment. As if that is not bad enough, the end of this season is even worse for these fans of Detroit.

The end of this last season came with the question of Calvin Johnson return. Everyone has had so many questions on what he would do. Would he stay with the Detroit Lions? Would he be cut and sign with another team in hopes of winning a Super Bowl ring? Fans were very hopeful that Calvin’s heart is in Detroit and that he wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. Although his heart may belong to Detroit, his body was not ready for another season of physical abuse and Calvin officially announced his retirement on Tuesday.

The idea of this actually happening has come as a shock to most fans, mainly because Megatron has only played through nine seasons. But what fans don’t understand is that the game of football takes a toll on the players. Throughout Calvin’s career, he has had eight injuries while playing in the NFL (10 including college football). But his biggest injury occurred in 2013, when he partially tore his PCL and was out for a total of two weeks, week 5 and week 17 (even though this problem occurred all season long). Anyone that paid attention to Calvin Johnson’s play, could tell that he hasn’t been the same since.So here is the big question. Are we better off with or without Calvin Johnson?

“Calvin needs to stay,” said Milford junior Jaylen Rock. “He is the the best player in the game and we can’t afford to lose that.”

Other students see that with a new general manager, this is the perfect time to rebuild.

“Honestly, I’d rather see Calvin leave than stay,” said Milford senior Justin Kelly. “The team needs to start thinking about its future.”

It is sad to say, but Calvin’s retirement is not a bad thing. If Calvin retires, he is leaving the team with a total of $67.7 million in base salary from 2016-2020, which would significantly help Detroit when signing new players in the upcoming seasons. Along with this, Calvin has been battered in these nine seasons he has played. If he wants to hang up his cleats, he has every right to do so. And any fan of the Lions should support him no matter what his decision may be.

Calvin Johnson may be one of the greatest players of all time, but after suffering injuries and watching him physically deteriorate, his production will not be able to match his costly salary and the Lions will be better off starting over with the extra money to start fresh.