It's almost been a year since the great Calvin Johnson hung up his cleats at the relatively young age (football-wise) of 30. He gave everything he had to the Detroit Lions organization for nine years, but the toll on his body was too great to continue.

During those nine years, Johnson dominated the rest of the league at record-setting levels. He surpassed the 1,000-yard mark seven times, and he came up just 16 yards short in 2009. In 2012, Megatron set the NFL record for most receiving yards in a season with 1,964.

With the Lions' rise to the top of the NFC North this season, some fans and members of the media have wondered if Johnson would consider making a comeback.

But, when asked about the possibility, Calvin laughed. He then insisted that he's not going to come out of retirement.

(Continue article below)

Recommended Video

From ESPN's Michael Rothstein:

“I'm not coming back, man,” Johnson told ESPN. “Look, man. I got stuff that's going to hurt for the rest of my life. I got a finger that's literally bone-on-bone. This bad boy, it gets smaller. The more and more I do, it grinds bone-on-bone.

“Literally from last year, I went this year to get another X-ray and this is after I retired, I knew it was messed up but I didn't know to what degree because it was hurt.”

Johnson did admit that he misses the camaraderie with his teammates:

“The only thing I miss, but I still get it because I get to hang out with the guys, is the camaraderie,” Johnson said. “The guys that I really hung out with, Dom [Raiola], Rob [Sims], Matthew [Stafford], the guys I played with for most of my career, five, six years each, I still hang out with those guys, so it's not that bad.

There's plenty he doesn't miss, of course:

“The thing I don't miss is waking up in the morning, hurting, the grind of the game. I got chronic stuff that everybody has when they're done playing football for any length of time. So the good thing is I'm able to walk. I feel good. I'm able to spend more time with the fam. I'm able to chill. I don’t have to go out and run three miles every day in practice, you know what I'm saying. Goodness gracious.”