If what Calvin Johnson has claimed about the Detroit Lions is true, the team could be in a lot of trouble from the NFL. Johnson recently sat down for an interview with Sports Illustrated and talked about many things, including his concussion history.
Johnson said he couldn't count how many times he returned to a game with a concussion and said once he was told by the team to claim he didn't have a concussion when he already told the media he had one.
He got used to concussions. “Bam, hit the ground real hard. I’m seeing stars; I can’t see straight,” he says. “But I know in a couple minutes I’m gonna be fine. Because I’ve done that plenty of times before.” In 2012 he told reporters he suffered one against the Vikings. The Lions said (and maintain) that he passed their concussion protocol, and Johnson later apologized: “I misused the terms nerve damage and concussion.”
But he says now, “I knew I was concussed because I blacked out. I wasn’t seeing straight. And they wanted me to change my story.” Mostly, he says, he played through concussions because in his NFL that’s how you earn Employee of the Month.
Johnson played in the NFL during a time when concussions were starting to become a major talking point, but lying on an injury report is a big deal, and the team hiding concussions is concerning.
Johnson hung up his cleats at the age of 30, but with all the concussions he suffered during his career. Hopefully, it wasn't too late.
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