Watching professional football players on Dancing With The Stars is akin to watching bumblebees fly — they are often larger than their peers on the show, but they move so gracefully and so well. Their agility plays a big part in success on Dancing With The Stars, and my next favorite player to watch salsa and rumba and interpretive dance his way through the competition will be Calvin Johnson. He’s retired now, but which football team was Calvin Johnson on before Dancing With The Stars ?
Johnson is a one-team kind of guy. According to his NFL profile, Johnson played for Georgia Tech in college, making himself available for the NFL draft in January of 2007. His NFL bio also states that he was drafted by the Detroit Lions straight out of the gate, and he played for them for his whole career. Admittedly, the Lions weren’t always a great team — for a player of his caliber, Johnson lacked the Super Bowl rings and playoff appearances he should have had — but, according to ESPN, Johnson holds nearly every meaningful receiving record for the Lions, and he also holds the NFL’s single-season record for receiving yards — 1,964, set in 2012.
Considering Johnson is only 30 years old and has insanely good football skills, he should still be playing, right? Not really. According to ESPN, Johnson announced his retirement in March 2016, citing the fact that his body just wasn’t holding up anymore — he had knee surgery, ankle surgery, and finger surgery, not to mention what he calls his "fair share" of concussions.
Frankly, I admire the fact that Johnson was willing to just walk away from the game in order to prioritize his health. Plenty of athletes don’t do that until it’s too late, and Johnson should be commended for it. Instead, he’s just joined Dancing With The Stars, although that is a whole different kind of demanding on the body. He’s coupled with Lindsay Arnold — who I’m sure will beat the you-know-what out of him for 12 weeks — and she feels confident about their chances, according to an interview she did with Entertainment Tonight. “I think this could be my season, I really do. I think Calvin is going to surprise a lot of people with what he has to offer, and I'm excited to know that it can only get better from here. I'm ready to push him every week," she told the outlet.
If Johnson thought he knew pain in the NFL, he better get ready for when Arnold will put him through his rehearsal paces. I wish the best of luck to the both of them, and I have a feeling they’ll be the dark horse couple of Dancing With The Stars Season 23.
