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Lane Johnson Retires from NFL After 14 Seasons with Eagles
Confirmed
In Short: Johnson's retirement comes after he had been a late scratch for last week's game against the Rams for personal reasons.
Lane Johnson, a six-time Pro Bowl selection and two-time All-Pro, announced his retirement from the NFL on his personal Instagram account.
Johnson, who played his entire 14-year career with the Philadelphia Eagles, cited personal and family priorities as the reason for his decision.
He missed four days of training camp and Philadelphia's Week 4 game against the Los Angeles Rams for personal reasons, partly due to family responsibilities with his elderly parents.
In his announcement, Johnson emphasized the importance of focusing on his mental health, stating, 'I owe it to my teammates, coaches, the organization, and the fans to have my head and heart 100% in the game.'
The 36-year-old right tackle was a first-round pick in 2013 and was a first-team All-Pro in 2017 and 2022.
Johnson has been a pillar at right tackle and won a pair of Super Bowls with the Eagles.
Over the final years of his career, Johnson opened up about his mental health struggles, revealing that he battled anxiety dating back to his freshman year of college in 2008.
Johnson took a leave of absence during the 2021 season as he battled anxiety and depression and has since shared his story at mental health clinics in the area.
The Eagles were 122-63-1 when Johnson started compared to 18-30 when he was not in the lineup.
Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie praised Johnson, saying, 'Lane excelled under multiple coaching staffs, maintaining an elite level of play throughout his entire career. His combination of talent, strength, athleticism, and intelligence made him a truly unique player in this league, and there is no doubt in my mind that one day he will be named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.'
What this adds
Johnson's retirement was first reported as a surprise inactive status for the Week 4 game against the Rams, which WarpBeat covered earlier this week.
Background
Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson is inactive for Sunday's game against the Rams due to personal reasons, a surprise announcement made just 90 minutes before kickoff.
What's confirmed
- Lane Johnson has announced his retirement from the NFL after 14 seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles.
- "I deeply wanted to gut it out for one more year, to take the field with my brothers for one last season. But after a lot of reflection, I realized that my personal and family priorities in my life have changed. Right now, it is critical that I focus on my mental health. I owe it to my teammates, coaches, the organization, and the fans to have my head and heart 100% in the game. And right now my heart is telling me that it's time to say goobye to football."
What's still developing
- He was an anchor for an offensive line that became the identity of an organization during the best era of its 93-year history correlating with Johnson's tenure from 2013-2026.
- Philadelphia Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert (88) celebrates his touchdown catch with teammate Lane Johnson (65) during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept.
- In turn, Johnson said in August that 2026 would likely be his final year in the NFL.
- Prior to his offseason announcement that he was trending toward retirement, a season-ending injury 10 games into the 2025 campaign raised questions about Johnson's long-term future in the league.
- Extremely rare In the spring of 2013, I found myself on a field in East Texas working out a young Lane Johnson.
- The team listed him as inactive due to personal reasons and did not disclose specific details.
- Johnson stands among the greatest offensive linemen of the 21st century.
- "I'm just thinking about how much I'm going to miss him."
- He noted that his oldest child is 13 and "it's hard to get time back, especially those years I feel like are very pivotal."
- "I've never had any siblings, so being in a locker room, those guys are my brothers," Johnson said.
- "I can tell from body language, I can tell from a lot of stuff that people are not doing good. So my thing is to just talk to them... to get personal with them and really tell them how I was feeling very similar, and I know what you're feeling, I know what you're going through."
Sources
- 97.5 The Fanaticlink
- Bozeman Daily Chroniclelink
- CBS Sportslink
- Espnlink
- FOX Sportslink
- Inquirer.comlink
- NBC Sports Philadelphialink
- NFL Rumors - ProFootballRumors.comlink
- Citizensvoicelink
- Oskaloosalink
- Phillyvoicelink
- Inquirerlink
- Kdhnewslink
- Sbnationlink
- WarpBeat — background on Eagles' Johnson Inactive Due to Personal Reasons link
- CBS Sports — video link