Lane Johnson's announcement Saturday that this probably will be his last NFL season brought up more than a few memories.
His has been quite a journey — from junior college quarterback to best right tackle in Eagles history, with two Super Bowl rings. Johnson is a certainty for the franchise's Hall of Fame, and I think he ought to make the Pro Football Hall of Fame as well, as the best right tackle of his era. (His remarks about the deficiencies of "expert rankings" Saturday were very much on point.)
The sharpest memory that came to mind, though, was of a day exactly 10 years ago, when I emerged from a brief phone conversation with Johnson wondering if his career was going to be one of those "what might have been" stories.
It was August 9, 2016, and my training camp focus was on the new rookie quarterback, Carson Wentz, along with the new head coach, Doug Pederson. Then came a report that Johnson, who had served a four-game NFL suspension in 2014 for what was said to be unapproved Adderall usage, had flunked another drug test. That would mean a 10-game NFL suspension, and more ominously, it would put him on the path to a career-killing 2-year ban, should there be a third such instance.
I called him – I'm pretty sure I was the first reporter to reach him after the news broke – and he initially denied any knowledge of a failed test. Within hours, he'd walked that back. I won't go through the whole history of the next several weeks, but the suspension wasn't announced right away, and then Johnson appealed it. Finally, the appeal was denied, as almost all NFL appeals are, and he started serving the suspension, four games into the season.
#fame #tackle
His has been quite a journey — from junior college quarterback to best right tackle in Eagles history, with two Super Bowl rings. Johnson is a certainty for the franchise's Hall of Fame, and I think he ought to make the Pro Football Hall of Fame as well, as the best right tackle of his era. (His remarks about the deficiencies of "expert rankings" Saturday were very much on point.)
The sharpest memory that came to mind, though, was of a day exactly 10 years ago, when I emerged from a brief phone conversation with Johnson wondering if his career was going to be one of those "what might have been" stories.
It was August 9, 2016, and my training camp focus was on the new rookie quarterback, Carson Wentz, along with the new head coach, Doug Pederson. Then came a report that Johnson, who had served a four-game NFL suspension in 2014 for what was said to be unapproved Adderall usage, had flunked another drug test. That would mean a 10-game NFL suspension, and more ominously, it would put him on the path to a career-killing 2-year ban, should there be a third such instance.
I called him – I'm pretty sure I was the first reporter to reach him after the news broke – and he initially denied any knowledge of a failed test. Within hours, he'd walked that back. I won't go through the whole history of the next several weeks, but the suspension wasn't announced right away, and then Johnson appealed it. Finally, the appeal was denied, as almost all NFL appeals are, and he started serving the suspension, four games into the season.
#fame #tackle
3 days ago
