After missing Week 4 against the Los Angeles Rams, Philadelphia Eagles star left tackle Lane Johnson abruptly announced his retirement on Tuesday to focus on his mental health. But that reasoning isn’t sitting well with ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith.
On Wednesday’s edition of First Take, Smith seemed to criticize Johnson for choosing to retire in the middle of the season as opposed to doing so before the season. He appeared to have an issue with Johnson suddenly having a mental health problem despite being “in the league forever.”
“Now he calls it quits, not before the season. Not in the offseason…four games into the 2026 season, a dude that has been in the league forever, sits back and says I need to focus on my mental health…” Smith said in a rant this morning.
How do the fans feel about Smith’s remark?
While there are a number of NFL fans who agree with Smith and feel that the timing of the decision is questionable, for the most part, fans believe that Smith was being insensitive to mental health struggles with his remark. They let him have it on social media:
“Dude, I’m not a hater. But you know nothing about how mental health or mood disorders work. Stay in your lane and yell about other (expletive). I’m sure there are other subjects you can rage-bait about. This one shouldnt be one of them though,” one user remarked on X.
“Wow. @stephenasmith has some balls on him. Kimberly was right. You’re making light of this situation. You don’t know what he’s going through. If he tore his shoulder and said “I’m done” would that have been ok? If his head and heart aren’t into it, walk away,” another wrote.
“He tried for the sake of the team. But after 14 years he deserves the opportunity to put himself first. He could have played this out week to week but he did the right thing and took a complete step back,” wrote a third.
Bill Streicher-Imagn Images.
Johnson is a six-time Pro Bowler and five-time All-Pro who was crucial to the Eagles’ two Super Bowl wins. But over the past few years he’s had a slew of injuries, one of which prevented him from helping the Eagles defend their Super Bowl title in the playoffs last year.
Simply put, if he doesn’t feel that he can be a positive force for the Eagles right now, it’s probably better for the team that he DOES step away from the team.
