Keyshawn is gone

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Keyshawn Johnson wearing his new uniform

It was rumored that the Tennessee Titans wanted his services and they did.

Keyshawn decided to hang up the cleats instead.

It is not that the offer was not substantial; it was just time to go.

Keyshawn Johnson struggled with the decision…

“I’ve done everything I wanted to do in my career. I tried to find as much as I could to push me back and play football for one or two more years,” Johnson said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon on the USC campus, where he starred as a collegian. “I wavered time and time again. I’ve lived my dream. Now, I’m going to live another dream. I think today is not as emotional as the last two weeks, thinking about it. There were times there were sleepless nights, wondering if this was the right thing to do.” source

In the end, there was lucrative offer from ESPN that just seemed like the right thing to do.

It had been 11 long years in the NFL, then Carolina released him and the Titans were offering to extend that with an invitation to catch some Vince Young passes.

Before announcing his retirement, Johnson had been in talks with the Titans, who are coached by Keyshawn’s longtime friend, Jeff Fisher. Johnson’s agent, Jerome Stanley, said the Titans had offered his client close to $8 million over two years, with much of that sum guaranteed. Stanley said his client’s deal with ESPN is substantial.

Why did he do it and what if it does not work out?

I won the Super Bowl and I got away from the game healthy, and I’m walking away under my own terms,” Johnson said on a media conference call.

He said he won’t be tempted to return to the field.

“Once I’ve made my mind up to walk away from the game, that’s what I’m going to do,” Johnson said. source

In the end, Keyshawn was a great teammate and player, in spite of some difficulties along the way. The perception of selfishness that followed him appeared to diminish in the end.

Johnson played with the Jets, Cowboys, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Carolina Panthers. He was part of Tampa Bay’s Super Bowl- championship team after the 2002 season.

Johnson caught 70 passes for 815 yards and four touchdowns with Carolina last season. The Panthers released the former University of Southern California player in early May after drafting USC receiver Dwayne Jarrett.

Johnson caught 814 passes for 10,571 yards and 64 touchdowns in his career.

Nice job, Keyshawn and welcome to ESPN.

NFL Football Fan Question Are you happy when a star decides to not continue his career too far?

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