Lane Johnson retires midseason in Eagles stunner

Eagles offensive lineman Lane Johnson announced he was retiring in a statement posted to social media on Tuesday. The announcement ends a 14-year NFL career for the 36-year-old that had been spent entirely with Philadelphia and saw him win two Super Bowl titles with the Eagles. “I have given it my all for 14 years; season after season pushing my body to the max and tirelessly working my craft to not only live up to the legacy of the guys that came before me, but to set a new standard of success for the best franchise in all of sports,” he wrote in his announcement. “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, l’ve 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 percent in the game.

And right now my heart is telling me that it’s time to say goodbye to football.”Johnson is one of the top offensive linemen in the NFL and is expected to be a future Hall of Famer.The Eagles drafted him with the fourth overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft. Over the course of his career, Johnson had been a six-time Pro Bowler and was named a First-Team All-Pro twice. Johnson had missed four training camp practices over the summer due to personal reasons and was surprisingly listed as inactive in the Eagles’ Week 4 loss to the Rams for personal reasons. “Right now, what’s most important to me is continuing to focus on my mental health and spending more time with my kids and family.

But Philadelphia will always be home, and I will forever be an Eagle,” he said in his statement. Eagles chairman and CEO Jeffrey Lurie praised Johnson in a statement, describing him as an “all-time Eagle and one of the best players ever to play his position in NFL history.” “Lane excelled under multiple coaching s...