Calvin Johnson Says He Played Under Influence of Marijuana to Deal With Pain

Few 21st-century football careers leap off the page from a statistical standpoint like former Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson’s. Johnson posted seven 1,000-yard seasons, was named to six Pro Bowls and spent his time engaged in rewriting the Lions’ record book.

However, Johnson’s career was relatively short by Hall of Fame standards. He was inducted despite having played just 135 games over nine seasons and retiring at age 30 after the 2015 season.

Johnson alluded to the physical toll football had taken on him when discussing his retirement in November 2020.

“They’re blowing up the team. My body is aching. I don’t have my range of motion like I use to. I can’t get out, I can’t dig like I used to. I just don’t feel it,” Johnson said of his reasoning at that time.

On Thursday’s episode of the RG3 and The Ones, former NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III's podcast, Johnson went even further—revealing he had been in such pain late in his career that he’d taken to using cannabis before games.

“There were some games in my career, man, where I was like ‘I don’t know if I’m gonna make it today,’” Johnson said, chuckling along with Griffin.

Calvin Johnson was getting FRIED before games at the end of his career. Playing HIGH was the only way he was going to make it through the pain in his body.

Full Convo ???? https://t.co/QVU2VRBIo2 https://t.co/zC50HoLnPt pic.twitter.com/HoU6qvkdAU

— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) February 6, 2024

Griffin asked Johnson—a longtime advocate for research into medicinal uses of marijuana—when he picked up the habit.

“It was, like, my last year,” Johnson said. “When I was just like—When I was barely hanging on.”

Johnson led the NFL in receiving yards twice, including a league-record 1,964 yards in 2012. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2021, his first year of eligibility.