0xbt

By the time the Chargers called during the offseason to offer him a tryout Cortez Broughton Jersey Color Rush , Still reeling from a year in which he spent time with five teams and got cut six times, the NFL linebacker passed on the chance to grind it out in camp.He retired at age 27 after four seasons.He wasn’t sad to see his playing days come to an end.“It’s just better now, knowing that if I go to work every day, work hard, get better at my job and learn everything I can in the occupation, that I’ll continue to progress,” said Johnson, now 29, who works as an emergency medical technician near his hometown of Fairfield, California, with hopes of joining a fire department. “Everything’s not based on my 40-yard dash.”While the league this week will celebrate the longevity of 41-year-old Super Bowl quarterback Tom Brady and others like him, stories resembling Johnson’s — a short stay in the league Womens Cortez Broughton Jersey , followed by a virtually unnoticed retirement — are far more common.A first-of-its-kind analysis, conducted by The Associated Press , found that the average amount of experience on opening-day NFL rosters has dropped from 4.6 to 4.3 years over the past 14 seasons . That’s despite provisions in the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement that had the potential to extend players’ careers.Had Johnson chosen to stick it out and made it onto the Chargers’ roster, they could have gotten him for cheap. Under one of the provisions covering veterans, he could have received a one-year contract for the 2017 league-minimum $775,000, and it would have counted as only $615,000 against the team’s salary cap.But Johnson, a fourth-round pick in 2012, had stuck around long enough to qualify for a modest pension and, with the help of the NFL, had a decent 401(k) started. He loved helping people and looked forward to a different kind of life.So he decided to give up the game before some assistant coach or general manager he barely knew made the decision for him.Johnson — who played what is considered one of the league’s most disposable positions — said that he had never even heard of the salary provision that might have helped him Cortez Broughton Los Angeles Chargers Jerseys , but that it didn’t sound like a realistic way of keeping guys like him around.“They’re always going to go with the younger player,” Johnson said. “You’re always going to go with the first-year undrafted free agent over the fourth- or fifth-year guy, when you’re dealing with the roster bubble and a couple hundred thousand dollars.”Eric Winston, president of the NFL Players’ Association, agreed: “There are very few positions outside of quarterback where teams are going to want to keep a veteran who’s decently paid and doesn’t start.”There were other factors at play in Johnson’s decision.The Hollywood hit “Concussion” came out during his final season. The movie is based on the real-life investigation into the brain disease caused by multiple hits to the head — a disorder discovered in more than 100 deceased former NFL players who donated their brains to science.Johnson estimates he has had scores of head traumas over his dozen years of football at the high school, college and pro levels. He tells of one instance — not all that uncommon — when he got hit so hard against the Cowboys that “I felt like someone had thrown a grenade at me.”“I don’t remember how I got to the sideline,” he said. “But when you watch the film, you see me, and you say, ‘All that happened was he got hit, hopped up and jogged off.’ Nobody knew anything bad had happened to me.”Because of what he knows now, Johnson feels compelled to someday spell out the risks to his 4-year-old son Los Angeles Chargers Jerseys Stitched , James-Michael Jr., if he wants to play football.“I still wonder how that’s all going to play out for me when I’m 45 or 50,” Johnson said.Though he misses the competition, he doesn’t miss football itself. In fact, he barely ever watches it.His best memories of the NFL will be what happened off the field. He loved the Tuesdays when he would be invited to schools, food banks or charity events for a chance to meet people in the community. He made friends in all the locker rooms he was part of.Fresh out of football, Johnson considered scouting and coaching, only to be turned off by both.Invited to an NFL rules meeting, Johnson said he felt the priority wasn’t to make the game safer or more fair.Meanwhile, coaches he looked up to in college described a transient existence of slowly working your way up the ladder in a career that is ultimately dependent on head coaches who commonly get fired every four or five years.To Johnson, it sounded not all that different from the life he had just left. In all, he got cut seven times by six teams.Though his paychecks are not as gaudy these days Cortez Broughton Jersey 2019 , Johnson feels as if he can breathe again.“Now, I know if I do my job to the best of my ability, I can keep coming to work,” he said. “Someone’s not to call me up into the office and say, ‘We looked at the tape, and we’re thinking about bringing in a younger, better player today.'”Los Angeles Chargers Daily Links: Will Philip Rivers Be the MVP of the AFC West? RB leaders in fantasy points per route run - Tyler LoechnerHere are the top 10 running backs (minimum 100 routes run) in terms of FP/RR from 2017 (PPR scoring). This data includes only receiving fantasy points scored.Pro Football FocusFive Fun Facts: Scott Quessenberry - Hayley ElwoodWhen Scott Quessenberry was drafted by the Bolts, he became the second member of his family to play in the NFL. His brother, David, plays for the Texans. “It’s really cool, and it’s crazy because Derek (Watt) and I are together and David and J.J. (Watt) are together. It’s great to be able to talk about everything that goes on in the league like different policies and rule changes. So to have somebody in my family to talk to is pretty sweet.”RB leaders in fantasy points per touch - Tyler LoechnerAustin Ekeler — a sneaky option to have a successful 2018 campaign — ranked third, with 1.08 fantasy points per touch. He wasn’t too far behind Kamara and he was on pace with Chris Thompson Cheap Cortez Broughton Jersey , who was smashing in fantasy before sustaining an injury.NFL's best and worst offensive arsenals: 32-1 weapons ranking - Bill BarnwellThe obvious star is Keenan Allen, who has averaged 87.2 receiving yards per game over the past three years, which is fourth in the league over that time frame. The problem is that the former Cal star also has missed 23 games over that stretch with various injuries, and he just completed his first full 16-game season after five years in the NFL. Melvin Gordon also finished his first full season in three years, and while he has been a productive fantasy back, he has yet to average 4.0 yards per carry once as a pro.AFC West Q&A: Who will be the division MVP? - ESPN.com staffRivers is more than the AFC West's senior statesman under center -- the No. 4 overall pick of the 2004 draft also became the ninth member of the NFL's 50,000-yard passing club last season. Maturing weapons such as receiver Keenan Allen and running back Melvin Gordon will make Rivers, who turns 37 in December, only more dangerous.Social Media Information:BFTB Facebook Page: Click here to like our pageBFTB Twitter: Follow @BFTB_ChargersThe Lightning Round Twitter: Follow @Lightning_RoundThe Lightning Round Facebook: Click here to like our pageBFTB Manager: Richard Wade: Follow @RichardWade