What’s so perfect about goodbye?

Calvin Johnson is retiring. At 30 years old, Johnson has deemed it time to head into another phase in his life, leaving behind some of the greatest talents ever witnessed on a football field.

Johnson came into the league with much fanfare. He was the second-overall pick of the 2007 National Football League Draft, taken one spot behind JaMarcus Russell and five selections ahead of Adrian Peterson. The former Georgia Tech star produced at incredible levels for a decade, but now leaves behind a legacy of great play and unfulfilled potential, through no fault of his own.

Johnson is the kind of player we all root for. He has been nothing but humble off the field, a pillar in his community. The young man has the Calvin Johnson Jr. Foundation, which has the following mission:

“To change the mindset of the youth from struggle to survival, from poor self-esteem to excitement of life, from dependent thinking to goal setting self-sufficiency, and from hopelessness to empowerment.”

In this age of troubled waters for the NFL and its media relations department, Johnson was a shining light both on and off the field. In recent years, the future Hall of Famer has been battling nagging injuries from back to feet, perhaps pushing his decision to walk away from the game he loves.

Yet, the gnawing thought is that Johnson lost the zest for this great game because of the team he plays for. The Detroit Lions have been unlovable losers for more than 50 years now. This is not the first time a superstar of Motown has called it quits well before his time, ready to escape the misery.

It was July 27, 1999. The Lions were getting ready to open up training camp under head coach Bobby Ross, his third year running the team. For Barry Sanders, Ross was his second coach after playing his first eight years under Wayne Fontes. Fontes was never a great coach, but the Ford family supported him for nearly a decade.

Instead of reporting for camp, Sanders decided to retire. Most believed that Sanders would come back after skipping training camp as so many veterans do, but he never played another down, citing a lost of love for the game. Sanders had turned 30 years old a week and a half earlier.

In his 10-year career, Sanders never rushed for less than 1,115 yards or 4.3 yards per carry. To this day, he trails only Jamaal Charles, Jim Brown and Mercury Morris in all-time yards per carry, walking away at an even 5.0. In his penultimate campaign, Sanders authored one of the finest years a running back has ever enjoyed, going for 2,053 yards on a whopping 6.1 yards per carry.

Much like Johnson, Sanders was always saddled with the Lions. He played with a terrific receiver in Herman Moore and a quality tackle in Lomas Brown, but the rest of his team was underwhelming to say the least. Sanders won a single playoff game over his 10 years, with an NFC Divisional victory against the Dallas Cowboys in 1991.

Sanders would make it to the postseason on five occasions (Johnson made it twice), only notching a win in his first dalliance.

Johnson was arguably the greatest receiver in pro football during his nine-year span. With a career that totaled 731 receptions, 11,619 yards and 83 touchdowns, the pride of Newnan, Ga. will one day be getting enshrined in Canton. He was a dominant force from start to finish, despite having almost nobody of note playing alongside him.

During his career, Johnson did enjoy a solid quarterback in Matthew Stafford. Stafford came onto the scene after Johnson’s second year, when the youngster endured an 0-16 campaign, the only time that has happened in NFL history. Stafford is not an all-time quarterback but certainly above-average, throwing for 25,976 yards since being taken with the top pick in the 2009 NFL Draft.

Unfortunately, Johnson never saw much help otherwise. He mostly played with below-average receivers and tight ends, with the exception of Golden Tate over the last two years. The offensive lines always hindered the running game, and the defense rarely was anything to speak of. In Johnson’s nine seasons with the Lions, they were able to have a winning season just twice.

The six-time Pro Bowler and four-time All-Pro has nothing left to give, and is likely exhausted from being forced to give so much.

Jerry Rice had Joe Montana, John Taylor and Roger Craig. Lynn Swann had Terry Bradshaw, John Stallworth and Franco Harris. Michael Irvin had Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Jay Novachek.

Johnson had Stafford and nothing else for the majority of his illustrious career.

Sanders actually had some help at the skill positions, with the aforementioned Moore and Brett Perriman, a standout at the University of Miami who churned out a pair of 1,000-yard seasons in 1995 and 1996 with Detroit. Moore would provide fireworks as well, amassing four consecutive 1,000-yard campaigns from 1994-97.

The problem for Sanders was three-fold. His coaching staffs were always woefully outmatched, the defense was never better than mediocre, and most importantly, his quarterbacks were terrible. From his rookie season of 1989 through his swan song of 1998, Sanders played with Rodney Peete, Bob Gagliano, Eric Hipple, Andre Ware, Erik Kramer, Scott Mitchell, Dave Krieg, Don Majkowski, Charlie Batch and Frank Reich.

With those men at the helm, teams consistently stacked the box. Sanders was still able to produce 10 Pro Bowl appearances along with being named a First-Team All-Pro on six occasions and a Second-Team All-Pro four other times. Sanders also led the league in rushing four times and was named the league’s Most Valuable Player in 1991, the only year the Lions have ever reached the NFC Championship Game.

Sanders retired with 15,269 rushing yards, second only at the time to Walter Payton, who totaled 16,726 rushing yards. Assuming Sanders stayed healthy in 1999 (he only missed seven games in his career), it is safe to think Sanders would have taken the mantle and perhaps reached 20,000 yards before his career was over.

Of active players, only four men have more receiving yards than Johnson. Andre Johnson is leading the way with 14,100 yards, followed by Steve Smith (13,932), Larry Fitzgerald (13,366) and Anquan Boldin (13,195). Fitzgerald is the youngest of that bunch at 32 years old, while Boldin is 35, Smith is 36 and Johnson is 34.

All time, Johnson is 27th on the list. He stands directly behind Hall of Famer Don Maynard, and also looking up at Derrick Mason, Hines Ward, Jimmy Smith and Irving Fryar. His career does not measure up as one of the elite greats on a statistical scale because of its briefness, but anybody who laid eyes on Johnson understands his impact.

At 6-foot-5 and 239 pounds, Johnson changed the way that defenses could guard against Detroit. Most receivers of that statue are slow and plodding, but Johnson was known for his explosion both off the line and out of cuts. He also had the devastating ability to leap up and take a jump ball, shaking a defender or two before setting sail for the end zone.

It’s a testament to his greatness that he was able to maintain such lofty stats despite being double-covered almost every game. Teams knew that the Lions only had one main option, and Johnson still went for at least 1,000 yards in each of his last six campaigns and seven of his nine in total. In 2012, Johnson set a single-season record for the most receiving yards in a season, going for 1,964 on 122 catches. The year prior, Johnson astounded with 1,681 yards with 16 touchdowns, leading the NFL.

Johnson was an all-time great, even if his career numbers get overshadowed as time goes on.

For all of Sanders’ greatness, he will always be dogged for his showing in the 1994 postseason at Lambeau Field in the NFC Wild Card round against the Green Bay Packers. Green Bay was a loaded team with a defensive line that included Reggie White, Santana Dotson and Gilbert Brown.

Detroit was outclassed in every way, and Sanders had arguably his worst day as a professional. The former Oklahoma State University star and unanimous All-American was held to -1 rushing yards on 13 carries. Despite never trailing by more than 10 points and having Krieg at quarterback, Fontes decided to throw 35 times. It was the epitome of Sanders’ career. Bad coaching, horrible quarterback play and another harrowing loss.

Many remember that nationally televised performance and talk about whether Sanders was perhaps overrated. Nothing could be further from the truth for a player who never had a chance, yet created space from nothing. On that day, Sanders had no crease and continuously attempted to create one, pleading with the Green Bay defense to simply make one mistake. They would not, and Sanders would go home.

Fontes would be fired after two more mediocre campaigns. Ross would replace him. The beat would go on, and Sanders would slowly be ground up and spit out, like the generations of Lions’ players before and after him.

Johnson and Sanders. Forever entwined as two football greats who were drafted into ineptitude and never played anywhere else. Both were loyal to the cause and were paid well for it, but ultimately were denied the ultimate moment of raising the Lombardi Trophy toward the sky.

Since 1957, the Lions have not advanced to the championship game. It has been called the Curse of Bobby Layne, the Detroit quarterback who captained the Lions’ last title run. After the team traded him to the lowly Pittsburgh Steelers following the 1958 season, Layne famously quipped that Detroit would not win again for 50 years.

That so-called curse ran out in 2008, but one would imagine that Layne, who passed in 1986, would have been kind enough to lift his hex for the gifts of Sanders. He played brilliantly, he played tough, and most importantly, he always played. Despite taking a constant pounding from crowded boxes on the Astroturf of the Pontiac Silverdome, Sanders tried time and again to push the Lions into a Super Bowl. He could never do it. He quit trying at 30 years old, battered and broken.

Johnson can certainly relate. At the same age, Johnson has decided another pursuit in life is better than being hit dozens of times every autumn Sunday. At some point, the mind overtakes the heart and tells you that enough has been taken, and it is time to move on. Johnson played hurt throughout much of his final years and was still worthy of every superlative in the English language.

Farewell to another king of Motown, sooner than it should have come.