Rich’s Heartfelt Message to Lane Johnson in the Wake of the Eagles OT’s Unexpected Retirement

Rich had a message for anyone treating Lane Johnson's retirement as a football story: you are missing the point.

The segment opened with breaking news that only added to the Eagles' offensive line upheaval. Philadelphia traded two-time Pro Bowl center Cam Jurgens and a seventh-round pick to the Ravens for a 2027 fifth-round pick and a 2028 second-round pick. Jurgens is still in the concussion protocol and is not expected to make his Ravens debut until two weeks from now against the Browns. Rich called it "wild," noting Jurgens was the man filling the very large shoes of Jason Kelce, and that the deal came a day after Johnson retired, with the line already in flux and Jeff Stoutland no longer there.

Then Rich turned to Johnson, and his tone changed.

It is rare, Rich said, to see a first-ballot Hall of Famer walk away four weeks into a season. But looking at it through a football lens "sounds either tone-deaf or downright missing the point." Johnson retired, as he said and as many suspected, because of his mental health, which he has spoken about for a long time.

Rich read from Johnson's farewell on Instagram. Johnson wrote that he deeply wanted to gut it out for one more year after 14 seasons and take the field with his brothers for one last season. "But after a lot of reflection, I've realized that my personal and family priorities in my life have changed," he wrote. "Right now, it's critical that I focus on my mental health." He added that he could not give his head and heart 100 percent to the game and that his heart was telling him to say goodbye to football.

Rich said a football conversation about what the Eagles do now without Johnson is fair. What is not fair is the suggestion that he walked away because Philadelphia has no shot to win this year. "That is beyond the pale," Rich said.

To make the point, Rich played audio of Johnson calling into the show back in 2023, before the Zoom era, talking openly about this very subject.

"I think developing the person outside of this game is ideal," Johnson said then. He explained that many players spend a whole career in the NFL without adapting to what life after football looks like, and that the transition can be tough. "I work with a sports psychologist, I'll talk to therapists," he said. "As reluctant as I was to try it in the beginning, I found out I was able to maybe peel back layers of myself and become a better father, become a better friend, become a better teammate."

Rich spoke to anyone who has watched a loved one struggle. "If you know somebody who deals with mental health problems, you know this is no laughing matter," he said. "This is no joke."

He described the frustration of a culture that views football players as tough and assumes mental health is something you can push through because there is no cast, crutch or brace to see. "But I'll guarantee you, anybody who's hearing me right now who has a family member who deals with mental health problems, you see it, you feel it, and it crushes you because you want to help that loved one in the worst way," Rich said. "And sometimes you can't."

He noted that the person you want to help is sometimes unable to receive that love and help in a way that is useful to them, and sometimes they do not understand why. "It's awful," he said.

That is why Rich called the decision commendable. Johnson knows he has to deal with it, and football has become the impediment. Rich said he is sure Johnson would love to play another year with his teammates and collect another year of salary, but for whatever reason he cannot. "That's not weakness," Rich said. "It's something he's got to deal with and step away."

And for those still framing it as a ring chase in reverse? "You're missing the point of all this," Rich said. "Completely missing the point."

He closed with his best to Johnson and his family. Rich recalled Jay Glazer talking about gray days, waking up to a gray day without knowing why, and hoped Johnson's days are sunny ones in Philadelphia.

"We'll see you in Canton the first second you will be able to," Rich said, "cuz he's that good."