After a season where he added plenty of other ailments to a lingering toe issue, no one would blame Lions center Frank Ragnow for pondering his future. His own words the day after the NFC Championship Game loss to the 49ers confirmed it.
"It takes a toll on you,” Ragnow said. “It really takes a toll on you, so I need to find a way to get back to Frank and I don’t regret any of this at all, but it weighs on you and I’m just going to take some time and really figure everything out to make sure that I’m feeling good, not only for me the football player but for me to be the best husband and best father and everything with that as well.”
Ragnow quickly shut down that retirement talk, at least for the 2024 season.
Still, it's easy to think, speculate, etc. that Ragnow's career will be shortened by all the injuries he has dealt with. Entering his seventh season, maybe he plays out his contract (through 2026) and calls it a career.
Frank Ragnow is clearly tired of retirement speculation
Ragnow had his annual skeet-shooting charity event for his foundation at Lake Orion on Thursday. Speaking to Justin Rogers of the Detroit News, he put any lingering retirement speculation to bed, first harkening back to his words in the heat of the moment after a tough loss.
"I was frustrated," Ragnow said. "It was kind of annoying. All I said was I'm going to need some time to heal up the day after the game. That was my intention and then it took off, which was kind of annoying, but it is what it is."
Ragnow added that he feels as good as he has in a long time.
"I feel really good," Ragnow said. "I feel as good as I've felt in a while. This has been my best offseason, 100%. I really dove into a lot of things to take care of my body and I feel like I'm clicking right now. The goal is to keep it a steady trajectory into the season."
Despite all the ailments he dealt with, Ragnow was still Pro Football Focus' No. 1-graded center and a top-five graded offensive lineman in the league last season. He will be managing his toe issue for the rest of his career, and the end of his career doesn't seem to be coming anytime soon.
