Ted Johnson announces retirement.

Ted Johnson announced his retirement from The Pats today. The first thing I thought when I read about this was, "Ohhhhh FUCK!"

This is a sudden and shocking announcement. I don't think anybody saw this coming. Of course it comes one day before camp starts. This really puts our Linebacking corps into a spin. We've got some younger guys on the rise and some free-agents that have been signed to the team but none have shown themselves to be the type of player Ted Johnson is. Granted he has had his role somewhat reduced in the last few seasons but I don't think the impact of his presence on the field can be understated. Ted Johnson is a run stopper, pure and simple and is an extremely smart player.

Let me say, this announcement does not take anything away from my feelings about Ted himself. I'm not pissed off at him at all. Ted is one of my favorite players and I completely understand and respect his reasoning for wanting to retire. It's a purely personal decision and as a Pats Fan I have no problem with it.

Really it's the timing of the announcement and the potential effect it's going to have on the team that's upsetting me. I guess if Ted's going to retire, it's best for the team to do it before Camp starts, rather than in the middle of it, which is what has happened the last few years with some O-linemen.

Right now, I'm still in shock. It's going to take me a little while to digest this.

For now I'll just say thanks to Ted for all his years as a Patriot. Even though he did suffer from some injury problems along the way, I think the play of #52 will stand out for a long time to come.

First Bruschi, now Teddy Johnson. Damn... this is a blow. Now we'll have to wait and see how The Pats deal with this. Time for some younger guys to step up. Hopefully Rosevelt Colvin will be back to full-force this season, but he is an outside guy... Well, we'll see what happens next!

"In Belichick we Trust"