ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith has been accused of making light of the mental health concerns of retiring Philadelphia Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson.
The 36-year-old two-time Super Bowl champion abruptly announced his retirement from the NFL this week following Sunday’s loss to the Los Angeles Rams. In his statement, the 14-year veteran said he ‘wanted to gut it out for one more year’ but realized his ‘personal and family priorities’ have changed, and he now needs to ‘focus on [his] mental health.’
But while Johnson admitted that retiring was an ‘incredibly difficult decision’ for him personally, Smith chalked up the move to the 2-2 Eagles’ recent struggles.
‘A running game that was virtually non-impressive at the very least to begin with,’ the boisterous Smith bellowed during Wednesday’s episode of First Take. ‘And now [running back] Saquon Barkley got a hamstring injury. A passing game that wasn’t that great to begin with. You lost [wide receiver] AJ Brown [to the New England Patriots], DeVonta Smith, now he gets [a hamstring injury]. Nine starters you finished the game without.
‘Now [Johnson] sat up there, one of the all-time greats on the offensive line, and what he do?’ Smith asked before dropping into a monotone. ‘He went like this: “You know what, I’m gonna call it quits.”
‘Now he calls it quits, not before the season, not in the offseason,’ Smith continued. ‘After being subjected to this, he said life is a little bit too short. I need to focus… what did he say? His mental health? Am I making that up? Four games into the 2026 season, a dude that has been in the league forever, sits back and says I need to focus on my mental health.’
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith has been accused of making light of the mental health concerns of retiring Philadelphia Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson, who left the NFL earlier this week
Lane Johnson has been one of the NFL’s premiere right tackles over the last 14 years
The uneasiness among Smith’s fellow panelists was visible to the audience, and soon long-time NFL reporter Kimberly Martin took it upon herself to address the problem.
‘Lane had contemplated retirement for a while – I’m not surprised [he retired],’ Martin said. ‘I feel like you’re making light of the situation.’
A stunned Smith later thanked Martin for her comment and moved to clarify his message, although he stopped short of issuing an apology to Johnson.
‘Let me be very, very clear and specific about what I’m saying,’ he said. ‘I would never make light of mental health issues. I’m making light of the Philadelphia Eagles’ trashy situation right now.
‘I am saying to you that the Philadelphia Eagles, that this situation is so chaotic and so haphazard, it’s not worth it to a lot of people. This is a guy that hasn’t allowed a sack or a quarterback hit in the three games he’s played this year.
‘He made a decision to come back this season. Usually when NFL players make a decision to come back, they married to it for that year. Then in the offseason they revisit it… to be in Week 4, approaching Week 5, and you choose to walk away? That’s about the Eagles. That is what I am talking about. Not him and his mental health. I’m saying this is the situation can drive you to because the stress ain’t worth it.’
Smith’s explanation did not do much to assuage the criticism he was facing online.
‘Nope, just apologize,’ wrote The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand, who conceded in a previous post that Smith is ‘a good guy’ who may be ‘spread too thin.’
NFL reporter Kimberly Martin told Smith he sounded like he was ‘making light’ of the situation
Fans were a bit more explosive in their responses.
‘What a f***ing callous insensitive f***ing moron,’ one irate critic wrote on X.
‘This is so embarrassing in the year of the lord 2026,’ read another critique. ‘Shame on everyone involved with this farce.’
‘Wow a human being a human,’ read one sarcastic comment on X. ‘What a crazy decision by Lane Johnson.’
Leif H. Smith, a sports psychologist, put it this way: ‘An NFL lineman citing his mental health is not quitting, it’s prioritizing. Ridicule like this is why the next athlete stays quiet until he finally breaks.’
Later, on his podcast, Smith again tried to calm public anger by admitting to his own mental health issues.
‘In 2017, when my mama passed away, God rest her soul, I spent two years with a level of misery I didn’t know existed,’ he said. ‘I actually sought and endured therapy, which rescued me. And to be honest with you, if it weren’t for that and the existence of my daughters, I don’t even know if I’d be here right now, that’s how bad I was.’
