Bob Wojnowski: Frank Ragnow's sudden retirement from Lions painful in many ways

DETROIT — It was the ankle injury, the groin injury and the various foot injuries, including the inoperable toe. It was the knee injury, the back injury and the fractured throat (!). It was the torn pectoral muscle last season, and the unrelenting pain.

It was all that and more, and ultimately, it was too much. Lions’ center Frank Ragnow is leaving football ahead of schedule — still an elite player at 29 — but in his mind, right on time. Ragnow’s surprise retirement Monday after seven seasons manning the middle of the trenches on the Lions’ stellar offensive line was a good move for him, from a life standpoint.

It’s a major blow for the Lions, from a football and leadership standpoint. One year after their 15-2 season was derailed by a massive batch of injuries, mostly on defense, the latest hit came early. Their offensive line, the backbone of the NFL’s highest-scoring offense, was considered top-three in the league, needed more than ever as the Lions prepare for a brutal schedule.

Now add the specter of possibly starting a rookie at center (Tate Ratledge, who played guard at Georgia). Perhaps more likely, at least initially, it could be 10-year veteran guard Graham Glasgow, who previously played center for the Lions in 2018. Or maybe someone from free agency or in a trade.

Contingency plans

I’m not being an alarmist, just a realist. The Lions are likely to dip a bit in protection and production, but depending on what they do, this shouldn’t wreck their biggest strength. They still have an outstanding tackle tandem in Penei Sewell and Taylor Decker, and they’ve drafted well in preparation for this.

The news may have stunned fans, but the team wasn’t completely blindsided, knowing Ragnow’s injury history. Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell developed contingency plans, as best they could. They drafted Ratledge in the second round this year and LSU’s Miles Frazier in the fifth. They cross-trained both at guard and center during rookie minicamp.

Of course, the Lions have nobody remotely as strong and seasoned as Ragnow. He made four Pro Bowls, including the last three, so his effectiveness wasn’t overly diminished. He was drafted in the first round in 2018, one of the few gifts left by the previous regime.

"I've tried to convince myself that I'm feeling good, but I'm not, and it's time to prioritize my health and my (family's) future," Ragnow wrote on Instagram. "I have given this team everything I have and I thought I had more to give, but the reality is I simply don't. I have to listen to my body and this has been the hardest decision of my life.”

Ragnow periodically mused at the end of previous seasons about the grind and hinted at a shorter timeline. He wasn’t at the Lions’ OTA practices over the weekend, which portended something. He had two years left on his contract, but this never looked like a negotiating ploy.

He’s beloved by teammates for his low-key demeanor, stoic attitude and wry humor. Jared Goff once called him “the toughest guy I’ve played with.” Teammates hopped on social media Monday to praise and thank Ragnow with uplifting messages.

Nobody could blame Ragnow, and nobody should. When he partially tore his pec last season against the Cardinals, he didn't miss a snap in the contest, then sat out one game. When he broke his throat bone in 2020 against the Packers, he didn’t miss a snap, then sat out one game. He was the quarterback in front of the quarterback, calling signals for the line, leading in numerous ways.

Ragnow’s departure adds to the Lions’ offseason upheaval. The coaching staff was raided, with Ben Johnson leaving for the Bears and Aaron Glenn departing for the Jets. Just as daunting was the prospect of losing longtime line coach Hank Fraley, who interviewed for the Seahawks’ offensive coordinator job. Ragnow said then he’d do whatever it took to keep Fraley, delivering a passionate message with a touch of humor.

“I haven’t played in this league without Hank, and I don’t plan on doing it,” Ragnow said. “I’ll sabotage him, I’ll leak stories, whatever it takes. … He’s everything to me. He’s been there since Day 1.”

Fraley stayed, and Ragnow tried to stay. To play through so much pain, someone truly has to love the game. But he has a family with one kid and another on the way, and he is an avid hunter and fisherman in his native Minnesota and all around Michigan.

This is why playoff runs are so precious, and success can be fleeting in a brutal sport. On the defensive line, Aidan Hutchinson missed most of last season, then Alim McNeill went down with a torn ACL in December and might not be back until midseason. Virtually every defensive lineman was sidelined at some point, and it ended in a 45-31 home playoff loss to Washington in January.

As he prepared for the offseason, Ragnow acknowledged the toll and the general uncertainty of the NFL.

"This league, that's the one thing that sucks is, it's never going to be the same team,” Ragnow said. "There's so many talented dudes in this room. Not only talented, but the right mindset.”

No, the Lions aren’t fraying, and the injured will return. They’ve suffered a bit more misfortune than other teams, but they can’t lament it. Most of their offensive stars, from Goff to Penei Sewell to Jahmyr Gibbs to Amon-Ra St. Brown, are healthy and in their primes. This still is an 11-6 type team, although the task keeps getting tougher.

More than skill

Ragnow’s smarts will be missed, especially as the Lions break in a new offensive coordinator in John Morton. Mostly, his toughness will be missed. He went down with a knee injury in the Lions’ playoff victory two years ago against Tampa Bay but returned to throw a key block. In the locker room afterward, Decker nearly broke down describing what Ragnow meant to them.

“The dude’s just a warrior, man,” Decker said that night. “It seems he’s always just fighting pain all the time. And he’s the best center in football.”

Two weeks after that 31-23 victory over the Bucs, the Lions fell short of the Super Bowl, blowing a 24-7 halftime lead at San Francisco in the NFC Championship Game in 2024. In the aftermath, Campbell made an honest, sobering statement, which rings true today: “I told those guys, ‘This might have been our only shot.’ I know how hard it is to get here.”

Ragnow didn’t get another shot to fulfill his Super Bowl ambition, but the Lions still harbor theirs. Their offensive line still boasts Sewell, Decker, Glasgow and Fraley. Protecting Goff will be paramount, priority No. 1 for the new coordinator.

Ratledge and Glasgow took first-team center snaps in the OTAs, and Holmes always tries to restock the offensive line, adding Ratledge and Frazier. Both are guards but with plenty of flexibility.

Ratledge is especially intriguing, 6-foot-6, 308 pounds with a nasty edge. Holdovers Christian Mahogany and Colby Sorsdal also might get a look. Before OTAs, Fraley did a little foreshadowing about Ratledge’s possible impact.

“Center is not as natural for him yet, so you definitely tend to give him more reps at that,” Fraley said. “Our centers, like across the whole league, do a lot. They're like quarterbacks of that O-line. They set a lot of the protections, a lot of the calls, and they work one-on-one with the QB. In time, he's going to get it down and become a pretty good center here.”

“In time” might be ahead of time, which is too bad. For all his injuries, Ragnow was still playing at a high level, still a cornerstone. I assume he won’t miss the pain, but the Lions will miss his unyielding determination to play through it.

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