Today’s news of Lions center Frank Ragnow’s retirement came as somewhat of a shock, as he seemed to be coming off a mostly healthy 2024 season. He had missed just one game last year due to a pec strain. Even his chronic toe, which was a permanent fixture on the injury reports in prior seasons, was absent from the reports in 2024. At age 29, Ragnow seemed ready and able to play for multiple more years.
In his Instagram retirement post, Ragnow stated:
I’ve tried to convince myself that I’m feeling good but I’m not and it’s time to prioritize my health.
2021 Season
While there are many possible health reasons to retire from this brutal sport, the chronic toe that Ragnow has been dealing with for multiple years may be the chief culprit. It was previously described as non-surgical and non-fixable.
Here is the suspected video of his toe injury from week 4 in 2021. It’s uncertain if this was the initial injury or an aggravation of a previous injury, but it caused him to miss the rest of that season.
2023 Season
Ragnow also had a rough 2023 season from a health standpoint. In the playoffs, his left knee and ankle were injured twice in a similar mechanism.
Earlier in week 13, he injured his left knee meniscus. He had clean-up arthroscopic surgery and only missed one game.
Ragnow also missed one game with a calf injury in Week 8.
2024 Season
There was speculation Ragnow might retire after that painful 2023 season, but he came back strong and appeared to have a healthier 2024. The left pec strain in Week 3 was his most notable injury, which caused him to miss his only game of the year. He was listed with a back injury after Week 15 but didn’t miss a game for that.
2020 Season
Who can forget Ragnow’s unusual throat cartilage fracture in 2020, which caused him to miss two games.
OUTLOOK
Congrats to Ragnow for a sterling 7-year career after being drafted by the Lions in the 1st round in the 2018 NFL Draft. All indications are that the retirement has been an amicable process, which means we will likely see him make appearances in some capacity with the team in the future.
The early favorite to replace Ragnow may be the Lions’ 2025 2nd-round pick, Tate Ratledge, who was starting at center during OTA. Graham Glasgow, who has played center for the Lions in the past, may start at guard and be the primary center backup.
This article originally appeared on Lions Wire: Frank Ragnow battled through several injuries in his Detroit Lions career
Reporting by Jimmy Liao, MD, Lions Wire / Lions Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
