Keyshawn Johnson held a press conference yesterday to officially announce his retirement from the NFL. I don’t think I’m alone in thinking that this retirement won’t last. Keyshawn had plenty of offers to continue playing which as far as I’m concerned, mean that he will have offers for a few years to come.

I can’t count the number of times we see this happen, where a player retires and then a year or so later, he is right back in the game. All of these guys miss the game when they sit out for a year, and I don’t think Keyshawn will be an exception. The exceptions to this rule tend to be guys who retired on their own terms, that is something Keyshawn didn’t get to do. For now, Keyshawn will be an analyst for ESPN, and I probably couldn’t be more pleased. We get rid of one egomaniac who played wide receiver and replace him with another. The upside for Keyshawn is that he never had a cocaine problem to deal with, so he won’t have that hanging over his head when he reaches the ESPN studios.

I’ll be interested to see how Johnson does at ESPN, but I won’t expect him to be there for more than a year. I expect this to turn out similar to all other athletes who take a year off before returning to their sport for one more “shot at a championship.” I hope that isn’t the case for Keyshawn, he had a good enough career where he doesn’t need to add an more past his prime years to his resume.

I couldn’t help but laugh when hearing the news that Keyshawn Johnson had been cut from the Carolina Panthers. While working the NFL draft for ESPN, Johnson seemed excited about the upcoming year, only to get owned by Panthers management after they drafted USC wide receiver Dwayne Jarrett.

There’s speculation as to where Keyshawn will land, though its undeniable that there are teams that could use a veteran receiver like Johnson. One place he could very well end up at is Tennessee with young star Vince Young. Sure, the two might get at each other with an instant Texas USC rivalry, but Young could use a veteran like Johnson to get open while Young dodges the defenders coming through the revolving door offensive line of the Titans.

Another place he could end up is with Brett Favre in Green Bay. Favre hasn’t kept quiet about his disappointment in the Packers organization for not going after Randy Moss. Keyshawn doesn’t exactly have the blazing speed of Moss, but he’s a hell of an upgrade over Greg Jennings or Ruvell Martin (who the hell are these guys?). It would be good for Keyshawn to go to a city that would support him even when he drops crucial balls, unlike in New York where the fans rode his ass out of town.

Keyshawn still has some time to decide where he wants to end up. In my opinion, Tennessee and Green Bay would be his best options. Though he asked the Chargers (who promptly said hell no), I think his best fit would be in a middle of the pack team where he can be the guy who puts the team over the top and into contention.

Keyshawn Johnson was cut by the Carolina Panthers today, making that two cuts in just two years for the former #1 pick. Last year Johnson was cut to make room for Terrell Owens in Dallas, this year he’s being cut because the Panthers are making a move towards younger players.

I’m surprised that they cut him, I figured that they would try to use the Keyshawn and Dwyane Jarrett USC connection to help Jarrett with the transition. Actually I think most people thought that, but now the former Trojan is going to be stuck looking for work. I’m sure there will be a team who will pick up Keyshawn, the guy can still play and magically has lost his ego. This isn’t the same “Meshawn” who wrecked havoc in New York and Tampa Bay. Keyshawn has his ego under control and I think would be a great addition for many teams who might have a few young receivers who are in need of some tutoring. He wouldn’t be a waste of a roster space either, or so his 70 catches last year say.

Johnson appeared to take it in stride, and he isn’t the only talented veteran out on the market. Between Johnson and Keenan McCardell there is a lot of veteran talent at the wide receiver spot. And if all else fails, Johnson proved that he can put in some work with ESPN taking the place of a different wide receiver who can’t lay off the nose candy.

Keyshawn Johnson was fined $5,000 yesterday in the aftermath of Carolina’s Monday Night Football loss in Philadephia. If you missed it, Keyshawn looked uncoordinated and was about 5 yards away from catching Jake Delhomme’s late fade pass. The pass was intercepted, causing Keyshawn to have a fit. His helmet took the majority of the beating. He threw it to the ground and watched it roll for 20 yards. That’s about $250 per yard. Keyshawn could have bought Nintendo Wii’s for 19 kids, while still having enough money to buy me one. Instead, he’s paying fines. Maybe he should have targeted Jake Delhomme with the toss.