Frank Ragnow isn't going anywhere but back to work next season. Amid speculation that he might retire, the Lions Pro Bowl center set the record straight Thursday night in Vegas at the NFL awards show.
“I’m not retiring," Ragnow said, via the Free Press.
Ragnow raised some doubts about his future, whether he meant to or not, at locker room clean-out last week. After playing through multiple injuries this season, including a debilitating toe injury that's plagued him for three years, Ragnow said putting his body through so much pain "takes a toll on you."
"It really takes a toll on you, so I need to find a way to get back to Frank," he said, a day after the Lions' 34-31 loss to the 49ers in the NFC championship game. "I don’t regret any of this at all, but it weighs on you and it’s just going to take some time to figure everything out to make sure that I’m feeling good, not only for me the football player but for me to be the best husband and the best father as well."
What he meant by that, he said Thursday, is that "I just need a few weeks to get healthy."
"I guess my typical offseason routine is kind of get right back into it, but I think as I’m getting older I need to understand that sometimes maybe less is more," Ragnow said. "And I just need some time to make sure I’m healthy and then we’ll get rolling again."
The 27-year-old Ragnow, who welcomed his first child with his wife Lucy last August, said he's not yet sure if he'll need any surgeries this offseason after also battling knee, ankle and back injuries this season. He did say that his body is "feeling a lot better so hopefully we’re all good."
Ragnow just completed the first season of the four-year, $54 million extension he signed with the Lions in 2021. He's under contract through 2026.
He said that being in Vegas, where he was a nominee for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award that went to Cameron Heyward of the Steelers and where the 49ers will play the Chiefs on Sunday in the Super Bowl, is "just so frustrating," knowing how close the Lions came to being there themselves.
"Hats off to the 49ers for sure, but man, this should be us and we just need to harness it all and use it as motivation into next year," Ragnow said.