Frank Ragnow gave his all to Detroit Lions in career marked by toughness through ups and downs
DETROIT — The final battle of Frank Ragnow's career was one between body and mind. It was an all-too-familiar back-and-forth, unfolding over the past few months of his final NFL offseason. Ragnow's mind had won these sparring matches up until now. But clarity, as it so often does, declared a winner.
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Ragnow, 29, is retiring from the NFL.
'These past couple of months have been very trying as I've come to the realization that my football journey is ending and I'm officially retiring from the NFL,' Ragnow announced on Instagram Monday morning. '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. 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 one of the hardest decisions of my life.
'It was an absolute honor going to battle for you all.'
As an offensive lineman, you're taught that the nagging pain you're subjected to comes secondary to the satisfaction of being there for your teammates. Ragnow has a master's degree in this subject and could teach a class on it twice a week in his newfound free time. He epitomized it more than anyone in the league, and his ability to will his body when it so often betrayed him was a hallmark of a Hall of Fame-caliber career.
It defied logic. It's how a native Minnesotan endeared himself to the city of Detroit and the state of Michigan. It's what made him one of the best of his generation. And it's what makes the end of his time here in Detroit — on top of his game after just seven NFL seasons — so bittersweet.
In April 2018, the Detroit Lions' war room picked up the phone and dialed a number with a Minnesota area code to deliver some good news. A young, wide-eyed center out of Arkansas was on the receiving end, surrounded by loved ones, waiting for it.
Teary-eyed and at a loss for words, Ragnow answered the call from the Lions — and has continued to do so ever since. There wasn't a more respected player in this locker room than Ragnow during his time in Detroit. His status as one of the sport's best centers, accompanied by his humble demeanor and his willingness to surrender himself in ways most rational people wouldn't, helped craft a legacy that will last beyond his years.
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This town holds a special place for those who give everything they have. Ragnow did that and more.
'To be an offensive lineman, you don't get much of the glory,' Ragnow said at his introductory press conference. 'You don't get much of anything else. You gotta love football.'
Ragnow loved football. He wouldn't be here, starring for this version of the Detroit Lions, if he didn't. Football, unfortunately, didn't always love him back.
This violent, unforgiving sport plays favorites. He was not among them.
Drafted by a franchise known for its losing history, Ragnow was subjected to the culture that preceded him. It's all he knew early in his career, going 14-33-1 in his first three NFL seasons. The Lions were once a franchise where careers like Ragnow's were wasted. And yet, Ragnow went to war for an organization that had failed many of its best and brightest before him.
Ragnow emerged as one of the game's elite centers. He earned four Pro Bowl nods and three second-team All-Pro honors in his seven-year career. He was one of the sport's most cerebral players, acting as a coach on the field and helping his quarterbacks and fellow linemen anticipate blitzes. He was a stout run-blocker who only allowed six sacks in seven seasons — a complete center with no holes in his game.
And when he wasn't anchoring one of the league's best offensive lines, Ragnow could often be found on a boat with his brother, Jack, fishing wherever the wind took them, or putting his heart and soul into his foundation — Rags Remembered.
Ragnow's father, John, died of a heart attack in 2016. He never got to see his son play in the NFL. John Ragnow was Frank's best friend, and fishing is how they bonded. Ragnow's foundation strives to help grieving children manage the loss of a parent through outdoor activities. His work earned him a Walter Payton Man of the Year nomination in 2023.
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Ask about Ragnow, and you'll quickly learn how the league felt about him.
'He's one of the best centers I've ever had the privilege of playing against,' Vikings safety Harrison Smith said of Ragnow on Monday. 'He does it the right way. I think the first time I actually had quality time with him was when I was nominated for Walter Payton Man of the Year. And so was he. I got to learn about all of the things he does off the field and the type of husband and family man that he is.
'I know that every time I had to play against him, I had to buckle my chinstrap extra tight and watch a lot of extra film. There are centers I've talked to and our offensive linemen, after playing him, would come up and ask me questions about how he would block things. …His technique and fundamentals and the way he played were acknowledged by all players on both lines of scrimmage.'
For the Lions, the extent of Ragnow's value often presented itself in ways initially unbeknownst to them. In the first quarter of a December contest against the Green Bay Packers in 2020, Ragnow informed former Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford that Stafford would need to make the line calls for the rest of the day.
Ragnow would if he could. But he fractured his throat and could barely speak.
He finished the game without missing a single snap or allowing a single pressure.
'I didn't really notice it and didn't even know it until Monday,' former Lions running backs coach Kyle Caskey said. 'He did a good job of hiding it from us.'
'Pretty crazy that he was able to finish the game with that,' Stafford said.
Ragnow was notorious for downplaying the status of his injuries — sometimes admirable, other times concerning. You wouldn't know how bad things were until someone close to Ragnow offered insight on his behalf, much to his chagrin.
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Late in the 2023 season, Ragnow injured his knee in a game against the New Orleans Saints. It was significant enough to require meniscus surgery that December. The Lions were on the cusp of their first division title in 30 years, and the first playoff appearance of Ragnow's career, six years in.
The timing was far from ideal. So Ragnow conquered time.
Ragnow missed a grand total of one game — a 28-13 loss to the Chicago Bears — before returning the following week.
'That's how Frank is,' Campbell said. 'Frank is going to will himself to play. His mind controls his body, which we talk about all the time. The good ones can do that. He's what we already know. He's a tough dude and he's mind over matter. …He is terrified of letting his teammates down. That means more to him than anything. It's just the way he is. That's why guys respect the hell out of him.'
A week and a half after freaking meniscus surgery and he's playing. Dudes a certified psycho @KNARFWONGAR #ProBowlVote Ragnow#WPMOYChallenge Ragnow pic.twitter.com/AJ6FwbFPMg
— Jack Ragnow (@Ragnow79) December 17, 2023
In Ragnow's final season, he felt discomfort in a game vs. the Arizona Cardinals. It was revealed shortly after the game that he had partially torn his pec. A painful injury — one that typically comes with a lengthy recovery time.
Unless you're Ragnow. He again missed one game. Then let his head coach know he was ready to return in true Ragnow fashion.
'I'm walking down there to talk to our trainer and somebody punches me against the wall and I'm not even paying attention because I'm looking at our trainer,' Campbell recalled last fall. 'And I keep walking and I get punched again, and I realize it's Frank and he's trying to show me that his pec is great. So that's his way of telling me, 'Look how strong I am. It's good. It's healed.''
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'I was just trying to demonstrate that I was OK,' Ragnow said bashfully when asked by reporters about the exchange.
These kinds of stories are endless. They're what make Ragnow, Ragnow. They're why the Lions fell in love with everything he represented, and why this regime signed him to an extension before he ever played a game for them, in one of their first big moves guiding the franchise out of mediocrity.
The Lions under Campbell and Brad Holmes tore the roster they inherited down to the studs. Campbell likes to refer to the holdovers from the previous regime as the 'old guard.' They hold a special place in his heart for how they helped him in the early years. He references them in postgame speeches often, and calls on those who oversaw the transformation from 3-13-1 to 15-2 to carry out his message to all newcomers.
Ragnow was entrusted with the torch from Day 1, tasked with helping Campbell build one of the league's best cultures from the ground up. His final three seasons coincided with one of the most successful stretches in franchise history.
The Lions aren't here without him. And they won't be the same without him.
Earned it. pic.twitter.com/D0VlXa6mBD
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) December 25, 2023
'You gotta be out there for your guys,' Ragnow said months ago, when asked why he puts his body on the line week in and week out. 'I'm gonna do whatever I can to be out there. It ain't gonna be comfortable sometimes, I ain't gonna be pretty but I just care about these guys too much to not give it my all for them.'
Words like that from Ragnow take on a different meaning given the context of Monday's news. He wanted nothing more than to bring a championship to this city, and how poetic would it have been for him to accomplish it, after all he's been through.
The Lions have had conversations with Ragnow each of the past few offseasons about how long he wanted to keep going, how much he wanted to suffer and subject his body to new, gruesome injuries. But the decision, in the end, ultimately wasn't up to him.
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This offseason, Ragnow tried to once again will his mind. To conquer time. He told reporters during locker room clean-out day that he was healthier than he's ever been — a silver lining after an abrupt playoff loss at the hands of the Washington Commanders, ironically, in part, due to injuries other than Ragnow's for once.
Even so, Ragnow felt the weight of this one more than others. He tried his best, more soft-spoken than normal that day, to explain his thoughts fresh after a loss like that.
Perhaps deep down, Ragnow knew his body was finally beating his mind.
'It was feeling special,' Ragnow said of the Lions' season in the locker room that day, 'And it's frustrating now because it's over.'
Ragnow's remarkable NFL career is now over. He can rest. He can fish. He can enjoy life with his wife Lucy, their young son and the daughter they're expecting this fall. He can run his foundation and continue to make his father proud.
The day after he was drafted, Ragnow said offensive linemen don't get much of the glory. But the truth is, he deserves every bit of it for what he gave to this franchise. He deserves to be discussed among the greats who've worn Honolulu Blue. He deserves to walk away with his head high and his body intact.
And as the NFL moves forward without him, Ragnow deserves to be remembered as one of the toughest to ever go to battle.
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