Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell talks hard truths about NFL life after multiple sudden retirements

The Detroit Lions have been dealing with the news of several sudden retirements this preseason. While none of the more important players are calling it a career, four "fringe" players retiring this summer rather than continue to fight and grind through preseason and an uncertain future is quite notable.

The latest retiree is rookie offensive lineman Zein Obeid, who the Lions picked up as an undrafted free agent. He joins fellow UDFAs Corey Sutton and Jermaine Walker, who didn't make it through camp. Third-year player John Penisini also retired in June during mandatory minicamp.

“I know why you’re asking (about) it, I mean, because it is obvious,” head coach Dan Campbell said when asked by the media about the slew of retirements Detroit has seen this offseason (source: Kyle Meinke of MLive). “But I just feel like it’s, you know, everybody’s different. (The NFL’s) not for everybody. Not everything is easy about it, and it’s not just about football. I wish (Obeid) the best of luck. He’s a great kid. He was a grinder. He worked. On with the next endeavor.”

Campbell is in his second season as an NFL head coach. He is one of the better locker room presences in the NFL, and was also careful not to throw disparage general manager Brad Holmes bus when discussing the departed players. Instead, Campbell said that both the coaching staff and front office will view this as an area for growth.

“That’s something that Brad is always real critical about for himself,” Campbell said. “No different than we are as coaches as it pertains to the football side. We’re going to look at everything, believe me. He’s looking at things I wouldn’t even think about looking at to dig as deep as we can dig and where do we get to where maybe we don’t have this issue or limit it."

As far as the players that left, Campbell did hint that one of them seemed like an obviously bad fit for NFL life, but the other three came out of the blue.

"Three of the four were were, from the time they got here, you would have never guessed something like this. To each his own, and everybody is different," he said. "But these guys did everything right. They worked hard. And it just, hey, they felt like it wasn’t for them. All good.”