Former NFL wide receiver Collin Johnson, who played for four teams in the league, has announced his retirement from the sport. After coming out of Texas, it was the Jacksonville Jaguars who picked him in the draft, but he was waived after his rookie year. He then spent time with the New York Giants and Chicago Bears before finishing his career with the Las Vegas Raiders. While informing about his retirement, Johnson also revealed what his immediate plan was going to be.

“I’m grateful to share that I’ll be enrolling at MIT Sloan this fall to pursue my MBA. At the same time, I’ve made the decision to retire from the NFL.” Collin Johnson put a caption in his latest Instagram post on Thursday.

His message came with a few photos of himself in a maroon MIT sweatshirt. He also posted a few stories, reminiscing about his football career.

Getting into MIT Sloan is no easy task; the acceptance rate for the institute is only 14%. So it’s not hard to see why Johnson is choosing this path as he moves on from football. His best season came during his rookie year when he recorded 18 catches for 272 yards, and while he showed promise, he was not able to build on that momentum as he moved between teams.

Even though his NFL career did not reach the heights he may have hoped for, Johnson has spoken openly about what football meant to him.

“Football has shaped my life in more ways than I can put into words.” Johnson’s continued. “It taught me faith, discipline, resilience, leadership, and how to compete at the highest level. I’m thankful for every teammate, coach, organization, and person who helped me along the way.”

He finished his NFL career with 31 catches for 394 yards and two touchdowns, with his last regular-season game coming with Chicago in 2024. Johnson was picked by the Raiders in 2025, but did not make the final roster.

Johnson is not the only player to retire and pursue higher education. Former Baltimore Ravens offensive lineman retired at 26 to earn a PHD in Mathematics from MIT. Joshua Perry had to retire early due to an injury, but he went back to university to study again.

Since then, he has been busy forming something of his own, an organisation called Beyond Sports. As part of this brand, he has spoken to students from different universities.

As he announced his retirement, Johnson also stated that he would continue working with his brand, which is a development and educational platform that helps both current and former athletes form their own businesses.

Johnson wants to continue building Beyond Sports

Johnson’s company, Beyond Sports, is expanding with the launch of Founders Academy to help current and former athletes build business ventures.

“As I move into this next chapter, I’m excited to continue building Beyond Sports by launching Founders Academy in partnership with MITdesignX, a venture building program created for current and former professional athletes building real businesses,” Johnson said in a post caption.

The program will take selected athletes to MIT for an executive education program geared towards problem identification, venture design, market validation, and idea execution. Athletes who participate in the program will go through a process of refining business concepts, understanding customer demands, validating assumptions, and establishing a more defined route to execution.

“MITdesignX brings the academic and venture design infrastructure,” Johnson said while explaining the role of MITdesignX. “Beyond-Sports brings the athlete context, the trust, and the understanding of what professional players actually need. Together, the goal is to create an environment where athletes are not just learning about entrepreneurship, they are actively building.”

Founders Academy aims to prepare athletes to become founders, operators, and owners instead of just endorsers.

The first batch will be highly selective and will include only a handful of former or active NFL players who will be accepted through an application process. At MITdesignX and Beyond Sports, the idea is a leap of faith that the future will see athletes not just investing in companies but building them.