Lions' Kerryon Johnson Says He Told Fantasy Owner to Bench Him After Complaints

If there is a list of NFL players who could not care less about your fantasy football team, Kerryon Johnson would be on it.

Per Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press, Johnson shared a message he relayed to a fantasy player who informed the Detroit Lions running back he was going to bench him:

"I'm not going to get on my full soapbox about fantasy because I understand people really care about this stuff. But I do not care one single bit about fantasy.

"This one dude messaged me. He was like, 'I'm benching you from here on out.' I'm like, 'OK. Like, do it.' But my real-life job is playing this game, like not a TV screen, not a computer screen, not looking at stats."

Expectations were high for Johnson in the fantasy world after his successful rookie campaign in 2018. The 22-year-old was drafted 27th overall in standard leagues and 28th in PPR leagues, per FantasyPros.

It seemed reasonable for a player who had 641 rushing yards and averaged 5.4 yards per carry on 118 attempts.

Things haven't worked out for Johnson in 2019, as he has just 126 yards on 48 attempts (2.6 yards per carry), though the Lions are 2-0-1.

Fantasy owners may be unhappy with Johnson's results, but he seems content to play for a first-place team.