Everyone knows by now that this is Kobe Bryant’s last season of professional basketball. The man has given his blood, sweat and tears to his sport. He has played for 18 seasons, scored tens of thousands of points, and has won numerous NBA titles and MVP awards. Bryant has had a long and successful athletic career.

Peyton Manning may also be stepping away from his sport. Manning played in the NFL for 20 years and has multiple passing yards, touchdowns and completions records, MVP and Offensive Player of the Year awards, and finally cemented his legacy last week with his second Super Bowl title.

So why is this article called "Gone too Soon?" Bryant and Manning had long and successful careers in their sports. Well, that's because there are two men this year, in fact this week that announced they would be retiring from active play. Marshawn Lynch and Calvin Johnson announced their retirements in some way this week. And this article isn't really to ask why they are retiring, but to thank them for all that they have done in their short careers.

So let's begin with Marshawn Lynch. After a successful college career at the University of California, Lynch came to the NFL with the Buffalo Bills and didn't really do much. He was a backup running back for the most part and would ask to be traded. He got his wish and was traded to the Seattle Seahawks and made headlines when he had his infamous "beastquake" run in the playoffs against the New Orleans Saints in the 2010 playoffs, a run that made the Seattle stadium so loud, that it registered a 1.8 earthquake on the Richter Scale.

Lynch would then become famous for his love of Skittles. So much so that he became a spokesperson for the company and had his cleats designed to look like the candy wrapper. Lynch also became infamous with the media during the Seahawks Super Bowl runs when he wouldn't talk to the media during media days. He would just respond with "you know why I'm here" and "I'm just here so I won't get fined" which sparked hundreds of memes across the internet.

During the Super Bowl, Lynch announced his retirement from football on Instagram. He is just 31 years old and only played in the NFL for nine seasons. Thank you Marshawn Lynch for your career

Thank you to Calvin Johnson. Known as "Megatron" for the majority of his career, Johnson became a star wide receiver at Georgia Tech in an option offense, an unheard of feat in college football. He was drafted by the Detroit Lions in 2006 and quickly left an imprint, as he know leads the Lions all time in receiving yards and receptions.

Some say Johnson may have broken the infamous Madden Curse. In 2012, Johnson was voted onto the cover of popular video game Madden NFL 2013. Normally athletes who are placed on this cover have horrible injuries or terrible seasons the year they make the cover, as did Michael Vick who tore his ACL after being placed on the cover of Madden 2004 and Jamaal Lewis who had to retire because of injury after being placed on the cover of Madden 2005.

However, Calvin Johnson would break the NFL record for most receptions in a season in 2012, breaking the curse for a while.

Johnson was compared to former Lions running back Barry Sanders most of his career. He was seen as a phenomenal player that could never quite win a Super Bowl because they played for a terrible team. And this month, after talking with the Lions front office and coach Jim Caldwell, Johnson announced that he would not be returning to the NFL next season. Johnson played just 10 years in the NFL. Thank you Calvin Johnson.

So why are these guys retiring so early? Are they just bored? Do they, like the hit movie ”Concussion” suggest have terrible brain damage? We don't know.

But I don't like to speculate on these horrible injuries. Maybe they went by the old saying that "the best go out on top." But even if these guys didn't necessarily want to leave this early, they should be honored by all they have done in the NFL and beyond.