Detroit Lions to induct Calvin Johnson into their ring of honor
Calvin Johnson will officially earn the highest honor from the Detroit Lions this season.
The Lions on Monday announced they will induct Johnson, a 2021 Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver, into the Pride of the Lions during halftime of their Week 4 game on Monday Night Football, Sept. 30 vs. the Seattle Seahawks.
"We are thrilled to add Calvin Johnson Jr. to the Pride of the Lions," Rod Wood, Lions president and CEO, said in a statement. "His commitment on the field and to the city of Detroit are legendary and this is a well-deserved honor. We are proud that he will be forever memorialized inside Ford Field and as a Detroit Lion."
Nicknamed Megatron after the "Transformers" character, Johnson was drafted in the 2007 at No. 2 overall out of Georgia Tech. He spent his entire nine-year career with the team, catching 731 receptions for 11,619 yards and 83 touchdowns. He is the franchise leader in all three categories.
Johnson, now 38, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2021, becoming the seventh receiver in NFL history, and second player in Lions history, to be named a first-ballot inductee. Johnson was selected to six Pro Bowls in 2010-15, and was first-team All-Pro in 2011-13.
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Johnson still holds the NFL single-season receiving yardage record of 1,964 yards from his 2012 season.
Johnson was part of two playoff teams (2011, 2014) and the league's first-ever 0-16 team (2008).
He abruptly retired after a 7-9 season in 2015, leading to a more than half-decade long feud with the Lions, who asked him to repay a $1.6 million portion of his signing bonus, which went against NFL protocol. (The Lions had done the same to Barry Sanders after his retirement in 1999.)
Johnson and the organization remained at odds through his Hall of Fame enshrinement in 2021, but their relationship has greatly improved recently. He attended multiple home games at Ford Field last season, and participated in the club's new uniform reveal in April.
Johnson said in June he has no issues with the organization.
“I think the biggest thing for me was when I had a conversation with Rod to clear the air,” he said. “I’ve talked with (owner) Sheila (Hamp) over the years. I’m good with everybody. I’m good with (general manager) Brad (Holmes). I’m excited for the team. That’s definitely, we’re on the up and up, I guess you could say, from that aspect.”
Johnson has stayed connected to Detroit since his retirement, frequently showing up for charity golf tournaments and hosting an annual football camp for youth.
Ford Field in March announced a partnership to make Johnson’s Primitiv Performance line of products the stadium’s first CBD-based performance product partner. Wood said the deal did not require NFL approval, and that the partnership could be reinvented to include Lions games if the NFL were to loosen its policy of restrictions on cannabis-based products.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions to induct Calvin Johnson into Pride of the Lions
