Kalif Raymond waited for the ball to come out of the lights, then caught it on the 10-yard line and took off running. He passed the first Tennessee defender as if he’d been blown over backwards, cut past the second like a waterbug cuts past a lily, then left the rest of the defense behind like a cannonball leaves behind the cannon. He reached the end zone so fast, even the cheerleaders felt a crick in their necks.

Whiplash. With over 200 yards worth of punt returns and receiving — and two touchdowns — Raymond had the day of his dreams. And he’s been dreaming for a long time. This is a guy who went undrafted eight years ago, and played for four different NFL teams before he caught his first touchdown pass. He’s had more short-term contracts than a Motel 6. He’s been cut more times than sushi.

Yet at age 30, he did something Sunday that no Detroit Lion ever had — returned a punt for a touchdown and caught a TD pass in the same game — and was the most unlikely star of a most likeable afternoon.

LIONS GRADES: Special teams exemplary in 52-14 decimation of Titans

“It was,” Kalif would say after the 52-14 blowout, “a really cool game.”

Everybody loves Raymond.

Complementary football, then just complimentary

You see, every four years or so, like an election, the Lions face the Titans. And the last six times, Detroit has lost. Then came Sunday. And if this game were a presidential race, CNN would have called it at the coin flip.

“That team (Tennessee) came out and played hard …” Dan Campbell said. “I know it doesn’t look that way.”

No, it doesn’t. But the Lions were responsible for that. They didn’t just beat the Titans for the first time since the franchise moved out of Houston, they ran through them, ran over them, then pushed them down an elevator shaft. Their defense kept stealing the ball away. And the sideline became a Detroit superhighway, where play after play, various Lions would outrace a gaggle of Titans defenders for big gains or touchdowns.

The Lions hung 52 points on the board. And I think they slept through the fourth quarter.

“We did not play our cleanest ball,” Campbell said. “However, when you have four takeaways on defense, five-for-five in the red zone, and you have the returns our special teams units had … then you can get a lot of production. …

“Once again, this team knows how to complement itself.”

Yes. As in, “Nice play, Kalif. Nice play, David. Nice play, Sam. …”

Remember, this was supposed to be a week where the Lions bemoaned who they didn’t have: no Aiden Hutchinson, no Jamison Williams, no Josh Pashcal. Instead they looked like a movie cast that barely had enough costumes for its stars.

Raymond returned that punt 90 yards to the promised land. Jahmyr Gibbs ran 70 yards for a touchdown. David Montgomery ran for one and THREW for another. Both tight ends had TD catches. If the game went any longer, the equipment manager was gonna score.

Weird as it sounds, the LEAST impressive player was the Lions' biggest offensive star, their quarterback, Jared Goff. And all he did was go 12-for-15 with three touchdowns. On 85 yards.

“I’ll take it,” Goff said. “I’ve had a lot of games where I’ve had a whole lot of yards and not a lot of touchdowns.”

But that’s what you get when your offense is humming, your defense is humming, your special teams are humming and your opposition sings like Tiny Tim.

Tennessee (1-6) is a bad team that, we must admit, is also badly coached. The Titans on Sunday not only threw two interceptions, lost two fumbles, drew eight penalties and gave up over 260 yards on special teams, but they had the ball with first-and-goal from the Lions' 1-yard line and called FOUR STRAIGHT PASSES, all of them unsuccessful.

It takes skill to be that pigheaded. I don’t want to say Tennessee made mistakes, but if their foot were a gun, it would shoot itself.

“This,” their coach, Brian Callahan, said after the game, “is how you get beat by a really good football team.”

Well. Who can argue with that?

Small Lion with a big roar

But let’s leave further critique of the Titans to the fine folks in Tennessee, and instead get back to Raymond, who, at 5 feet 8, may be the smallest Lion, but is likely the most beloved.

Goff admires him. His teammates embrace him. And if you want to make the tough-as-leather Campbell choke up, just ask him to tell you Raymond’s arrival story from 2021.

“We were fresh on the job, and (Brad Holmes, the Lions GM) said, ‘Hey, take a peek at this guy from Tennessee. He’s really a returner. … You think there’s a place for him on offense?’

“And I watched about 10 plays, and I was like, ‘Yeah. Absolutely there is. Take this guy in a heartbeat.’ And it’s been a blessing ever since to get Leaf here.”

Remember, this is a man who played for Denver, the N.Y. Jets, the N.Y. Giants twice and the Titans twice before signing with Detroit. He admitted Sunday there was a moment in 2018 when he came off the field with the Giants and told himself, “I just played my last NFL game.”

“I was struggling,” he admitted Sunday. “ I had a lot of fear. A lot of doubt. …

“I had a choice during that offseason. I was like, I can either go in the tank, just kind of quit, or I can give it everything I have.”

He chose the latter. Redoubled his efforts. Dedicated every minute to getting better. Which, when you think about it, kind of parallels the Lions since they started 1-6 just two years ago.

Look at them now. They’ve flipped that record — they are 6-1 — and currently hold the top seed in the NFC. More importantly, they showed last week they can beat the hottest team (Minnesota) and this week, the coldest.

That’s more impressive than it sounds. The NFL is not college, where expected blowouts usually happen. Pro teams are relatively close. And this may be hard for you crazy kids to believe, but there was a time when Detroit regularly lost games like these. Bad teams came to town, and Detroit stumbled and bumbled and handed them victories.

It’s hard to imagine the 2024 Lions doing that. They are too inspired. They take things too seriously. They are also just too damn good. They keep stepping up whenever there is a hole. Or filling those holes with new heroes.

They did it again on Sunday. You didn’t hear anyone saying “Where’s Jamo?” in Ford Field. But you might have heard a few Titans screaming, “Where’s Kalif?”

Uh. He’s behind you.

Everybody loves Raymond.

Contact Mitch Albom: malbom@freepress.com. Check out the latest updates with his charities, books and events at MitchAlbom.com. Follow him @mitchalbom.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Mitch Albom: Kalif Raymond shows even smallest Lion has mighty roar