A look back at the incredible career of Calvin Johnson, who was the most unguardable player we've ever seen! Follow BLITZ Instagram: / blitz Imagery supplied by Getty Images
its fucking criminal that DET had arguably the best WR and RB of all time on their rosters and managed to be such a horribly run franchise that they both quit football early. EDIT: To clear up something, I understand Rice is the clear all time WR because his career stats are insane, he IS the GOAT. I'm a 49er fan too. I said these two are ARGUABLY the BEST RB and WR ever, as in the most talented and gifted athletically to ever play the position. The point is that if Barry and Calvin were on well run franchises instead of one of the worst run franchises to ever exist, they may have enjoyed football more and played out full careers barring major injuries. A good franchise would have protected their assets and let them fully heal when dealing with normal injuries. If that had happened, its arguable that they would both be in the top spots in the career record books as well. We will never know, because the ownership destroyed any chance at that.
Well, bad teams often get high draft picks. This leads to situations like what lions greats had to endure. A bad team gets a special player and they lean on him too much.
So glad he’s back here and cheering on the Lions! His relationship was so soured with the Lions that he lost his love for the sport altogether. Now the team is doing good and winning the division and winning playoff games and he’s having a great time! Miss watching him play every week!
@@chevy4x466 you haven't described anything that suggests he "took for granted his experience in Detroit". If anything, it's the opposite. They had an all time great WR for 5+ prime years and did not empty the bank to keep him or provide the necessary support. He delivered every year without being a distraction. That's not him taking anything for granted. That's Detroit wasting an opportunity.
I'm glad he's happy seeing his former team finally getting that elusive playoff win, but imagine if this man was a bit younger, we'll say 30-32 years old, being a veteran big play threat with all of these present day playmakers like Amon-Ra, LaPorta, Montgomery, Gibbs, etc. Imagine that offense. It really is a shame that a generational talent like him was wasted by a team that just couldn't get over the hump.
Yea, he literally lost his love for the game because of the constant losing. It was bitter sweet watching him every week because we knew even if he was having a great game, we would probably blow the game somehow. But it’s nice to see him at our current playoff games, looking happy as hell! He told Stafford before the game, “Give me one or two, and im not talking TDs” lol man was talking INTs.
@@-BUGZ-he said in his documentary that Stafford would throw hospital passes, I couldn’t even imagine what he would do on the patriots, people would without a doubt call him the greatest wr ever
@@willscott2498Also didnt help that defenders would hit him low just because he was so large and was harder to take down. Maybe not the Patriots, I think Brees wouldve done him insanely well with more accuracy/completions per game.
I hope people realize that his junior year in college was absolutely bananas. Tech didn’t throw the ball like that. Option team. He had like half their team’s yards through the air and caught 15 out of 25 total passing TDs. The year after he left, they threw for 9 TDs and the best receiver had less than 600 yards. Not until Demaryius Thomas in 2009 did they have another receiver that looked even close to that in their offense, and after he left it was back to pure option again. What Calvin (and Demaryius to a lesser extent) did in that offense is amazing, and what he did in the pros is mind blowing.
Tech was not an option team at that time, it was him shagging sprayed passes from Reggie Ball under Chan Gailey's molasses offense. Paul Johnson didn't come to GT until the 2008 season.
Megatron was a freak. He was tall, strong, fast, had good hands, could run routes and catch any contested jump ball. Shame Detroit couldn't get their shit together during that time, he gave them everything and was loyal to the end. Truly a special player.
The saddest part about his career was that Detroit wasted a top 5 all time receiver. I’m a die hard vikes fan but I loved watching tron anytime he took the field
What gets missed on the "Detroit wasted his career" narrative is that he signed a 7-year contract extension after his rookie deal with the Lions. He wanted to stay with the Lions. He also still lives in the Metro Detroit area to this day.
That's interesting to hear... well shit, glad he gets to see his team destroying this year. Hope the 49's go down... they've had their victories. Love the underdog teams.
Had he been given the opportunity to get a few rings with Tom Brady, don't you suppose he would've entertained the idea of moving out East? Patriots would've paid the man.
And trading him away to a contender for the back end of his career wouldn’t have changed his love for Detroit. He was just a huge competitor that wanted more than just franchise records. 2 total playoff games for a player like that is saddening.
They still wasted him though. Barry, too. They wasted amazing talent that actually wanted to play for them. Fkn bonkers if you ask me😂 Apparently all they needed was a crazy coach!
As a Lions fan, this kills me on the inside. He was so good, and I loved having him on the team, but we ruined his career. We did the same thing to Barry and almost did the same thing to Stafford. Forever thankful for what he did, but will always have a sour taste in my mouth because of what he could have been with a decent team. Thank you Megatron. Wish we could have done better for you.
Detroits inability to field a competitive team with megatron and Stafford is franchise malpractice. 2 personal favourites of mine, I mean look at Stafford even this year he’s a top 5 qb
I remember growing up and the only thing we could look forward to on the lions team was megatron. It was bad times. But he was explosive. An absolute privilege for us fans to watch him. He was talented and a hard worker. He deserved to win a title. He also stayed loyal to the franchise.
@@Newmoneyy247 and he'd still be unstoppable lol. It was never his hands that made him Megatron. It was his legs and his vertical. In another life, he could have easily gone pro in the NBA and put up some stupid numbers.
Mentioning him playing for Georgia Tech and not mentioning, for the casual, that Georgia tech is a triple option school does his talent a bit of a disservice. He was so good that he made a run only school pass the rock! Once in a lifetime talent. Just like Barry, we can only ask ourselves what if, and that is such a monumental disservice to the talent that this man had. All hail Megatron
Except for the fact that Paul Johnson, who ran the offense you describe, was not the coach at Tech when Calvin was there. Calvin's head coach was Chan Gailey. And his quarterback was Reggie Ball. Both of those facts were much bigger barricades to success for a receiver than if Tech HAD been running a triple option
@@andrewteal5981this is so true. Ball was terribly inconsistent. Calvin’s first two seasons he wasn’t thrown the ball nearly enough. His junior year they finally started going to him a lot more. He bolted Georgia Tech at the right moment, his stock was sky high.
@@ginger_breadman actually he is not the best, the ONLY thing he has on Randy moss is his weight, 240 to 210, Randy was almost as tall, 6'4" to 6'5", was faster, he ran a 4.25 to Calvins 4.35, 1 second in the 40 is a lot, made the same type of catches. But even Randy is not the best. Jerry Rice is
@@davidrooks3274 My “I believe he is” … was in reference to his “hope he’s doing well”. I do not think Megatron is the best, it is Sir Jerry Rice 💯. I will put him in the mix with Moss though, I do not necessarily think Moss is better.
@@davidrooks3274 I did not say Megatron is the best. I updated my original comment to make it clear. Sir Jerry Rice is still the best. Maybe Moss is second but I still believe Megatron was a good as Moss.
He would have walked of the field the greatest wide receiver ever if he had of spent a longer career on the right team without a doubt imagine if he spent the same years gronk did with Tom Brady or if Green bay had of gone after Megatron etc etc
Similar to what Randy Moss did with his short time with New England. They would have been wild! Guys that big should not be that fast. Megaton kind of killed like he was running in slow motion but was MOVING! Gronk was similar, but obviously not as fast, though plenty of people have commented on Gronk’s speed saying someone that large should not move like that and PLENTY say that about Johnson. Thankfully Detroit is not only team to go 0-16. Thanks Cleveland!!
@@blacklabelholsters1635 Gronkowski was a true freak. He LUMBERED, but he was still fast: too fast for linebackers, too big for safeties to guard him, and he would just run over corner-backs.
Calvin Johnson along with a handful of others is the result of life trying to get us ready for the next lead in our evolution. 6’6 240lbs with a 4.3 and some of the softest hands in receiving history. Every now and then we are gifted with absolute athletic “one-of-a-kinds” and I’m just incredibly glad I am here to witness them.
Calvin was a freak! Never seen a receiver like him. Man, guys went hard after his legs because it was the only way to stop him. Often, very often, he was the sole focus of defenses against the SOL Lions. Also, though, Calvin is one very cool dude
Stafford was to blame for plenty of Lions' lack of success. He was simply never the 'elite' talent many people retroactively tried to claim him as. Detroit had a number of seasons with very talented rosters in Stafford's time, and he fell short himself quite a bit. And a lot of his high yardage(and this goes for Calvin as well) totals were due in part from garbage time.
As a Bears fan, I was in awe of Johnson's skills. Charles Tillman played him really tough as he did with Randy Moss, but no one was going to stop those two. Nasty player.
@@patrickr2691 I haven't seen that with randy moss. And I saw moss at Marshall. Moss got doubled over the top. Calvin got doubled at the line of scrimmage, with safety help over the top. Fyi
@@sholovesholove4620 you guys have poor selective memory. I have seen near every snap of both of their careers. Randy Moss saw significantly more coverage on a regular basis than Johnson. I would say they're not even comparable. Moss is famous for changing the way defenses played, nobody says that about Johnson & 95% of the clips in this video are against obvious single coverage. How blind are some of these fans? BTW here is Moss doubled at the LOS on the 45 yard line for example, this took me 2 seconds to find: czcams.com/video/HaasanqRyEQ/video.htmlm07s
Sports Science did a piece on Calvin Johnson and concluded that he’s receptive reach was equal to a two-car garage! Throw it anywhere in that area and he will catch it! Kudos to you Megatron!
Can you imagine plugging prime Calvin into the current Lions roster? Thankful for all his efforts in all those bad years, I was there for all of them, but always wonder what could have been. Thanks again big guy, we'll never forget ya!
Megatron was the sole reason I became a Detroit fan. Watching him in his prime was truly special. Anytime Stafford was in trouble, it was a "fuck it , Calvin is up there somewhere" moment
Johnson and Moss are two of the most freak athletes to ever play at the WR position. Both ring less and both squandered by their organizations. Imagine if Johnson landed on the Colts and had Manning throwing to him or on the Saints and had Brees throwing to him.
Its amazing that Detroit had arguably the best running back of all time who ended his career early, and then also the same with Calvin also being arguably the best receiver of all time who walked out early... Detroit did them both DIRTY!
Like Barry, think about what Mega could have accomplished with a competent organization during his career... With that said, the Brand New Lions are lookin GRITTY!
Guy didn't score with anything resembling the rate of Moss or Rice, he was not as effective as those guys in the red zone, he was too stuff for the condensed area
One of my favorite NFC North players to watch besides Bears players. The mad amount of respect for that guy that I have, even though he is a rival, is unique. He made Lions Vs Bears all the more fun. Even though he murdered Tillman most of the time, they had great battles. He is the reason I petition the Bears to consider Marvin Harrison JR. If he even is half the WR of Calvin Johnson he would still be a great NFL reciver.
Calvin was always in his prime we never saw him decline he retired so early . He’s the best ever with John kitna and a baby Stafford throwing him the ball lmao
Watching Megatron live was one of the wildest experiences ever. I have never been to a game where it was so obvious who a player was and how dominant they could play.
Most skilled and talented WR ever by a mile. Mad respect for Jerry Rice, Randy Moss, Larry Fitzgerald, but for me is no debate, i take Megatron over everyone all day.
This is why I love the fact Sheila Ford Hamp took over as the owner. So much dictatorship with how the Ford's parents and how they ran this team for so long. Never having the love for the game, having there soul mindset being towards making a profit as opposed to putting a competent tram together year after year. The fact they denied trades to Barry and Calvin absolutely shows who they were as owners. It's just dumb business imo. You can get value from both guys but refuse to trade them, so in response they cut their careers short. So Lions end up with absolutely nothing but 2 retired HOF's in their prime. The Fords for far to many years made this team very hard to like. Shiela has passion for the game and is committed to having guys that want to be apart of that success. Stafford did not so she gave the green light to send his ass packing. Those two have everything they had to the city of Detroit. I as a fan was absolutely pissed to serve them both retire. Nothing worse than how bad my hatred was towards Sheila's parents and how they operated this team. I'm am truly happy they found it in them to let bygones be bygones and commit to showing this team love week in and week out. Love those guys. GO LIONS 🦁 😤
According to the "Bye, bye Barry" Detroit passed on Joe Montana when he was leaving the 49ers. "Because he was too old." The Lions were treated like a tax write off for the Ford family.
Calvin Johnson, the man, the myth, the legend! I'm a GT fan. Go watch his Tech highlights. He played 3 years with a really, really REALLY bad qb. The plays he made were unbelievable, because he had to.
Went to a Bengals/Lions game in Detroit. 4th quarter Bengals were winning by a TD. The last drive they only threw to Calvin Johnson. Bengals had 3 guys covering him and he still made catch after catch. It was easily the most amazing thing I'd seen at a sporting event. 1 dude, unstoppable. Lions fans were going crazy. Alas, Bengals won a last second FG lol
Defenses would literally scheme around this one person and he still set so many records. Megatron went through an uphill battle on top of an uphill battle every game. Detroit universally respects him so much.
Stafford & Megatron basically played 2v11 while half injured every play. People don’t realize how awful the rest of the offensive roster was during Megatron’s prime.
There is more to being a great receiver than combine stats. Rice ran immaculate routes that got him open. Game after game, when the Niners needed yards, they could count on Jerry Rice. It's a lot like Travis Kelce right now. How can teams just keep letting Kelce get open in clutch situations? It's not because he has 4.3 speed. He reads defenses like a great QB. Megatron's strength was that even when he wasn't really "open", he could just go up and take the ball away from defenders. I loved watching Megatron, and I'm not a Detroit fan. But if he would have somehow switched teams with those Jerry Rice teams, would he automatically have had the best career ever? Don't forget that in that last game when Johnson only needed 90 yards to reach 2,000 yards for the season, Stafford threw to him 14 times, but they only connected on 5 receptions for 72 yards. Some of that is on Stafford, but some of it was the fact that Johnson wasn't wide open like this video claims he always was. Megatron didn't run routes like Rice. If he had been on those Niners teams, he still would have been relying on his height and athleticism to wrestle completions away from the defenses. Rice would have made Stafford look better, because it's easier to hit a receiver who is wide open. They were both great...historically great, but in different ways. That takes nothing away from either of them. Now - you put Barry Sanders on those Cowboy teams, with holes so big you could drive a truck through them? He would have set records that would never have fallen. It's a shame for both of those guys that they wound up on Detroit rosters where they had to do it all themselves.
Megatron was a WR who could catch any ball thrown his way, and Stafford was a QB who could make any throw. Together, even without a running game or offensive line or a decent Offensive Coordinator, the two of them together were unstoppable.
Can someone finally come along and tell people how great this man was. I was a young kid watching one of the best wr's I've ever seen. While still at GT 🤣
Sounds like a similar situation with Terry Mclaurin (obviously Megatron is better). I hate that my team is wasting McLaurin's career. I hope we can change his trajectory with new management
Imagine producing over 1,300 yards in your second NFL season with 3 different quarterbacks and it taking 5+ years for you to be recognized as one of the best WR
I still remember watching that Raiders game back in 2011 about to throw something through my tv. He was double and triple covered many times and still came down with the ball lol
Megatron was that dude, he was always my #1 fantasy football target, I got him the year he had like 1900 yards too. Won my league easily. I picked up a young Antonio Brown as my flex spot lol.
I'd say Larry Fitzgerald was his equal and I'll die on that hill. CJ had Stafford, a perennial top 10 qb, his whole career. Larry had backups, journeymen, and other scrubs for almost his entire career and still put up HOF numbers
That 300 yard game if I am not mistaken dez came out saying he was as good as Megatron which sent Stafford on a mission. Dallas d was pissed at dez for that.
"Fuck it, Megatron down there somewhere" was the culture of the Lions for a while. Now were 1 win away from the NFC Championship. Cannot believe it
1 win away for the Super Bowl, the Lions are the real America's team :)
😅😅😅😅
I hope you win and JJ fades away.
I still don't get why they ever punted
life long Bears fan here. I am rooting for you guys to take it all! Good Luck Detroit!
its fucking criminal that DET had arguably the best WR and RB of all time on their rosters and managed to be such a horribly run franchise that they both quit football early.
EDIT: To clear up something, I understand Rice is the clear all time WR because his career stats are insane, he IS the GOAT. I'm a 49er fan too. I said these two are ARGUABLY the BEST RB and WR ever, as in the most talented and gifted athletically to ever play the position. The point is that if Barry and Calvin were on well run franchises instead of one of the worst run franchises to ever exist, they may have enjoyed football more and played out full careers barring major injuries. A good franchise would have protected their assets and let them fully heal when dealing with normal injuries. If that had happened, its arguable that they would both be in the top spots in the career record books as well. We will never know, because the ownership destroyed any chance at that.
Well said, very true. =( Miss watching Megatron.
Couldn’t agree more. Insane talents and they never were a competitive squad. Absolutely criminal
Megatrons was more of injuries than him just quitting
Well, bad teams often get high draft picks. This leads to situations like what lions greats had to endure. A bad team gets a special player and they lean on him too much.
RB is arguable i agree, but WR there is no argument, Rice period. Still top 5.
As a Cowboys fan, this dude destroyed us pretty much EVERY DAMN time he played against us. Mad Respect for MegaTron.
Fucc he had no love for y’all…
We had Dez, he had to assert dominance
@Newmoneyy247 lemme get a number 7 with a large coke and a side of shut the f--- up broke bus boy...
Darelle revis locked him up twice !! Made him non existent
Darelle
Revis made him human…
Woudn't it be funny if a team took an all-time bust right before Calvin Johnson got drafted? Couldn't imagine.
*cough *cough JaMarcus Russell
@@tonyyost331Jamarcus Russell is the goat💀💀💀💀💀
@@Palmtreeartarea you right my bad lol
@@Palmtreeartarea.....said no one ever.😅
I know Jamarcus was a huge bust but a lot of drafting has to do with team need. The raiders needed a Quarterback @NoStudyPoker
So glad he’s back here and cheering on the Lions! His relationship was so soured with the Lions that he lost his love for the sport altogether. Now the team is doing good and winning the division and winning playoff games and he’s having a great time! Miss watching him play every week!
@@chevy4x466 Non-Lions fan here. Going for the Lions all the way!
@@chevy4x466how did he take his Detroit experience for granted?
@@chevy4x466 you haven't described anything that suggests he "took for granted his experience in Detroit".
If anything, it's the opposite. They had an all time great WR for 5+ prime years and did not empty the bank to keep him or provide the necessary support. He delivered every year without being a distraction. That's not him taking anything for granted. That's Detroit wasting an opportunity.
@@chevy4x466what a stretch. You went that far to mention LeBron James. Comparing the NFL to the NBA is like comparing apples to raccoon steaks.
I'm glad he's happy seeing his former team finally getting that elusive playoff win, but imagine if this man was a bit younger, we'll say 30-32 years old, being a veteran big play threat with all of these present day playmakers like Amon-Ra, LaPorta, Montgomery, Gibbs, etc.
Imagine that offense. It really is a shame that a generational talent like him was wasted by a team that just couldn't get over the hump.
Yea, he literally lost his love for the game because of the constant losing. It was bitter sweet watching him every week because we knew even if he was having a great game, we would probably blow the game somehow. But it’s nice to see him at our current playoff games, looking happy as hell! He told Stafford before the game, “Give me one or two, and im not talking TDs” lol man was talking INTs.
@@-BUGZ-he said in his documentary that Stafford would throw hospital passes, I couldn’t even imagine what he would do on the patriots, people would without a doubt call him the greatest wr ever
@@willscott2498Also didnt help that defenders would hit him low just because he was so large and was harder to take down. Maybe not the Patriots, I think Brees wouldve done him insanely well with more accuracy/completions per game.
@@coolmemesbudd I was also thinking the superbowls but yeah would of been unbelievable
detroit really let barry and megatron retired young cause of the bs they put them thru 😂🤦🏼♂️
I hope people realize that his junior year in college was absolutely bananas. Tech didn’t throw the ball like that. Option team. He had like half their team’s yards through the air and caught 15 out of 25 total passing TDs.
The year after he left, they threw for 9 TDs and the best receiver had less than 600 yards. Not until Demaryius Thomas in 2009 did they have another receiver that looked even close to that in their offense, and after he left it was back to pure option again.
What Calvin (and Demaryius to a lesser extent) did in that offense is amazing, and what he did in the pros is mind blowing.
RIP DT..
Tech was not an option team at that time, it was him shagging sprayed passes from Reggie Ball under Chan Gailey's molasses offense. Paul Johnson didn't come to GT until the 2008 season.
Only the Lions can manage to have such talent like Cal and not win anything.
As a Packers fan. Watching Barry and Calvin was both a pleasure and a pain.
Megatron was a freak. He was tall, strong, fast, had good hands, could run routes and catch any contested jump ball. Shame Detroit couldn't get their shit together during that time, he gave them everything and was loyal to the end. Truly a special player.
The saddest part about his career was that Detroit wasted a top 5 all time receiver. I’m a die hard vikes fan but I loved watching tron anytime he took the field
Wasn’t wasted megatron set records he might not have got with other teams
bruh yall wasting JJettas and Diggs career right now so stfu.
@@visionstealth7827got a point there
@@troytullar2123Nonsense bruh, if he played on a competent team he could have set records that never would be touched. Just like Barry Sanders.
I hate this rhetoric because you can say this about a lot of players
What gets missed on the "Detroit wasted his career" narrative is that he signed a 7-year contract extension after his rookie deal with the Lions. He wanted to stay with the Lions. He also still lives in the Metro Detroit area to this day.
That's interesting to hear... well shit, glad he gets to see his team destroying this year. Hope the 49's go down... they've had their victories. Love the underdog teams.
Had he been given the opportunity to get a few rings with Tom Brady, don't you suppose he would've entertained the idea of moving out East? Patriots would've paid the man.
And trading him away to a contender for the back end of his career wouldn’t have changed his love for Detroit. He was just a huge competitor that wanted more than just franchise records. 2 total playoff games for a player like that is saddening.
Him and Barry.
They still wasted him though. Barry, too. They wasted amazing talent that actually wanted to play for them. Fkn bonkers if you ask me😂
Apparently all they needed was a crazy coach!
As a Lions fan, this kills me on the inside. He was so good, and I loved having him on the team, but we ruined his career. We did the same thing to Barry and almost did the same thing to Stafford.
Forever thankful for what he did, but will always have a sour taste in my mouth because of what he could have been with a decent team.
Thank you Megatron. Wish we could have done better for you.
Detroits inability to field a competitive team with megatron and Stafford is franchise malpractice. 2 personal favourites of mine, I mean look at Stafford even this year he’s a top 5 qb
Megatron was invented in a lab and a monster! It is a shame, that the Lions teams where trash, when he was on them! Absolute heck of a player!
imagine if detroit had Barry sanders and Megatron at the same time!
@@tyroneharris38 That should have been, for them and for every real football fan!
I remember growing up and the only thing we could look forward to on the lions team was megatron. It was bad times. But he was explosive. An absolute privilege for us fans to watch him.
He was talented and a hard worker. He deserved to win a title. He also stayed loyal to the franchise.
No choice they refused to trade him
This feels like my rams for a while but with Steven Jackson hahahah
You should of seen barry. I was so disappointed when he retired.
@@LEWiSGare you gonna be pumped up for the battlehawks?
Im still convinced that he could come out of retirement right now and still be terrifying to go up against in the end zone
Lol true 😂
Hell nahhh he just golf’s now.. most his fingers are broken
@@Newmoneyy247 and he'd still be unstoppable lol. It was never his hands that made him Megatron. It was his legs and his vertical. In another life, he could have easily gone pro in the NBA and put up some stupid numbers.
In today’s game he’d be a TE. Good luck linebackers.
@@Newmoneyy247 I mean yeah, I'm sure he doesn't want to come out of retirement, but if he did, I bet he could still make a crazy play here and there
Mentioning him playing for Georgia Tech and not mentioning, for the casual, that Georgia tech is a triple option school does his talent a bit of a disservice.
He was so good that he made a run only school pass the rock!
Once in a lifetime talent. Just like Barry, we can only ask ourselves what if, and that is such a monumental disservice to the talent that this man had.
All hail Megatron
Except for the fact that Paul Johnson, who ran the offense you describe, was not the coach at Tech when Calvin was there.
Calvin's head coach was Chan Gailey. And his quarterback was Reggie Ball. Both of those facts were much bigger barricades to success for a receiver than if Tech HAD been running a triple option
@@andrewteal5981this is so true. Ball was terribly inconsistent. Calvin’s first two seasons he wasn’t thrown the ball nearly enough. His junior year they finally started going to him a lot more. He bolted Georgia Tech at the right moment, his stock was sky high.
moss is still my number one. but Calvin was absurd
Man he was my favorite player growing up as a lions fan wish he played for this lions team
It’s a shame how many all-time greats the Lions have wasted because of just sheer incompetent management
@@yourlocaltrucker6663 true
@@yourlocaltrucker6663why Dan gamble is making history
He wouldn’t have been available to get drafted to this team if they were actually good…
Having an nickname for a bad guy Megatron, he was one of the nicest players on and off the field you would ever met.
100%
On the field he was definitely Megatron 😂😂😂😂
He was 100% to best. He was raised right, made his money and moved on with his life. Hope he's doing well 🙏
I believe he is doing well and still lives in the Detroit area/Michigan
[updated for clarity]
@@ginger_breadman actually he is not the best, the ONLY thing he has on Randy moss is his weight, 240 to 210, Randy was almost as tall, 6'4" to 6'5", was faster, he ran a 4.25 to Calvins 4.35, 1 second in the 40 is a lot, made the same type of catches. But even Randy is not the best. Jerry Rice is
@davidrooks3274 Randy shed tears on television because John Gruden said "Big lips" (That automatically disqualifies Moss from everything)
@@davidrooks3274 My “I believe he is” … was in reference to his “hope he’s doing well”. I do not think Megatron is the best, it is Sir Jerry Rice 💯. I will put him in the mix with Moss though, I do not necessarily think Moss is better.
@@davidrooks3274 I did not say Megatron is the best. I updated my original comment to make it clear. Sir Jerry Rice is still the best. Maybe Moss is second but I still believe Megatron was a good as Moss.
He would have walked of the field the greatest wide receiver ever if he had of spent a longer career on the right team without a doubt imagine if he spent the same years gronk did with Tom Brady or if Green bay had of gone after Megatron etc etc
Similar to what Randy Moss did with his short time with New England. They would have been wild!
Guys that big should not be that fast. Megaton kind of killed like he was running in slow motion but was MOVING! Gronk was similar, but obviously not as fast, though plenty of people have commented on Gronk’s speed saying someone that large should not move like that and PLENTY say that about Johnson.
Thankfully Detroit is not only team to go 0-16. Thanks Cleveland!!
@@blacklabelholsters1635 Gronkowski was a true freak. He LUMBERED, but he was still fast: too fast for linebackers, too big for safeties to guard him, and he would just run over corner-backs.
Calvin Johnson along with a handful of others is the result of life trying to get us ready for the next lead in our evolution. 6’6 240lbs with a 4.3 and some of the softest hands in receiving history. Every now and then we are gifted with absolute athletic “one-of-a-kinds” and I’m just incredibly glad I am here to witness them.
Good im glad he got his props into the NFL HALL OF FAME HE RIGHTLY DEFINITELY DESERVED IT
Dude was such a beast, Lions did that man a disservice!
That should be the franchise slogan or motto: "Dude was such a beast, Lions did that man a disservice!" That pretty much sums up Detroit's franchise.
@@gregoryjclark81 tough bro 🤣🤣🤣
Calvin was a freak! Never seen a receiver like him. Man, guys went hard after his legs because it was the only way to stop him. Often, very often, he was the sole focus of defenses against the SOL Lions. Also, though, Calvin is one very cool dude
Yeah runs a weed company in Michigan now and his company comes into my work once a year. The dude is one chillest guys ever really nice
I loved watching this guy play. He was one of a kind....ive never seen a double team on one receiver until he showed up lol
Like Barry Sanders it's a shame that Detroit wasn't able to give him a chance at a playoff run.
Great video ! Thanks it was sad but informative of his incredibly great accomplishments
By far my favorite receiver too watch and trade for on Madden. Dude was unstoppable!!!
As a lions fan I would have loved to have seen him go play with Brady back then. The lions tarnished his career as well as staffords
Stafford got his and maybe broke the Lion curse.
Stafford was to blame for plenty of Lions' lack of success. He was simply never the 'elite' talent many people retroactively tried to claim him as. Detroit had a number of seasons with very talented rosters in Stafford's time, and he fell short himself quite a bit. And a lot of his high yardage(and this goes for Calvin as well) totals were due in part from garbage time.
The clip of his quarterback running, getting a safety and still looking to throw is so wild
That’s dans olorsky, dude that’s comes on first take espn 😂😂
@@harmangrewal7824 lmaooo no way. He is so critical of other quarterbacks and he did this.
As a Bears fan, I was in awe of Johnson's skills.
Charles Tillman played him really tough as he did with Randy Moss, but no one was going to stop those two.
Nasty player.
I like how you included the Detroit type beat in teh background when you started talking about the city. Very Creative.
Megatron is a top 5 wide receiver of all time he was the only reason why I would even watch Lions games. So sad that he had to play for the Lions
Criminally, underrated. Never seen a wide receiver get double teamed at the line of scrimmage, OTHER THAN CALVIN JOHNSON
With help from over top!!💯💯💯
Randy Moss received that coverage on many occasions well before Calvin, just an fyi
@@patrickr2691 I haven't seen that with randy moss. And I saw moss at Marshall.
Moss got doubled over the top. Calvin got doubled at the line of scrimmage, with safety help over the top. Fyi
@@sholovesholove4620 you guys have poor selective memory. I have seen near every snap of both of their careers. Randy Moss saw significantly more coverage on a regular basis than Johnson. I would say they're not even comparable. Moss is famous for changing the way defenses played, nobody says that about Johnson & 95% of the clips in this video are against obvious single coverage. How blind are some of these fans? BTW here is Moss doubled at the LOS on the 45 yard line for example, this took me 2 seconds to find:
czcams.com/video/HaasanqRyEQ/video.htmlm07s
@@sholovesholove4620 czcams.com/video/CDIXnB3fBL4/video.html moss vs. 3 on 1 coverage, molds into 4 on 1 as play develops.
Sports Science did a piece on Calvin Johnson and concluded that he’s receptive reach was equal to a two-car garage! Throw it anywhere in that area and he will catch it! Kudos to you Megatron!
Can you imagine plugging prime Calvin into the current Lions roster? Thankful for all his efforts in all those bad years, I was there for all of them, but always wonder what could have been. Thanks again big guy, we'll never forget ya!
That was a GREAT video. Thank you
Made by an AI
My forever favorite player ever, I grew up as a lions fan and I'm glad I got to witness Megatron
Megatron was the sole reason I became a Detroit fan. Watching him in his prime was truly special.
Anytime Stafford was in trouble, it was a "fuck it , Calvin is up there somewhere" moment
Johnson and Moss are two of the most freak athletes to ever play at the WR position. Both ring less and both squandered by their organizations.
Imagine if Johnson landed on the Colts and had Manning throwing to him or on the Saints and had Brees throwing to him.
Its amazing that Detroit had arguably the best running back of all time who ended his career early, and then also the same with Calvin also being arguably the best receiver of all time who walked out early... Detroit did them both DIRTY!
Ye I said the same thing smh
Like Barry, think about what Mega could have accomplished with a competent organization during his career...
With that said, the Brand New Lions are lookin GRITTY!
Packer fan here chiming in. Megatron was the GOAT of wrs and Go Lions! Win the whole damn thing!
Hey, make sure you just hold on for the ride with that big fella. That's cold 🤣🤣
Megatron just was the best wr ever. He was literally unguardable
Guy didn't score with anything resembling the rate of Moss or Rice, he was not as effective as those guys in the red zone, he was too stuff for the condensed area
As a bears fan this is all truth… he’s the most incredible
One of my favorite NFC North players to watch besides Bears players. The mad amount of respect for that guy that I have, even though he is a rival, is unique.
He made Lions Vs Bears all the more fun. Even though he murdered Tillman most of the time, they had great battles.
He is the reason I petition the Bears to consider Marvin Harrison JR.
If he even is half the WR of Calvin Johnson he would still be a great NFL reciver.
Too bad they used and abused him while not getting the needed pieces to win. Love megaton he’s forever in the Lions HOF right alongside Barry
Damn time flies by in a blank of a eye
He and Randy Moss were unstoppable
Moss literally changed the game.
He was the craziest thing to watch. Randy was the fastest man alive but Megatron was legit a monster.
And Gronk was the most unstoppable player (when healthy)
Similar career to #20 Sanders. Similar sad team to play for. Similar turf to wear down legends.
Detroit fans deserve better. Maybe tomorrow.
Greatest WR all time
Imagine this man on the Lions right now. Sheeeeeeit.
I can never forgive the Lions for wasting this man's career though.
He was amazing to watch. Barry Sanders, too.
I've seen 3 freaks of nature go through Det. Barry, Calvin and boy named Suh. A joy to watch even though I'm a Packers fan (Sharpe was my fave).
Calvin in his prime is the best reciever in the NFL, ever. Imagine if this man was on a good team.
excuse me GO LIONS
@@DudeWGlasses.He's not wrong.. Megatron played on the 0-16 lions and only had a winning season what like twice ?
Him and Moss are unstoppable.
Na, Jerry Rice no.1.
Calvin was always in his prime we never saw him decline he retired so early . He’s the best ever with John kitna and a baby Stafford throwing him the ball lmao
What's scary about his college career is the team still ran the triple option during this time, so he was blocking most plays.
Watching Megatron live was one of the wildest experiences ever. I have never been to a game where it was so obvious who a player was and how dominant they could play.
Most skilled and talented WR ever by a mile.
Mad respect for Jerry Rice, Randy Moss, Larry Fitzgerald, but for me is no debate, i take Megatron over everyone all day.
2014 was megatrons only chance at going deep in the playoffs, but the refs stopped him
Best running back, best receiver, no trophies....maybe soon on last
I remember watching a Sports Science episode on him. His catch radius was about the volume of a two-car garage.
8:07 I love how he flips the ball casually to the ref. I wish we saw more of that.
Same thing Barry use to do.
This is why I love the fact Sheila Ford Hamp took over as the owner. So much dictatorship with how the Ford's parents and how they ran this team for so long. Never having the love for the game, having there soul mindset being towards making a profit as opposed to putting a competent tram together year after year. The fact they denied trades to Barry and Calvin absolutely shows who they were as owners. It's just dumb business imo. You can get value from both guys but refuse to trade them, so in response they cut their careers short. So Lions end up with absolutely nothing but 2 retired HOF's in their prime. The Fords for far to many years made this team very hard to like. Shiela has passion for the game and is committed to having guys that want to be apart of that success. Stafford did not so she gave the green light to send his ass packing. Those two have everything they had to the city of Detroit. I as a fan was absolutely pissed to serve them both retire. Nothing worse than how bad my hatred was towards Sheila's parents and how they operated this team. I'm am truly happy they found it in them to let bygones be bygones and commit to showing this team love week in and week out. Love those guys. GO LIONS 🦁 😤
According to the "Bye, bye Barry" Detroit passed on Joe Montana when he was leaving the 49ers. "Because he was too old."
The Lions were treated like a tax write off for the Ford family.
Megatron was really unstoppable😅😅😅
So was G R O N K
As a Vikings fan, much respect. That guy and Barry Sanders were just terrifying.
As a Packer fan I always remember that draft as A. Peterson and Johnson. Both beasts.
i miss megatron a huge icon for the detroit lions
Randy Moss is the most unguardable, hands down!
and Gronk.
“He was just producing regardless”
Man this guy was beyond great, imagine if he was anywhere eles 😅
Calvin Johnson, the man, the myth, the legend! I'm a GT fan. Go watch his Tech highlights. He played 3 years with a really, really REALLY bad qb. The plays he made were unbelievable, because he had to.
IMAGINE IF HE WAS ON THE TEAM NOW
Went to a Bengals/Lions game in Detroit. 4th quarter Bengals were winning by a TD. The last drive they only threw to Calvin Johnson. Bengals had 3 guys covering him and he still made catch after catch. It was easily the most amazing thing I'd seen at a sporting event. 1 dude, unstoppable. Lions fans were going crazy. Alas, Bengals won a last second FG lol
Defenses would literally scheme around this one person and he still set so many records. Megatron went through an uphill battle on top of an uphill battle every game. Detroit universally respects him so much.
They would even triple team him
Every team schemes against the other teams best player.
Megatron was absolutely a thrill to watch play
Stafford & Megatron basically played 2v11 while half injured every play.
People don’t realize how awful the rest of the offensive roster was during Megatron’s prime.
There is more to being a great receiver than combine stats. Rice ran immaculate routes that got him open. Game after game, when the Niners needed yards, they could count on Jerry Rice. It's a lot like Travis Kelce right now. How can teams just keep letting Kelce get open in clutch situations? It's not because he has 4.3 speed. He reads defenses like a great QB. Megatron's strength was that even when he wasn't really "open", he could just go up and take the ball away from defenders.
I loved watching Megatron, and I'm not a Detroit fan. But if he would have somehow switched teams with those Jerry Rice teams, would he automatically have had the best career ever? Don't forget that in that last game when Johnson only needed 90 yards to reach 2,000 yards for the season, Stafford threw to him 14 times, but they only connected on 5 receptions for 72 yards. Some of that is on Stafford, but some of it was the fact that Johnson wasn't wide open like this video claims he always was.
Megatron didn't run routes like Rice. If he had been on those Niners teams, he still would have been relying on his height and athleticism to wrestle completions away from the defenses. Rice would have made Stafford look better, because it's easier to hit a receiver who is wide open. They were both great...historically great, but in different ways. That takes nothing away from either of them.
Now - you put Barry Sanders on those Cowboy teams, with holes so big you could drive a truck through them? He would have set records that would never have fallen. It's a shame for both of those guys that they wound up on Detroit rosters where they had to do it all themselves.
I love watching this guy play for my team
Megatron was a WR who could catch any ball thrown his way, and Stafford was a QB who could make any throw. Together, even without a running game or offensive line or a decent Offensive Coordinator, the two of them together were unstoppable.
God bless you all, Jesus is King
Amen 🙏🏽
Who said anything about Jesus?
Yes he is. Amen. I love you God and Jesus. Amen. Amen. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Can someone finally come along and tell people how great this man was. I was a young kid watching one of the best wr's I've ever seen. While still at GT 🤣
Sounds like a similar situation with Terry Mclaurin (obviously Megatron is better). I hate that my team is wasting McLaurin's career. I hope we can change his trajectory with new management
Imagine producing over 1,300 yards in your second NFL season with 3 different quarterbacks and it taking 5+ years for you to be recognized as one of the best WR
I still remember watching that Raiders game back in 2011 about to throw something through my tv. He was double and triple covered many times and still came down with the ball lol
❤🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
It is like, what if he played with Brady, Wilson, Rogers, or Newton.
Just wow. Johnson definitely deserved a ring
Calvin and Andre Johnson my two favorite wide receivers that I got to watch play
Megatron was that dude, he was always my #1 fantasy football target, I got him the year he had like 1900 yards too. Won my league easily. I picked up a young Antonio Brown as my flex spot lol.
I'd say Larry Fitzgerald was his equal and I'll die on that hill. CJ had Stafford, a perennial top 10 qb, his whole career. Larry had backups, journeymen, and other scrubs for almost his entire career and still put up HOF numbers
Calvin didn't retire early. Injuries, his body is destroyed
being from the D and loving megatron, i wish he could've seen a ring as he absolutely deserved it
As a life long Bears fan, I am SO JEALOUS, impressed and Congratulatory. He Da Man.
Very good vid 🔥🔥🔥
One of my favorite players !
Everytime he hit the field he was in BEASTMODE. 9yrs in BEASTMODE. B.Sanders & C. Johnson.
Big Facts! The GOAT 🐐
That 300 yard game if I am not mistaken dez came out saying he was as good as Megatron which sent Stafford on a mission. Dallas d was pissed at dez for that.
The dude's monicker is "MEGATRON"...there was never any doubts!
A legend.
Being a lions fan I had the pleasure to watch every game Calvin Johnson played in the nfl