Throughout the years, I’ve seen many talented and dominant wide receivers. I saw Randy Moss and Terrell Owens. Another one I can list is Marvin Harrison. Though he didn’t say much, his play did much of the talking for him. Each week, he put up consistent numbers throughout and was a threat to make a play. All those guys I listed have all been great. They are also members of the Hall of Fame. However, there’s only one Mr. Calvin Johnson. He’s received word that he will be a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame for the class of 2021 on his first ballot.
Calvin is one of the most physically gifted wide receivers I’ve ever seen. He was a problem for many defenses who had to come up with a gameplan to limit him. Around the league, he was known as “Megatron”. If you saw him, you knew why he was nicknamed that. Calvin was a rather big guy playing wide receiver. At 6’5 and 237 pounds, some of his peers around the league said he was the NFL’s version of LeBron James which makes sense because of how big he was yet displayed unusual quickness. Calvin was a nightmare for anyone trying to defend him. You couldn’t jam him because he was big enough to handle the physicality. Even when the coverage was great, he always found a way to make a play. To be as big as he is, he had some of the best body control I’ve seen from a man of his size. The catch radius was also top-notch. Matt Stafford would place that ball only to where number 81 could get it.
I still remember when he announced his retirement. Many compared it to Barry Sanders walking away from the game at an early age. When Calvin walked away from the NFL, he was 30 years old and still in his physical prime. I could understand why he quit playing because of health issues. Football is one vicious game. Now, he will be in Canton, Ohio for the remainder of time. I couldn’t be happier for him.
