Detroit Lions fans haven’t had a lot to cheer for in terms of team success through the years, but they’ve long been able to appreciate many elite players that have dotted their roster.
Perhaps the best example of this is Calvin Johnson. While the recent Hall of Fame inductee only saw the playoffs twice in his illustrious career, he gave fans a reason to watch and be wowed every single game he played. That experience wasn’t limited to just his fans, either. Teammates had this experience as well.
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When Golden Tate signed with the Lions before the 2014 season, he knew he was in for a treat watching Johnson perform up close. But what did the wideout do day in and day out that impressed Tate so much at his own position on the field? According to Tate, it was the little things like running and making plays which Johnson did so well and so naturally. In an interview for DIRECTV, Tate discussed some top memories:
“This guy obviously has the physical gifts but like, to be able to run that fast and have that type of stride is just spectacular to me. Those are the moments I realized jump, run, coming out of his breaks, physical enough. He’s just slippery. Calvin is one of my favorite people,” Tate said during the interview.
Having a front row seat to Johnson, one of the elite receivers of all-time, had to have been a thrill for Tate. To see him up close in practice every day displaying the kind of traits that fans marveled over had to be very exciting for Tate. Obviously, explaining his attributes in such glowing terms shows this was the case.
Tate and Johnson Dominated With Lions Together
When Johnson was doing his work on the field with the Lions, he needed help. Enter Tate in free agency. When he joined the team, Tate gave the Lions something that few teams had in an elite quarterback, elite deep threat and elite slot receiver that could make multiple plays thanks to his status as a yards after-contact king. When the two matched up together on the field, the results were pretty nice for the Lions statistically. In their first year together in 2014, the duo combined for 12 touchdowns, 2,408 yards and 170 receptions. Here’s a sampling of their best work on the field together:
Together, there wasn’t much the duo couldn’t do on the field, which only serves to make it more frustrating to fans that the team couldn’t win big at the time both players were in the fold during their prime.
Johnson’s Career Statistics
Specifically with regard to Johnson, Tate was right to marvel at the player. Since he came into the league with the Lions in 2007, Johnson wasted little time putting up great plays and amazing statistics. In his career, Johnson put up 11,619 yards and 83 touchdowns and more than that, was a human highlight reel unlike any other receiver on the list. Out of Georgia Tech, Johnson was labeled as one of the freakiest players in the draft and he lived up to that distinction in the NFL.
Johnson shattered Rice’s record of 1,848 receiving yards during the 2012 season and was a stable force for the team, often playing through pain and discomfort on the field. He walked away following the 2015 season, leaving a gaping hole in Detroit’s wideout group. Since, Johnson has been embroiled in a feud with the Lions for the last few seasons over money that the team made him pay back upon retirement, but signs have shown that the ice may be set to break at some point in the future.
Regardless of that, there is simply no questioning the freaky way Johnson played through the years and what he was able to do on the field of play routinely. With a seat up close,
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Golden Tate Reveals Why He Believed Calvin Johnson Was Special