SB Nation - Calvin Johnson

Calvin Johnson Gives Teammates Autographed Copies Of Madden 13

Adam Stites — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 21:10:50 -0000

On Friday, Calvin Johnson was everyone's favorite teammate in the Detroit Lions locker room, as the two-time All-Pro handed out personalized copies of the new Madden NFL 13 with his likeness on the cover. Now before you make accusations that the wide receiver's move to hand out the copies is a vain one, apparently it was something his teammates had been asking him to do.

"They've been asking me for it, so I just wanted to make sure they get it," Johnson told Michigan Live on Friday.

Johnson finished the 2011 season with 96 receptions, an NFL-leading 1,681 yards receiving and 16 touchdowns. He started his 2012 season with six receptions for 111 yards on Sunday against the St. Louis Rams, although he didn't find the end zone. The Lions will continue their season in Week 2 when they face the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday night.

Madden 13, featuring Johnson on the cover, was released on Aug. 28.

Lions Have Oldest Average Age In NFL

Steve von Horn — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 14:00:30 -0000

The Detroit Lions are often painted as a young up-and-coming team in the NFL just biding their time before ascension to elite status, but in reality the Lions have the oldest roster in the NFL based on average age. As pointed out by Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, only two NFL teams -- the Lions and the San Diego Chargers -- have an average age of 27 years or older, and Detroit (27.42) edges the Chargers (27.27) for the dubious distinction of the oldest team in the NFL.

Jason Hanson and Ben Graham, who are 42 and 39 years old, respectively, can take some of the blame. Even so, key performers like Jeff Backus, Kyle Vanden Bosch and Corey Williams are all well on the wrong side of 30 years old. In sum, 16 players on the 53-man roster are over the age of 30 for the Lions.

The good news for the Lions is that the skill position players who matter most are still young. Matthew Stafford, Calvin Johnson, Titus Young, Louis Delmas all do their part to pull the team's average age down. The future can still be considered bright for Detroit, but they will have to work carefully to replace those aged vets over the next few seasons if they hope to sustain any level of success. Just for reference, the Chicago Bears had an average age of 26.62 and the Green Bay Packers clocked at 25.70.

For more on the Lions, check out Pride Of Detroit.

What Will Calvin Johnson Do Vs. The St. Louis Rams' New Secondary?

DanUpBaby — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 12:14:06 -0000

Informal survey time: The St. Louis Rams' new secondary, starring Cortland Finnegan and Janoris Jenkins, is just about to face its first-ever regular-season challenge, and it's Calvin Johnson, which is kind of like being forced to start your game of Mortal Kombat against Shang Tsung. So--what will Johnson and Matthew Stafford combine to do against the Rams in Week 1 of Jeff Fisher's brave new world of professionalism and competence? I have four options for you.

1. <50 yards, no touchdowns. A statue of Cortland Finnegan is erected atop the Edward Jones Dome. St. Louis adopts Janoris Jenkins' kids as its own.

2. <75 yards, a touchdown. A moral victory. This is Calvin Johnson, and he only found the end zone once! Cortland Finnegan jerseys briefly outsell Greg Zuerlein jerseys on NFL.com.

3. >100 yards, >=one touchdown. Well, he's Calvin Johnson. Things could be much worse, and the Rams could still win, after all.

4. >150 yards, >=two touchdowns. Janoris Jenkins's kids by Calvin Johnson jerseys. The Rams' secondary waits until somebody not named Matthew Stafford is throwing the football to have its big breakout game.

For more updates on Sunday's Rams vs. Lions game, and up-to-the-minute score, fantasy, and injury updates, stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louis's Rams-Lions storystream.

Poll

What will Calvin Johnson do vs. the St. Louis Rams?

Nothing much

3 votes

A below-average performance

10 votes

A Calvin Johnson performance

7 votes

A Megatron performance

19 votes

39 votes | Poll has closed

Lions Coordinator Scott Linehan Expecting Huge Year From Calvin Johnson

Dave Ryan — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 00:02:49 -0000

There are only a handful of players in the National Football League who can even remotely compare to Lions receiver Calvin Johnson from an athletic standpoint. And because of that and a litany of other reasons, Detroit offensive coordinator Scott Linehan is not ready to eliminate the thought of a 2,000-yard campaign for his dominant 6'5 weapon in the passing game in 2012.

"Don't put anything past what Calvin can do," Linehan told MLive.com when asked about cracking the impressive milestone. "When I look back on the season, there's a lot of things we did miss last year. He's pretty special."

Linehan knows full well what Johnson is capable of after seeing him on a first-hand basis for such a long time, and it's hard to imagine the Pro Bowl pass-catcher won't take the next step in his development with another year under his belt and a more seasoned quarterback throwing him the ball. Assuming he's fully healthy, it would take Johnson an average of 125 receiving yards per game to reach the feat this season. Anybody want to bet against him?

Head over to Pride of Detroit for more Lions coverage, and be sure to visit SB Nation's NFL hub for more news from around the league.

VIDEO: Calvin Johnson Profiled On E:60

Packey — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 20:57:18 -0000

Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson was featured on Tuesday night's season premiere of ESPN's E:60 series, along with USA goalkeeper Hope Solo and Penn State recruit Jamil Pollard.

The roughly 14-minute segment went into entertaining detail about Megatron's personality, upbringing in a small town in Georgia and his rise to stardom in football at Georgia Tech and with the Lions after being selected No. 2 overall in April 2007.

Through interviews with Johnson's mother, father and sister, amongst others, ESPN's Lisa Salters provides viewers with a rare look into the private life of whom star cornerback Darrelle Revis calls the best wide receiver in the NFL.

The video is below, and it's worth your time.

Sports Illustrated Cover This Week Features Matthew Stafford, Calvin Johnson

Satchel Price — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 19:46:29 -0000

Sports Illustrated has featured Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford and wide receiver Calvin Johnson on one of two covers released for this week's edition of the magazine, as Brad Galli of ABC 7 in Detroit reports. Two covers were released for the issue, which previews the 2012 NFL season in great detail.

The cover itself can be found in this tweet from Galli:

Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson featured on the regional cover of Sports Illustrated. #Lions twitter.com/Rosenberg_Mike…
— Brad Galli (@BradGalli) August 29, 2012

Touted as "Mega Arm" and "Megatron" in front of a faded blue background, Stafford and Johnson seem to be quickly establishing themselves as two of the biggest stars in the game. For a fan base that's suffered through an 0-16 season and the unspeakable nonsense known as the Matt Millen era, it's about time.

For more on the Lions trade, visit the SB Nation blog Pride Of Detroit. For more news on the league, visit the SB Nation NFL homepage.

Madden 13 Predicts Eagles Vs Patriots Super Bowl

JasonB — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 20:39:37 -0000

Madden 13 was released today and G4 decided to test its soothsaying skills by simulating a full season to see who wins the various player awards and the Super Bowl. They say Madden has been 75% accurate in picking Super Bowl participants in their previous tests.

Eagles fans should hope that number holds. After a full season simulation, Madden 13 predicted an Eagles vs Patriots Super Bowl. Unfortunately, the Eagles lose 15-14...

Madden has the birds going 10-6, winning the NFC East and taking the 4th seed in the conference. The Eagles went through the Packers, Bears & 49ers in the NFC playoffs. The Giants and Cowboys both miss the playoffs according to Madden.

Tom Brady wins MVP, Calvin Johnson takes offensive player of the year and DeMarcus Ware takes the defensive honors. Andrew Luck win offensive rookie of the year, Courtney Upshaw grabbing defensive rookie of the year. Romeo Crennel was named coach of the year. Check out the video of the full season simulation after the jump.

Calvin Johnson Makes Cover Of ESPN The Magazine's NFL Preview Issue

Dave Ryan — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 20:32:24 -0000

Already set to grace the cover of the long-awaited "Madden NFL 13" video game when it hits stores later this month, Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson has also been scooped up as the cover athlete for ESPN The Magazine's NFL preview issue.

Johnson alone will be front and center on the cover, which will hit all markets. The Pro Bowl wideout is pictured squeezing the air out of a helpless football in full Lions gear before a white background. In addition to the impressive shot of the Detroit star, the cover also features a blurb that reads, "Calvin Johnson is really, really good," which is one heck of an understatement.

Along with following in their footsteps as the "Madden" game's cover athlete, Johnson also joins Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick (2011) and Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis (2010) as the latest individual players to command the cover of ESPN's preview issue. In order find the right shot to use, though, the 6-foot-5-inch Johnson took part in a fun photo shoot with the Worldwide Leader, which was obviously caught on video:

ESPN's Top 200 NFL Players List Has Calvin Johnson 4th

Satchel Price — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 20:56:56 -0000

Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson is widely regarded as one of the NFL's absolute best players, and now ESPN is all in on the hype.

Megatron is listed as the fourth-best player in the entire NFL on ESPN's Top-200 list for the 2012 season, a strong statement on just how positively the pass-catcher is perceived throughout the industry.

As ESPN's blurb notes, Johnson is, "an outstanding combination of size, strength and athleticism for the position. His length and strength create mismatches in most NFL secondaries."

With a good quarterback like Matthew Stafford to take advantage of those characteristics, Johnson has put up absolutely huge numbers with Detroit. In 2011, he caught 96 passes for a league-leading 1,681 yards and 16 touchdowns.

The Lions clearly like Johnson as much as ESPN does: this spring, they signed him to a seven-year, $132 million contract with $60 million in guaranteed money, the biggest contract ever given to a wide receiver.

For more on the Lions, be sure to visit Pride Of Detroit. Additional pro football coverage can be found at SB Nation's NFL hub.