FanPost

Megatron on ESPN and Suh in GQ


I am sure everyone has seen the article on ESPN about Calvin Johnson, if you haven't here is the link. It is a must read for any Lions fan. I went through it and thought just how awesome is Calvin Johnson? I always liked Calvin because he reminded me of Barry, low key, just came and did his job everyday, no over the top TD celebrations, and oh yeah they were both the best at their respective positions. I read this article and got a look at how he lives and it fascinated me especially in comparison to Suh's recent GQ article.

In Suh's article we got a look into what type of person he is and what kind of formed him to be who he is. To be honest a lot of how he lives and how he grew up was kind of alien to me and I think it would be to a lot of other young Americans. For example the thought that as a multimillionaire man-beast who is paid to crush other multimillionaire man-beast but is not allowed to get a tattoo because his parents say so, that is just crazy to me. I am around Suh's age and my parents would not want me to get a tattoo but the thought that they would forbid it and that I would actually follow that, if I really wanted a tattoo, is sort of unreal. Calvin on the other hand seemed to have a more easily relatable life to me, his father came off as about as normal of a guy that could be and his mom is an educator with a PHD. I loved the quote about his father "He gets his easygoing demeanor from his daddy, who refuses to retire despite his son's massive wealth. Money didn't change Calvin, he says. Why would it change him?" He really seems to have been raised right and it really shows in his demeanor and approach to life.

I also found it interesting comparing Suh and Calvin was the fact that while they both avoid the media it is in completely different ways. Suh finds them to be a cancer and a danger to his life (which to be honest who can really blame him, with the media's general behavior and the way he has been vilified?) where Calvin just sees them more as lost production time. He says there are other things he could be doing after a game like taking care of his body and that is part of his job. That part endeared me even more to CJ because that is exactly the blue collar sort of approach that I love, he is literally there to do his job and make sure he does his best at it. We have gotten so used to the Chad Johnson's and TO's that someone who just want to focus so much on his job is just amazingly refreshing.

Anyway I just wanted to share some of my thoughts and hopefully get some of yours from those articles, I am not usually in the habit of stalking celebrities but when two of the most media shy Lions come out and have in depth looks into their lives I take notice. I have a real soft spot for both Suh and CJ in part because they both went to college for engineering as did I, but also because of how they play and how hard they work to do it. I will just leave you guys with one last quote that I think sums up how humble CJ is "On this evening, at the end of an offseason in which a number of his teammates made headlines for various scuffles with the law, Johnson is doing laundry."

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pride Of Detroit or its writers.