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We still aren’t sure if Calvin Johnson misses football, but football has certainly missed Calvin Johnson. The former Detroit Lions receiver hasn’t been around the NFL much since his retirement in 2015—only making brief appearances at OTAs for the Raiders and the Lions’ season opener in 2018. He still regularly hosts football camps for youth, but he hasn’t made a lot of public appearances with the NFL.
That changed a little last week, as the future Hall of Fame receiver joined NFL Total Access to help Iowa State receiver Hakeem Butler improve his game and prepare for the upcoming NFL Draft. Take a look. (h/t to Lions Wire for finding this)
Do you miss @calvinjohnsonjr??
— NFL Total Access (@NFLTotalAccess) February 23, 2019
We do too.
Watch him give some tips to draft prospect @410Keem (Hakeem Butler) on the field ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/aFX13owTS3
It’s not groundbreaking analysis or anything, but it is cool to see Johnson giving back to the football community, trying to make the players—and therefore the game—better. We can only hope Megatron eventually smooths over his rocky relationship with the Lions, so that he share his gift with Detroit’s receiving corps. Just think about how a guy like Kenny Golladay could benefit from learning from one of the best ever.
- Speaking of Golladay, his former agent Jason Bernstein is suing the owner of a sports memorabilia company over a dispute involving Golladay attending an autograph signing event that was not in accordance to his contract. Three days after the event, Golladay terminated his contract with the agent. Golladay now has a new agent (as of January 2019).
- Punt, by nature, are sad. They are a form of giving up. Surrendering. But SB Nation’s Jon Bois went out to find the saddest of the sad. And the Detroit Lions were on the receiving end of the NFL’s saddest punt. Bois explains in this very entertaining 50-minute video:
- Former Lions defensive lineman Armonty Bryant is 28, but no longer in the NFL because of a debilitating illness called focal semnetal glomerulosclerosis (FSGS). The illness basically forces Bryant to be home-ridden, having to give himself dialysis to keep his kidneys functioning and himself alive. ESPN’s Michael Rothstein has more.
- The NFL counted down the top 10 plays from the Lions’ 2018 season... and Quandre Diggs was not happy about his placement:
I see you guys only care about offense.. number 10? lame https://t.co/Gnb4rKLyy3
— Nino (@qdiggs6) February 25, 2019
- The Draft Network dropped their “Mock Draft Machine,” which allows users to create their own mock drafts for free. It’s a really spiffy interface and I highly recommend playing around with it if you’re into that sort of thing.