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The Detroit Lions announced on Monday that they will be inducting Calvin Johnson into their ring of honor: the “Pride of the Lions.” The ceremony will take place during halftime of the team’s “homecoming game” against the Seattle Seahawks on Monday, September 30.
“We are thrilled to add Calvin Johnson Jr. to the Pride of the Lions,” Lions President and CEO Rod Wood said in a written statement. “His commitment on the field and to the city of Detroit are legendary and this is a well-deserved honor. We are proud that he will be forever memorialized inside Ford Field and as a Detroit Lion.”
The moment in which Johnson was alerted of his induction this year happened to be caught on tape. During Johnson’s celebrity golf outing on July 15, Lions chief operating officer Mike Disner and Lions legend Lomas Brown surprised him with the news.
Calvin Johnson’s name will now be in the rafters at Ford Field. He was just surprised by Mike Disner and Lomas Brown that he will be inducted into the Pride of the Lions during Monday Night Football against the Seahawks.
— Jeanna Trotman (@JeannaTrotmanTV) July 15, 2024
Congrats @calvinjohnsonjr, well deserved!! pic.twitter.com/t76Y5f8g6S
UPDATE: Here’s another video of Calvin Johnson’s reaction to the news from the Up and Adams show, with Kay Adams:
HOF'er @calvinjohnsonjr on why being inducted into the #Lions Ring of Honor means so much to him... @heykayadams @Lions pic.twitter.com/BYZbaQwBS5
— Up & Adams (@UpAndAdamsShow) July 15, 2024
Johnson was selected by the Lions in the first round of the 2007 NFL Draft (second overall pick in the draft). He would spend the next nine years with the Lions, tallying six Pro Bowl years, three All-Pro seasons, and a mark that remains an NFL record to this date: 1,964 receiving yards in a single season (2012). In 2021, Johnson became a first-ballot inductee to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Johnson suddenly retired in 2016 and initially had a dispute with the Lions organization over his signing bonus. This caused several years of bad blood between the Lions and Johnson, but after years of mending the relationship, Johnson appears to be fully back with the team, and that will culminate in this awesome moment in Week 4 of the 2024 season.
The previous inductees to the “Pride of the Lions” include:
- OT Lomas Brown
- LB Chris Spielman
- DT Roger Brown
- DT Alex Karras
- WR Herman Moore
- CB Lem Barney
- S Jack Christiansen
- QB Dutch Clark
- OL Lou Creekmur
- K Jason Hanson
- CB Dick “Night Train” Lane
- S Yale Lary
- QB Bobby Layne
- CB Dick LeBeau
- RB Barry Sanders
- TE Charlie Sanders
- LB Joe Schmidt
- G Dick Stanfel
- RB Doak Walker
- OL Alex Wojciechowicz
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