WEBBERVILLE, Mich. – Calvin Johnson is simply in awe that he will soon join Jim Brown and Gale Sayers as Pro Football Hall of Famers inducted at 35 years old or younger.
“That’s football royalty, man,” Johnson said in an interview with The Associated Press. “When you hear those guys’ names, you’re just like, ‘Wow.'”
Known as Megatron when he was a star wide receiver for the Detroit Lions from 2007-15 before retiring from the game at a relatively young age – he turns 36 next month – Johnson is now focused on changing the conversation about cannabis and helping improve the lives of people whether or not they want to partake.
Johnson and former Lions teammate Rob Sims founded Michigan-based Primitiv, a cannabis research company, and created a collaboration with Harvard University to research how marijuana can help people with CTE and chronic pain.
“What he’s trying to do here is really, really powerful in being able to create collaborations that can help find a solution to players who are transitioning out of the NFL,” Harvard Medical School professor Wilfred Ngwa said.
Johnson, an Atlanta-area native who was a two-time All-America first-team selection in his three seasons at Georgia Tech, will also be the face and voice of a new app created by NESTRE, a Florida-based company focused on increasing brain health and mental wellness.
“It’s not often that you spend time with a Hall of Famer but at the same time somebody that is just a genuinely good person, no ego,” said Tommy Shavers, founder and CEO of NESTRE.
Johnson was unassuming around reporters throughout his nine-season career with the Lions, usually shrugging his shoulders and coming up with an aw-shucks answer to questions about his play. Teammates, though, raved about how he worked out as if he was competing for the final spot on the roster.
“He’s not a diva, as they say, as some receivers tend to be,” said former NFL running back Derrick Moore, who will introduce Johnson during his Pro Football Hall of Fame induction Sunday in Canton, Ohio. Moore was Georgia Tech’s team chaplain while Johnson was starring for the Yellow Jackets.
That humility is still on display for all those who cross his path, but Johnson is much more passionate when he talks about his new career than he was about anything related to football. He warmly welcomed visitors at Primitiv’s 12,000-square-foot cultivation facility, holding doors open, handing out scrubs and collecting laundry – and he didn’t just do that for the cameras.
“Arguably the greatest receiver in the history of the game is in here mopping floors,” Sims said.
AP photo by Carlos Osorio / Former Georgia Tech and Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson looks over marijuana plants growing at his business in Webberville, Mich. Johnson will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this weekend in Canton, Ohio.Johnson is direct when discussing his feelings about the Lions, though.
When he retired in March 2016, the team compelled him to pay back more than $1 million of the signing bonus from his eight-year deal that could have potentially paid him $132 million and kept him under contract through the 2019 season.
Hard feelings?
“Of course,” he acknowledged. “That’s the reason I am not going back over there.”
Lions president Rod Wood has said the team continues to communicate with Johnson and would love to have him come to a game this season to celebrate his Canton induction, but he’s not interested.
“If someone comes in your pocket and says, ‘Hey I’m going to take this $200 from you and I still want you to be my friend and come over to my house tomorrow,'” Johnson said. “What are you going to do? Hell no.”
Johnson’s sudden retirement rekindled memories of how running back Barry Sanders left Detroit by walking away from football shortly before the 1999 season. Sanders, too, had a rift with the Lions perhaps in part because he had to return $1.8 million of his signing bonus to them. Three years ago, the team paid him to be an ambassador, and the 2004 Hall of Fame inductee attends functions for the franchise.
If the Lions return the money Johnson had to pay back, he said everyone will know.
“You’ll see me around the team,” he said.
Detroit drafted Johnson with the No. 2 pick in 2007 and had a winning record in just two of his nine seasons.
Despite sometimes drawing two defensive backs as if he was lined up wide for a punt team, he was tough to stop because of his size, speed and strength. He measured 6-foot-5 and weighed 237 pounds, but he could run the 40-yard dash in 4.4 seconds and clear 45 inches with his vertical jump.
Those skills helped him break one of Hall of Famer Jerry Rice’s records with 1,964 receiving yards in 2012. The three-time All-Pro and six-time Pro Bowl player reached 10,000 receiving yards in 115 games and 11,000 in 127, quicker than anyone in NFL history in both cases. He also set a league record with 86.1 receiving yards per game, a mark since surpassed by Julio Jones, who was traded in the offseason from the Atlanta Falcons to the Tennessee Titans.
Even though his career was relatively short, Johnson – inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2018 – made enough of an impact to be enshrined with the game’s greats. In the end, though, he wants to be known for much more than what he did on the field.
“Yeah, football, Hall of Fame, that’s a great legacy,” Johnson said. “But I would love for my legacy to be able to create something here that goes beyond, creating that quality of life for people and so many different applications. That’s what I’m all about.”