At 30, Calvin Johnson Still Pushing For Another Milestone
By Ashley Scoby
@AshleyScoby
Another year, another likely milestone for Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson.
He is 79 yards away from another 1,000-yard receiving season, which would be his sixth straight. Provided he stays healthy and the Lions' offense isn't completely stonewalled against the Packers on Thursday, it's likely that milestone could come this week for Johnson.
It certainly won't be the biggest achievement in a career littered with them. In 2012, Johnson broke Jerry Rice's record for most receiving yards in a season (1,964).
But for the guy nicknamed Megatron, building on top of fallen records is the goal.
"Really, just try to get better and better every year," he said. "It's hard to beat some of the things that I've done over my career. But just to put together a solid year fundamentally from when I'm watching film, whether it's seeing the ball better or in and out of routes better, just those things you can't lax on them."
At age 30, Johnson has endured plenty of talk about his supposed decline, especially after he missed three games last season because of an ankle injury.
"I can't lie and say no to that," he said when asked if he enjoyed proving people wrong. "But at the same time, like I say, it's expected of myself to do those things."
Johnson is holding steady this year at 67 catches for 921 yards and six touchdowns, including three on Thanksgiving in the Lions' 45-14 win over the Eagles. He's fifth in the NFL in receiving, behind three players who have already eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark for the season (Julio Jones, Antonio Brown and DeAndre Hopkins). All three are 27 or younger.
"To reach it, that's a milestone and to go well beyond that is even better," Johnson said. "You only see the top receivers in the league up there ever y year and I'm still one of those guys."
"Still" is one of those concepts NFL players attempt to hold onto for as long as possible. He's still got it. He still can make the throws. He can still hold up health-wise. And Johnson is still that guy.
Just ahead of Johnson in receiving yards this year is 32-year-old Larry Fitzgerald, proving that age in the NFL can sometimes be a fluid discussion.
"It's like we often remind the guys on this team that they have an opportunity to be with a very rare individual in Calvin Johnson," Lions head coach Jim Caldwell said. "He's the epitome of a professional athlete in terms of his approach to the game. He gets in here early, he stays late, takes great care of his body. … He'll be a Hall of Fame player. He's a Hall of Fame person long before that."
The infamously humble and soft-spoken Johnson isn't obsessed with statistics or records, to have him tell it. And if his 1,964-yard record is broken one day (perhaps even by Brown or Jones this year), he'll only continue the timeless cycle that he's been a part of.
"If one of them breaks it, I will do the same thing Jerry did," he said. "It's a big congratulations. It's a big task to take on and that means you carried the load for your team that year to do something like that."
