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The Detroit Lions announced on Monday that they will induct legendary wide receiver Calvin Johnson into the Pride of the Lions on Sept. 30 in Detroit Michigan. Johnson will receive the honor at halftime when the Lions face the Seattle Seahawks at Ford Field, as part of an ESPN Monday Night Football broadcast. The Pride of the Lions, first unveiled in 2009, is a permanent display at Ford Field which honors the best players in the history of the franchise. Johnson, 38, will become the 21st former Lions player to receive the honor.
Lions president and CEO Rod Wood said in a news release: “We are thrilled to add Calvin Johnson Jr. to the Pride of the Lions. 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.”
Mike Disner, the Lions’ chief operating officer, had originally surprised Johnson at his charity golf tournament on Monday with the announcement, with Johnson later telling the “Up & Adams Show with Kay Adams” that the surprise was a “tearjerker …I didn’t see it coming. I wasn’t expecting it. It is just an honor to be celebrated by my peers and by the city of Detroit.”
Johnson, a 2021 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee, spent his entire nine-year NFL career with the Lions. He joined the Lions as the No. 2 overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft and went on to become a six-time Pro Bowl selection and three-time All-Pro. Johnson made 135 career appearances for Detroit, ending his career as the the Lions’ all-time leader in receptions (731), receiving yards (11,619) and touchdown catches (83). He led the NFL with 122 catches for a league-record 1,964 yards and five scores in 16 starts in 2012.
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