Calvin Johnson and the Quest for 2,000 Yards

“Yeah, it's tough,” Johnson said about the prospect of any receiver reaching 2,000 yards. The football world made a big deal last season when Saquon Barkley became the ninth player to rush for 2,000 yards in a season, so it’ll be a really big deal if and when a receiver gets there.

“We don't touch the ball as much as running backs,” said Johnson. “That's probably a big part of it, even though we probably average more yards.”

Interestingly, the season Johnson broke the receiving record was also the last time a non-quarterback won MVP — Adrian Peterson rushed for 2,097 yards that year with the Minnesota Vikings.

“I had (MVP) mentions just because of the yards I had,” Johnson recalled, “but we sucked that year.” The Lions went 4-12 in 2012, finishing last in the NFC North.

So can a receiver be MVP if he gets to 2,000?

“If you're on a winning team, that's the biggest part of it,” he said. “If you do (get to 2,000) and you're on a winning team, you've got to have huge consideration, because nobody's done it. That kind of puts you at the top of the conversation.”

It is a golden age for wide receivers in the NFL, so Johnson recognized a few players in addition to Smith-Njigba who he thinks could break his record.

“You’ve got Ja’marr Chase and Justin Jefferson. He still needs a quarterback,” he said of Jefferson, unsure if second-year player J.J. McCarthy is the answer in Minnesota. “Puka Nakua, he came on real strong this year. He's been solid, big year this year.”

In fact, Nacua came close to Smith-Njigba, finishing with 1,715 yards. Nacua benefitted from having a prolific quarterback in Matthew Stafford — who just happened to be the Lions’ starting quarterback in 2012.

Looking back on his remarkable 2012 season, Johnson maintained that he wasn’t focused on the record as much as he was just doing the best he could.

“I tried not to think about it, but it was definitely something that the entire team was into,” he said. My coach, he was dang sure focused on it,” Johnson said of then-Lions wide receivers coach Shawn Jefferson. “He was definitely pushing me to one, stay healthy, but two, get everything I can.”

Johnson’s nine-year career was certainly Hall of Fame worthy — he was enshrined in 2021, his first year of eligibility — but it was a three-year stretch from 2011-13 that was truly unmatched. During that span, Johnson averaged 101 receptions for 1,712 yards and 11 touchdowns. It’s the most receiving yards for any player in a three-year span in NFL history.

Johnson still owns more than a dozen Lions receiving records, though he acknowledges that current Lions star Amon-Ra St. Brown poses a threat to those marks. While the 40-year-old was not initially close to the team after his retirement in 2015, he has been lately, and he enjoys watching St. Brown in action.

“I'm definitely happy for his success, 100 percent,” Johnson said, adding that the two have talked recently.

“I'm trying to contribute however I can, just trying to be around the team and the players, whether they got questions, just trying to be supportive as much as I can.”

When he’s not around the team, his family or working with his foundation, Johnson is busy with a successful cannabis business. Johnson has been a vocal advocate for the use of medical marijuana in pain management. He and former Lions teammate Rob Sims started their company, Primitiv, in 2019 and have two dispensaries, one in Niles, Michigan, and another in Boston.

“It's going good,” Johnson said. “We got some good news with the government as far as them removing cannabis from Schedule I, which should have been done a long time ago.” Schedule I drugs are considered to have no medical benefits.

“It's a super competitive industry, and we're doing our part, we're competing.”

To be sure, Johnson knows what it’s like to compete in a tough business and succeed.