Hall of Famer Calvin Johnson to Be Inducted into 'Pride of the Lions'

The Detroit Lions announced Monday they're inducting Hall of Fame wide receiver Calvin Johnson into their "Pride of the Lions," which honors the greatest players in franchise history.

"We are thrilled to add Calvin Johnson Jr. to the Pride of the Lions," team president Rod Wood said. "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 news came as a pleasant surprise to Johnson:

He was a three-time All-Pro and six-time Pro Bowler in his nine seasons with the Lions. He's their all-time leader in the three major receiving categories, finishing with 731 catches for 11,619 yards and 83 touchdowns.

Much like Barry Sanders before him, Johnson's on-field legend grew in small part due to Detroit's futility. He was arguably the most dominant pass-catcher of his era yet appeared in just two playoff games. (In those two contests, he had 17 receptions for 296 yards and two touchdowns.)

Johnson cited the Lions' lack of progress as one of the reasons behind his retirement after the 2015 season.

"I was stuck in my contract with Detroit, and they told me, they would not release my contract, so I would have to come back to them," he told reporters in 2017. "I didn't see the chance for them to win a Super Bowl at the time, and for the work I was putting in, it wasn't worth my time to keep on beating my head against the wall and not going anywhere."

Around the same time, Johnson expressed some frustration with how his tenure in the Motor City ended. The sides have since worked to mend fences, and Monday's announcement is a sign of the progress made on that front.

The wideout, aptly nicknamed Megatron for his seemingly superhuman abilities, is a Lions legend and increasingly having his legacy placed in its rightful context.