Every so often, a certain NFL player rises above his peers. This athlete can singlehandedly control games and lead his team to victory despite incredible odds against him. You love if he's on your team and you're terrified if he's playing against you. You can't hate him he's too good a player. Even as he's crushing your hometown team, you can't help but respect his talent.
This season, Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson ascended to this level of greatness. Better known as "Megatron," he has shown the world that he is the most dominant player at his position. After seven games, he already has a league-leading 10 touchdown receptions.
Although 10 touchdowns over seven games doesn't sound like a major accomplishment, let me add some context. With 10 touchdowns, Johnson leads all players excluding quarterbacks and kickers in points scored. Year in and year out, we talk about dominant running backs such as Michael Turner and Andrian Peterson, but Megatron has outscored them all.
Former Lions wide receiver Roy Williams bestowed the nickname Megatron to Johnson, claiming that Johnson's massive hands reminded him of the ones that belong to the hulking Transformers villain. Fans and teammates embraced the nickname and have been calling him Megatron since his rookie season in 2007.
Like the king of the Decepticons, Johnson simply dominates any opposition he faces. He is an athletic freak. Weighing in at 6'5" and 240 pounds, Johnson towers above his opponents. And despite his large size, Johnson is one of the fastest players in the NFL. During the pre-draft combine in 2007, Megatron ran a 4.35 40-yard dash in borrowed sneakers. If you are unfamiliar with the 40-yard dash, a 4.35 puts you among the fastest 5 percent of players in the NFL. Johnson also has a vertical leap just shy of four feet. ESPN determined that Megaton could stand in the middle of a two-car garage and be able to catch any ball thrown inside the structure.
But athletic ability alone does not guarantee success in the NFL ask JaMarcus Russel if you don't believe me. Johnson possesses a skill set, however, that is unrivaled by any reciever since Jerry Rice. Johnson's hands are arguably the best in the league. He rarely, if ever, drops a pass that is thrown his way, and he is known for his acrobatic one-handed catches.
Like the fictional Megatron, Johnson often overcomes and overpowers entire groups of competitors. In critical situations, every player on the opposing team knows where Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford is throwing the ball. Every coach and every fan knows. Opponents often put two, three or even four defenders on Johnson to try to neutralize him, but Megatron almost always figures out how to catch the ball. He's unstoppable the only way to slow him down is to make sure the Lions rarely have the ball.
Although Johnson has been in the league for five years, many fans and critics did not acknowledge his greatness until this season. Johnson was drafted second in the 2007 NFL draft and entered the NFL with a lot of hype. Many compared him to Randy Moss and expected Johnson to follow Moss' example by putting up 17 touchdowns during his rookie season. Despite a solid season in which he racked up 756 receiving yards and five touchdowns, many were disappointed.
Johnson's slow start was due to bad luck. Megatron suffered a back injury at the start of the 2007 season that plagued him for the next two years. He was also a member of one of the worst football teams of all time in 2008, the Detroit Lions did not win a single game.
Now that the Lions are good and Stafford, Johnson's first quality quarterback, is healthy, Johnson has stood out as the best player on one of the top teams in the NFL.
Unlike the doubters, I was never surprised or disappointed by Megatron's NFL career. I watched him through college and and knew that he would be a great player. Johnson is the best receiver to ever graduate from Georgia Tech, and despite the Yellow Jackets' reliance on the rushing game, Johnson still led the Atlantic Coast Conference is receiving yards (1,202) and touchdowns (15) his senior year. Even in college, he was truly special.
The best thing about Johnson is that he is only 26 years old. If you're not a fan of Megatron yet, I promise that he'll win you over. I have a feeling that he will eventually be remembered as one of the greatest NFL players of all time.
