INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION Calvin Megatron Johnson was a football star almost from the first day he stepped on the field His height speed and ability to make acrobatic leaps and catches made him one of the best wide receivers ever to play the game Johnson spent nine seasons in the National Football League NFL from 2007 to 2015 He played all nine of those seasons with the Detroit Lions During his NFL career he scored 83 touchdowns He made 731 receptions for an amazing total of 11,619 yards Johnson impressed fans coaches teammates and players on opposing teams Often people could not believe how fast he was He ran past defenders as if they were standing still Sometimes the catches he made seemed impossible He would leap to incredible heights twisting his body at the same time to make a catch James Lofton an NFL radio analyst told Austin Murphy of Sports Illustrated Everybody knows they’re throwing Johnson the ball and he catches it anyway Off the field Johnson worked as hard as he could to make the most of his speed and abilities Every day of the week he prepared so he would be able to perform well on game days As amazing as he was he never called any attention to himself He preferred to stay out of the media spotlight and let his performance on the field speak for him 4
Introduction Calvin Johnson makes one of his typically acrobatic catches to score a touchdown in a September 2014 game against the New York Giants 5
CHAPTER ONE A Head Above Right from the Beginning Calvin Johnson Jr was born in Newnan Georgia on September 29 1985 Newnan is about 40 miles southwest of Atlanta Georgia His father Calvin Johnson Sr was a train conductor for the Southern Pacific Railroad Johnson’s mother Arica worked for the Atlanta public school system Johnson has an older sister named Erica He also has a younger brother Wali and a younger sister Elan When Calvin was still a boy the family moved to Tyrone about 25 miles southwest of Atlanta The Johnsons were a close-knit family They went to church together on Sundays Johnson’s parents emphasized that it was important to be a good person Johnson was very kind as a child His mother told Austin Murphy the advice she gave her son If you treat people the way you want to be treated things will work out Both of Johnson’s parents taught their children the importance of hard work and of doing a job well Johnson’s mother also stressed that education was very important As Johnson told Murphy You didn’t want to bring home anything but an A or a B To my mom a C was like an F Johnson wanted to please his parents and always tried his best to get good grades 6
A Head Above Right from the Beginning Calvin Johnson’s family attended the 2007 NFL Draft with him From left to right are his father Calvin Sr Calvin Jr his sisters Erica and Elan his mother Arica and his brother Wali QUICK FACT Johnson looked up to Ken Griffey Jr an outfielder for the Seattle Mariners Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox Sports Sports Sports Growing up Johnson loved sports He loved watching them as much as he loved playing them He was a big fan of the Atlanta Braves baseball team He played Little League baseball starting when he was five or six He played outfield and catcher and sometimes pitched Johnson also loved football But when he was in elementary school and junior high school his mother would not allow him to play the sport She believed football was too dangerous 7
