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In case you have not seen the play over 100 times yet, or you are Detroit Lions fan who likes pain (maybe a redundant comment given what it’s taken to be a Lions fan recently), the video of Calvin Johnson’s almost game-winning touchdown against the Bears is below. Lost in the rule itself is that Calvin Johnson was more concerned about the celebration than the catch itself when he “dropped” the ball. “Megatron” has been a stand-up guy and probably the most level-headed of the Detroit Lions’ first round draft choices at receiver – let alone one of the more humble of the elite receivers – so we have seen worse, but this was still his fault and because he was too excited to rub the catch in the faces of the Chicago Bears’ fans. We see who got the last laugh. It may be another long season for the Detroit Lions. Had the catch stood and the game ended in a Lions’ victory, it still would have been a fluke. Chicago gained five yards more per pass and over two yards more per rush than Detroit. And the Lions lost Matthew Stafford for a few weeks in the process. The defense is much-improved over the last two seasons and the offense appears to have some young weapons – most notably Calvin Johnson – yet that’s just light at the end of the tunnel in this case. And the tunnel may be a couple seasons long.
Detroit Lions receiver Calvin Johnson joined Valenti and Foster on 97.1 the Ticket in Detroit to discuss the fact that he was trying to get up and celebrate when he lost the ball against the Bears, why he was holding the ball in one hand as he made the catch and not getting any answer from the refs when he asked what was going on.
On why he didn’t bring the ball into his body after the catch:
“It was just natural for me to shield myself. I was going so fast. I had the ball in one hand. I put my other hand down to brace my fall and it just happened.”
On if he was going to celebrate when the ball came loose:
“Yeah, yeah. I’m getting up. I took a look at it a second time myself. I catch the ball, two feet, hands, my knee, my bottom. As I put my left hand down to brace myself, I started to get up to run to the sideline. The rest is history.”
On what the officials told him on the field:
“I asked. I went to the ref and asked, ‘What is going on?’ He said, ‘I can’t tell you nothing.’ I’m like, ‘What?’ That was the only incident where I actually heard from or talked to the ref. Nothing else was said to me or nothing like that.”
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