Calvin Johnson stepping toward mentorship role with Jameson Williams

As his relationship with the Detroit Lions lands in a good place, Calvin Johnson is hoping to connect well with Jameson Williams.

Not that it could have gotten any worse, after the team demanded he pay back part of his signing bonus when he retired early. But the relationship between Calvin Johnson and the Detroit Lions is moving into a good place. He was at minicamp this week, and on Sunday he will host a football camp at the team facility with some of his former teammates.

Last summer, "Megatron" professed a desire to mentor Jameson Williams. Last month, after making an appearance at OTAs, Johnson had advice for the young receiver in the wake of his six-game suspension for violating the NFL's gambling policy.

"It's really just how you interact with that adversity," Johnson continued. "How do you combat that adversity? Do you allow the adversity to hold you down or do you push up? Do you thrive? Do you stand back up? This is all about getting back up. No matter how many times you're getting knocked down, you just got to keep on getting back up and you'll find success." ""

- Calvin Johson

Calvin Johnson was able to finally connect with Jameson Williams at minicamp

Johnson made an appearance on 97.1 The Ticket Friday morning. Along with again talking about how his relationship with the Lions is on the right track, he mentioned how he was able to connect with Williams at minicamp.

"I connected with Jamo yesterday (Thursday) really for the first time and I look forward to being around him and being a shoulder for him to lean on," Johnson said. "Extremely talented kid. We saw him when he touched the field last year for the first time. I look forward to just helping him build the level of consistency and being the pro he wants to be, man. Anything I can to do help him, I’ll do that and I’ll be there.""

- Calvin Johnson

It's easy to overreact to what Williams did in violating the league's gambling policy, even if at the same time his plea of total ignorance to the gambling rules is hard to buy. But Johnson can surely be a great mentor, and Williams should embrace the relationship.

Speaking of any big overreaction to Williams' mistake, intertwined with the idea he'd benefit from a mentor like Johnson, calling it out has already been done.

Lions' players other than Williams can benefit (and probably already have benefitted) from Johnson's presence around the team at OTAs and minicamp. It's just that particular relationship everyone will want to know about, and see signs of.