Lions announce Calvin Johnson will be inducted to Ring of Honor

On Monday morning, the Detroit Lions announced Hall of Fame wide receiver Calvin Johnson will be inducted into the Pride of the Lions during the coming season. The ceremony will take place at halftime of the game against the Seattle Seahawks on Monday night, Sept. 30.

"We are thrilled to add Calvin Johnson Jr. to the Pride of the Lions," Lions President and CEO Rod Wood said in a statement. "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."

Lions Chief Operating Office Mike Disner surprised Johnson in-person with the honor at Johnson's celebrity charity golf event at Detroit Country Club Monday morning.

Johnson was drafted second overall by the Lions in the 2007 NFL Draft. He spent all nine seasons of his career in Detroit, earning six Pro Bowl nods and three All-Pro selections. In 2012, he set the NFL single-season record with 1,964 receiving yards. He holds franchise records in career receptions (731), receiving yards (11,619) and receiving touchdowns (83).

In 2021, Johnson was a first-ballot inductee to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

After his sudden retirement in 2016, and a dispute with the team over repaying his signing bonus, Johnson's relationship with the Lions has greatly improved in recent years (credit to Disner from Johnson himself). Now he's taking his rightful place in the franchise's Ring of Honor.

Calvin Johnson to join Pride of the Lions

Johnson will be the 21st member of the Pride of the Lions, joining Lomas Brown, Chris Spielman, Roger Brown, Alex Karras, Herman Moore, Lem Barney, Jack Christiansen, Dutch Clark, Lou Creekmur, Jason Hanson, Dick "Night Train" Lane, Yale Lary, Bobby Layne, Dick LeBeau, Barry Sanders, Charlie Sanders, Joe Schmidt, Dick Stanfel, Doak Walker and Alex Wojciechowicz.

Kay Adams took her show to Detroit and Johnson's golf event on Monday, so Johnson was an automatic guest in the wake of the Ring of Honor announcement. He talked about what the honor means to him.

"You saw me up there, it's a tear jerker," said Johnson. "I don't like surprises for that reason, man. You might catch me in my emotions. And they definitely did, man. Definitely shed a tear, because I didn't see it coming. I wasn't expecting it. And it's just an honor. It really is to be celebrated by my peers and by the city of Detroit. That's the honor."

No Lion has worn Johnson's No. 81 since he did. Formally retiring that number feels like the next logical step, and as Mike Payton of AtoZ Sports suggested, what about a statue?