Detroit Lions Weblog

Calvin Johnson Signed, Stanton to IR, Charlie Sanders Hall of Fame Weekend

The Lions finally signed rookie WR Calvin Johnson today.   Regardless of whether or not he is the franchise’s incoming savior, which is highly unlikely, his presence should be warmly welcomed, and his signing marks one of the more anticipated arrivals in Detroit sports history.   The challenge for Johnson, much like his once hailed counterparts, who are now maligned failures, throughout Lions draft history, is that he will face a complex of negating factors that will likely help him to realize just how difficult of a journey he is about to embark upon.

He is a member of a franchise that has enjoyed one playoff victory in fifty seasons and has not won a championship of any kind in that same span of time.   Furthermore, Lions fans, who are ever hungry for a messiah to emerge, will have little patience if he struggles at all, at any point in time, especially considering the difficulties the team has experienced at that position over it’s recent 6-year, 24-72 period of struggle.   

As spectacular as Johnson is, his big signing bonus and high-profile within the organization places him under a higher amount of scrutiny than he has ever felt before in his life.  It is up to Johnson just how he handles all of the accumulated weight of fifty years of misery and crushed expectations that form the aggregate baggage of this moribund franchise.

Drew Stanton was placed on injured reserve today, much as I expected.   The Lions backup QB’s are completely unproven and untested.   Yet, eliminating Stanton from that picture takes the pressure away from the Lions having to run him out onto to the field before he’s ready, should the team falter.   Stanton should view this season optimistically, with eyes wide open.   He must work harder than ever before to put himself in a position where he may eventually be able to replace Jon Kitna.  It is clear that the Lions believed that he would not be able to contribute this season, or they would not have placed him on injured reserve so quickly for such a mild injury.   Whether or not this eventually becomes another busted draft pick for the Lions remains to be seen, but it does not look good.

Charlie Sanders will be inducted in the NFL Hall of Fame this weekend.   This weekend also marks the return of pre-season football.    Sanders is the prototype for the skill sets of players like Antonio Gates, Kellen Winslow, Jr, and Vernon Davis in today’s NFL.   Sanders is a class individual and his being honored is long overdue. Sanders stands as a class example, much like Dexter Bussey, Robert Porcher, Lem Barney and so many other ex-Lions, of how a person should conduct themselves in their personal and business lives.

The Lions QB situation is certainly murky.   As tough of an S.O.B. as Jon Kitna is, and no matter what level of improvement Jim Colletto culls from the revamped Lions O-line, the Lions are skating on thin ice depending only upon J.T. O’Sullivan and Dan Orlovsky as suitable replacements for Kitna should he be injured or play ineffectively this season.   Invariably, this situation will come back to haunt the Lions this season, much like trading Dre Bly, and their continued sickening dependence upon the maddeningly-unfulfilled promise of players like Kalimba “The Ghost” Edwards, Boss Bailey, and Teddy “China Doll” Lehman.