Nothing has been finalized yet, but it appears the Detroit Lions and Hall of Fame recipient Calvin Johnson may be on track for a reconciliation after years of Johnson no longer being with the franchise.
Johnson, who was officially selected to be part of the 2021 Pro Football Hall of Fame’s class on Saturday, said he recently spoke with Sheila Ford Hamp, owner of the Lions – the first real recognition that fences may be repaired .
“You know, I really hope so,” Johnson said at a Hall of Fame conference Sunday. ‘I think so, I know it myself and Sheila Hamp. We had some good conversations recently, and it was good to get to know her and just really talk face to face.
“So I think we’re moving in the right direction.”
The two parties were in a dispute over Johnson who had to repay the Lions a little over $ 1 million, the sign bonus he received at the start of his last contract, when he retired after the 2015 season.
Last month, Hamp spoke for the first time about the franchise’s broken relationship with Johnson, and although she did not want to discuss the issue in detail, she was interested in restoring the relationship.
“I hope we can fix things with Calvin Johnson,” Hamp said in January. “He was obviously a great player for us and we will continue to reach out to him and hope we can make things right, because I think it’s important that he gets back into the Lions family.
“We would very much like it if he can or he wants to. So … and we are 100 percent behind him for his ballots in the Hall of Fame and hope he gets it this time. He was a great player and a great person and we would love to have him with us again and work with us and help us with everything. ‘
Johnson, who still lives in suburban Detroit, has not done anything public with the franchise since retirement. After initially considering moving back to Georgia, where he grew up, he chose to stay with his family in Michigan and work with Primitiv, the marijuana business he and the former attacking linebacker of the Lions , Rob Sims, started.
Johnson did not have a retirement news conference and did not speak to the media from the day he retired until he held his annual camp in June. Since then, Johnson has expressed his frustration over how this part of his retirement has been handled several times over the past five years, including by saying to ESPN in December 2016: “I just wish it would end a little differently.”
In the immediate aftermath, Jim Caldwell, the former Lions head coach – the last NFL coach Johnson played for – said he hoped the Lions and Johnson would eventually get things right.
“Playing in a national football league for a team is like having a family,” Caldwell said in 2017. ‘Families sometimes have differences of opinion. They look at things a little differently. I became children. Sometimes we look at things a little differently. We need to get them out, talk. There’s a dialogue, but that does not mean I do not love them. But we get the differences worked out.
“I think the same thing will happen in this situation. Maybe there’s a difference of opinion, a little bit of a different point of view, but the most important thing, I think, is maybe this whole thing will bring a little bit more dialogue.”
The Lions changed owners from Martha Ford to Hamp and went through two coaches (Caldwell and Matt Patricia) and a general manager changed from Bob Quinn to Brad Holmes at a time when Johnson was no longer with the franchise.
For the first time since, Johnson and the club appear to be heading for a reunion. Johnson is the Lions’ leading entertainer (731), receiving yards (11,619) and touchdowns (83).
Fans said the Lions needed to get things right with their star receiver – and Johnson spoke at the Hall of Fame news conference about the fans and the city he has brought home for more than a decade.
“For you, it’s all. You were everything to us,” Johnson said. “You filled that stadium. You brought the energy every Sunday, even though we were 0-16 [in 2008], but you still believed in us, you all believed in the city and all believe that we’ll have a Super Bowl winner there someday.
“I hope for you that it’s sooner rather than later and I love living my whole adult life in Michigan. I’m still there and I love you and appreciate you for all the support and love you have shown me. “From then until now. And Detroit, the city, is definitely number one in my heart.”