For seven seasons, Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson formed one of the NFL’s best passing game duos for the Lions. It helped evolve Johnson into a first-ballot Hall of Famer despite the lack of any postseason success.
Now Johnson is hoping that Stafford can taste the success in Los Angeles. On an appearance with the “Rich Eisen Show” this week, Johnson seemed elated for Stafford being in the Super Bowl in his first season away from Detroit.
“It’s great. I’m happy for the kid,” Johnson told Eisen. “When we were in Detroit, the years we were trending toward the playoffs, we felt like we had a team that could take it all the way – and a lot of that is because we had a great quarterback.”
Johnson said he and Stafford stay in pretty close contact. He’s proudly giving his longtime QB some space this week, however.
“I’ve been choppin’ it up with Matt. I hit him up every now and then,” he said. “I hit him after the game the other day, just happy. I just said ‘championship.’ That’s all it said. Just extremely happy. I’m not going to talk to him this week. I just want him to go out there and get the job done and I fully expect him to win it, but I’m really hoping that he does because one, he’s a friend. Two, just really proud of what he’s done – one, in Detroit, but being in the first year, they brought you in here to go to the championship and you’re ready to do that, so that’s just awesome.”
What did @calvinjohnsonjr think when he saw his former QB Matthew Stafford take home the NFC Championship last Sunday?#SuperBowl#RamsHouse pic.twitter.com/EjIkLGm3BA
— Rich Eisen Show (@RichEisenShow) February 5, 2022