Tom Kowalski at mlive.com quotes Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis as he defended the organization’s decision to take JaMarcus Russell instead of Detroit Lion receiver Calvin Johnson four years ago:
“There was some talk of Calvin Johnson. But you can take a look at Calvin up at Detroit. How many games did they win this year, Detroit, do you know? Six? Yeah. But up until now, Calvin hadn’t done anything for them. He had been eulogized, but he hadn’t made a lot of indelible impression on the won and lost. Listen, someone asked the question, it’s there. The JaMarcus thing hurt.”
Given Russell’s lack of success, some may see this as a comment which is off base. But I can’t get the image of Johnson blowing the Lions’ first 2010 game against the Bears out of my mind. For those who were hiding under a rock, Johnson stupidly dropped a touchdown pass as he went to the ground instead of getting up with the ball in his hands and showing the ball to the referee as receivers all over the league are trained to do.
This is the kind of mistake that veteran NFL receivers on winning teams do not make. Davis might have a point.