SPORTS

Tillman gives Calvin Johnson his props with ‘open letter’ video

The Detroit News
Calvin Johnson, with Matthew Stafford, after Johnson's final game last season, in Chicago.

NFL Films has produced a new highlights video of former Detroit Lions great Calvin Johnson.

The video is narrated with an “open letter” written by former Chicago Bears cornerback and NFC North rival Charles Tillman.

In the video, Tillman describes, among other things, Johnson’s humble nature and numerous accomplishments over his impressive nine-year career with the Lions.

“Thank you for giving your teammates and fans everything you had no matter how the scoreboard looked,” Tillman says in the video.

Johnson thanked Tillman for his gesture on an Instagram post.

“Looking back I cherished our matchups because like you said, it was a heavyweight match each time,” Johnson wrote, in part. “Trading blows for 60 minutes wasn’t easy nor hardly fun but that’s the grind of the game which we love and thirst for.”