With the NFL season right around the corner, there are plenty of familiar faces showing up at various team camps. Sometimes those familiar faces are players from other teams and that's starting tongues wagging more than a little bit.
That includes the recent appearance of Calvin Johnson at the Atlanta Falcons' minicamp. His appearance there is more than a little interesting, of course, because the former wide receiver played for the Detroit Lions. His turning up at the Atlanta camp has some wondering if there might be another turn around the sun in the NFL on the horizon.
Fans get excited
The one who captured the picture of Calvin Johnson hanging out with the team's top brass was Falcons beat writer Kelsey Conway. "Calvin Johnson is here for the Falcons last day of minicamp talking to owner Arthur Blank and head coach Dan Quinn," she wrote on Twitter.
That caption went along with the picture of the former Detroit Lions' receiver. While it appears the players' appearance doesn't mean anything other than that Johnson runs a kind of camp for people looking to get better at the position he'll likely go to the Hall of Fame for.
Some Atlanta fans joked about the possibility that he would be joining a new squad in 2019.
— 🧀 Mclonde the Free 🧀 (@mcfreemason) June 13, 2019
— Nermin (@TheNermin1) June 13, 2019
There are other Falcons fans who know that Johnson isn't going to be setting foot on the field again, but they are hoping that the former Detroit Lions' star could help the Falcons receivers get that much better.
If he could teach Ridley half of what he knew, Ridley could be insane.
— Joe DiGiacomo (@JMDiGiacomo) June 13, 2019
There were still other Falcons fans who really were allowing the idea that they could be getting one of the best receivers to play the game to come to the roster. The Atlanta Falcons' fans are hoping they've got enough firepower on the team to get back to the playoffs.
Juilo Megatron Ridley and Sanu 😈😈😈
— DJ 🌹 (@Prod1gy199) June 13, 2019
The former Detroit Lions star looks every bit the part of someone who could still bring quite a bit to a team looking to contend. That would, of course, drives fans in Motown up the wall.
Megatron a turncoat?
Detroit Lions fans would have every reason to get more than a little crusty if Calvin Johnson joined the Falcons, in any respect.
Like Barry Sanders before him, the player, known as Megatron, is a once in a generation player.
He's also one of those players that spent his entire career with one team. Over nine seasons with the Lions, Johnson amassed more than 730 receptions for almost 12,000 yards and 83 touchdowns. In his final season in the league, 2015, he caught 88 passes for 1,214 yards and nine touchdowns.
He stepped away from the game in his prime. There are plenty of Detroit Lions fans who were more than a little surprised that he retired when he did. Now they're having to worry about whether or not one of their favorite players could be joining a rival squad, in one capacity or another.