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Assessing Calvin Johnson's Hall of Fame candidacy: 'He just transcended the position'

Detroit Lions cornerback Darius Slay speaks to the media in Miami on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020, just days before the Super Bowl. Detroit Free Press

MIAMI — Peyton Manning is a lock. Charles Woodson is, too. And to hear some of his contemporaries tell it, Calvin Johnson should be the third first-ballot inductee in next year’s Pro Football Hall of Fame class.

Johnson, the former Detroit Lions receiver, is not quite the sure thing that Manning and Woodson are. Manning is a five-time NFL MVP; Woodson, the 1997 Heisman Trophy winner out of Michigan football, played 18 seasons and won a Super Bowl and Defensive Player of the Year award.