Hall of Fame Wide Receiver Calvin Johnson Says Al Harris and Patrick Peterson Were The Toughest Cornerbacks He's Ever Faced

On today's Pardon My Take... CALVIN JOHNSON! One of the greatest wide receivers of all-time joined Mr. Cat and Mr. Commenter today to discuss his career with the Lions, Matthew Stafford, Jim Caldwell, and much more. In order to become a Hall of Famer, you must rise to the occasion against some very elite players. That got Mr. Commenter thinking: who were the best cornerbacks Megatron has ever faced? He explains on today's show:

Mr. Commenter: Was there any cornerback that you matches up against and you were like, "Alright, this guy gives me the most trouble?"

Calvin Johnson: I'll give you two guys. When I first came into the league, nobody liked playing Al Harris, we played him twice a year. Roy Williams, at the time, he always hated playing Al, and I didn't know anything about Al until I heard Roy talking about him the week before we played him. He was like, "Man, all he does is put his hands in your face, the referees let him get away with it, yada yada ya...," and low and behold, I'm thinking, "Okay, well, I ain't got to worry about that, you are the No. 1 receiver, you got his ass."

Calvin Johnsin: Low and behold, halfway through the game, they switch him over to me, and I got a good taste of like, "Okay, if this is how it is, if this is the battle I got to deal with at the line of scrimmage, this is who I got to play against twice a year...." He was the one that, not what I modeled my game after, but as far as the aggressiveness that I came with, you know, the fight at the line of scrimmage, it was all tailored after playing against Al Harris, I knew the fight and nastiness that I had to come with. And then after that, I would say Pat Peterson, he's the best athlete I've seen over there at cornerback, hands down.

Well, there you have it. If a Hall of Fame wide receiver is complimenting your game, I don't know if there is a bigger sign of respect out there. So, congrats to Megatron for entering football glory this weekend, and congrats to Al Harris and Patrick Peterson for earning the maximum respect by the former Detroit Lion.