Randy Moss never won a Super Bowl. David Givens did.
Who is David Givens?
He was the best wide receiver on the 2004 New England Patriots — that year’s Super Bowl champ — a good but hardly great player.
And that’s the point: Teams don’t need a Randy Moss to win a Super Bowl, which means the Lions don’t need Calvin Johnson.
They need him to make plays, sure, and need him to force defensive coordinators to double up resources to one side of the field.
Mostly they need him to sell jerseys, tickets and hope; Johnson is as physically gifted as any wide receiver who has every played, and it’s not easy for fans to give that up.