This story appears in the Sept. 23, 2019, issue of Sports Illustrated. For more great storytelling and in-depth analysis, subscribe to the magazine and get up to 94% off the cover price. Click here for more.
Of course Calvin Johnson didn’t need the money. He made so much that he doesn’t even know the exact amount the Lions made him repay when he retired in March 2016. “One point six [million] or something like that,” he guesses of the returned, prorated portion of his signing bonus. But the Lions didn’t need it either.