If there is one player in the NFL who will never have to toot his own horn, it has to be Calvin Johnson. The Detroit Lions receiver hardly ever says much, but it feels like every week there is a new defender talking about how he is going to prove himself by shutting down Megatron. This week, that defender is Arizona Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson.
“I think I am the best cornerback in the league right now,” Peterson told reporters this week according to DetroitLions.com. “I think I’m doing everything that I need to do to keep my name in consideration of the best cornerback. But at the end of the day, I have to go out there and continue playing hard and continue being the person that I am, continue preparing, continue having that confidence within myself on Sundays and go out there and make the necessary plays that I need to make for this defense.
“You know, me and Calvin, we’re the same caliber players. You know, just he’s a receiver and I’m a DB. I just think going against him each and every play is definitely going to get me notoriety as being one of the best corners in the game, especially if I do what I need to do on Sunday.”
Shutting down Johnson is certainly an accomplishment, but I wish corners would just stop talking about it in the days leading up to their games against the Lions. This season alone we have had not one, but two defensive backs change their Twitter handles to “Optimus Prime” in anticipation of their matchup against the one they call Megatron. What ever happened to just playing the game?
