During week one of the 2010 NFL season, the Detroit Lions were playing the Chicago Bears when Matthew Stafford hit Calvin Johnson for what appeared to be, at least for anyone with working eyeballs, a game-winning touchdown catch. It wasn’t.
In the first quarter of a Detroit Lions win over the Minnesota Vikings in 2013, Stafford again connected with Johnson for what appeared to, well, everyone, to be a touchdown catch.
It wasn’t.Thus, plays like this were and will forever be known as falling victim to the “Calvin Johnson Rule.”
In the years that followed, numerous other NFL players were bitten by this rule, much to the dismay of them and, again, anyone with working eyeballs.
There are far too many instances in which this has happened to list them all, so I will just mention two of the most notable.
(1) Dez Bryant’s devastating non-catch versus the Green Bay Packers in the playoffs in 2014.
