There’s absolutely no “disputing” who Fox Sports analyst Skip Bayless believes was the greatest player in NFL history to wear the jersey number 81.
Former Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson receives that honor from Bayless ahead of Terrell Owens, the other notable player to wear it.
“From my heart and soul I like TO. I enjoy having him on the show,” he said. “I really respect him. But Calvin Johnson was a freak of a beast, of a rare player. We’ve never seen anything like it.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVTRwwnH5pk
“He was 6-5, 240 pounds and he ran 4.35 at the combine. What? It was unheard of, it’s impossible,” Bayless continued. “He could jump. He could catch, He was a package unlike anything Terrell could ever dream of.”
“He had a nickname, Megatron, for a reason. It’s because nobody had ever seen anyone like him. When I think of 81, I think of Calvin as the essence of 81. I think he was the most gifted receiver ever. 81 should belong to Calvin Johnson. He was just better than Terrell.”
However, his fellow host Shannon Sharpe disagreed, saying that Owens was the better player to don the jersey number.
“When you factor in the longevity and productivity, for me, it’s just not good enough you play a long time. T.O. was productive,” Sharpe said.” He, Ted Hendricks and Deion Sanders are the only men that have been first team All-Pro for 3 different teams. Megatron had an unbelievable career, but T.O. was the best 81, period.”
It’s fairly reasonable to say whom Detroit Lions fans believe was the better player!
