Kalif-Lions

From Sporting News

Did the Lions choose the color “Honolulu Blue” due to Detroit’s balmy winters ?

Here is an article in last week's Detroit News (June 5th) regarding Kalif Raymond. He is loved by the coaching staff.

Everybody loves Raymond? The Lions sure do
John Niyo
The Detroit News
Hear this story
Allen Park — It’s one thing to be forgotten. It’s another to be missed.

Kalif Raymond didn’t mind being the former last season, as the Lions were busy making history.

But the latter? Well, that was excruciating for the Lions’ veteran receiver and returner, as he was forced into a bystander’s role just as his team arrived at its much-anticipated playoff destination back in January. A knee injury Raymond suffered in the regular-season finale against Minnesota sidelined him for the entirety of the Lions’ postseason run.

Lions wide receiver Kalif Raymond (11) runs away from Packers tight end Ben Sims (89) in the first half.
“Imagine going out there and watching a family member fight,” Raymond said Wednesday after the Lions’ wrapped up Day 2 of practice at their mandatory minicamp. “I mean, you wanna go fight with them. You want to be there for them. You want them to be able to count on you. … So, yeah, it was a tough experience.”



And while he took solace in the way his teammates carried on without him, that experience did reinforce some deeply-held beliefs, both for Raymond and the players and coaches that count him more than most fans realize.

For all the talk about the foundation that has been built here with this Lions franchise over the last few years, there may not be a more overlooked piece than Raymond. At least from the outside looking in, that is.


Within the team, though, it’s a much different story. And whether it’s head coach Dan Campbell referring to Raymond as the team’s “Iron Man” or receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown telling anyone who’ll listen that he’s “the best teammate I’ve ever had,” the praise is both effusive and genuine.

Lions wide receiver Kalif Raymond (11) heads to the locker room after a game against the Saints in New Orleans.
“You ask any teammate around here, we'll all probably say the same thing,” quarterback Jared Goff said. “He's as hard a worker as I've been around. He does all the dirty work. He does everything right. You see in the weight room, he does everything right. In the meeting room, he does everything right. You can see him run and finish drills. He does everything right.

"As a rookie, if you come in here and want to watch what to do, there are plenty of guys to watch. But do what Kalif does and you'll be just fine.”

And not to put too fine a point on this, but Raymond, who's now fully recovered from that knee injury, really does deserve more credit than he gets for being part of the core here.

He arrived in March 2021 as a bit of an afterthought in new general manager Brad Holmes’ first swing at free agency. Undrafted out of Holy Cross in 2016 as an undersized receiver (5-foot-8, 180 pounds), Raymond had been with four different teams in his first four years as a pro, mostly as a return specialist. And it wasn’t clear if he’d even make the Lions’ 53-man roster out of training camp in 2021.

He had his career-best receiving totals in his first two seasons in Detroit — totaling 95 catches for 1,192 yards and four touchdowns in ’21 and ’22 — in addition to his special-teams role.

He has twice signed contract extensions since then to stay in Detroit, where the 29-year-old is entrenched as the Lions’ primary punt returner and remains a key contributor in Ben Johnson’s high-powered offense.

“It’s a matter of, ‘How much do you use him and where do you use him at?’” said Campbell, pointing to the league’s new kickoff rules as another factor to consider this fall.

Raymond led the league in punt-return average two seasons ago, earning second-team All-Pro honors. And over the last three seasons, his 11.9-yard average is second only to Baltimore’s Devin Duvernay in the NFL.

Swiss army knife
But the Lions’ head coach goes on to describe Raymond as “one of our Swiss army knives”, citing his ability to play all three receiver positions — because of his knowledge and his speed — as reasons why “he’s a guy that’s always going to have a place in our offense.”

Added Goff: “It's been invaluable to our team. I can trust him any time he's in there at receiver, at any spot.”

That may matter even more so now in the absence of Josh Reynolds, who caught 40 passes for 608 yards and five TDs last season but signed with Denver in free agency this March.


“Josh was a critical piece,” Raymond said. “Especially early in the season, I mean, that dude was elevating our team. He did a lot of really good stuff -- blocking, big plays. So that’s hard to replace. But it's an opportunity out here for a lot of guys. And that's what the league is about, trying to take advantage of opportunities.”

That’s certainly what Raymond is about, as the Lions have discovered these past few years. Yet what’s also apparent when you talk to him is the appreciation he has for what he has found here, which is something Raymond says he tries to show “every day I walk in this place.”

He talks about building relationships — “actual, genuine relationships” —with everyone in Allen Park, “from the janitors to the cooks to the security” and the teammates he spends countless hours with, on and off the field.

Back in April, when St. Brown signed his massive contract extension, the Lions' star receiver was floored by his teammates’ response. Raymond had realized St. Brown didn’t have any family in town to help him celebrate that moment, so he bought a bunch of balloons, some silly string and a bottle of champagne, gathered a group of teammates and they ambushed St. Brown as he left the Lions’ facility.


“But I think that's a good part of our culture, too,” Raymond said. “They’ve done a great job of establishing a core here, but also allowing that core to grow and build and set a standard.”

He says it’s something he thought about Tuesday after practice, when he walked back to the locker room through the indoor field and saw the banner celebrating the Lions’ 2023 NFC North title. But it’s also something he mentions occasionally to Dave Fipp, the Lions’ special teams coordinator, when he talks about driving to and from work and catches a glimpse of the practice fields shielded by a fence along Rotunda Drive.

“I'm just thankful that I know the experience of being on the other side of the fence and being able to be with these people,” Raymond said, nodding. “It's a blessing, it really is.”

And one he's not about to forget.

john.niyo@detroitnews.com

Kalif is loved in Detroit but I think he is a bit underappreciated.

Detroit Lions' Kalif Raymond hits the road to gain perspective
Jeff Seidel
Detroit Free Press

The Detroit Lions' last minicamp practice of the summer came to an end — at least for the veterans.

It was early June and two wide receivers — Kalif Raymond and Donovan Peoples-Jones — sat together on the practice field having a long talk, and something beautiful happened.

Actually, something beautiful was said.

“He was like, ‘This place, it’s just different,’ ” Raymond said after that practice on June 7. “Even the people within the building, even the coaching staff, they're real, genuine people. When they ask you for something or they ask, ‘I need your best’ — it's different. That was one of the beautiful things that came out of that conversation.”

Raymond and Peoples-Jones walked off the practice field together heading for the Lions facility; I stopped Raymond for an interview.

Detroit Lions wide receiver Kalif Raymond makes a catch during joint practice with New York Giants at Detroit Lions headquarters and training facility in Allen Park on Tuesday, August 8, 2023.
I’m fascinated by him, and not just because of the way he plays the game.

But because of his perspective.

And not just his thoughts about this team.

It's about himself.

“The games don't tell us where we are going,” he said. “The preparation will tell us.”

To Raymond, preparation is everything. In his mind, how he spends the six weeks between that minicamp and the start of training camp in July will determine everything for him.

“My preparation will dictate whatever limits, if there are any, of what I do for this team,” he said. “I have to prepare to do any and everything that is asked of me.”

Certainly, the Lions will ask him to handle punt returns — he is coming off a season in which he was named second-team All-Pro as a punt returner by the Associated Press

Detroit Lions receivers including Donovan Peoples-Jones and Kalif Raymond pray before the start of the game against the Minnesota Vikings at Ford Field in Detroit on Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024.
But his role as a receiver is expected to grow with the loss of Josh Reynolds, who was targeted 64 times in 2023 and caught five touchdowns. It seems likely some of those targets will be spread out to Jameson Williams, Sam LaPorta and even Jahmyr Gibbs. (Any way they find to get the ball more to Gibbs is a positive in my mind.)

I’d suggest Amon-Ra St. Brown could see the ball more offten, out of pure reflex because he’s so talented ... but it’s going to be hard to get St. Brown more touches than the 119 catches he had last season.

So that brings us to Raymond, who is in perfect position to improve upon his 2023, in which he had 35 receptions and a touchdown.

“I have to prepare to do any and everything,” he said.

“How will you do that?” I asked.

“I”ll put my hand in the grindstone and prepare back in Atlanta,” he said.


The trick to surviving in the NFL
Now, here comes the twist, and one of the main reasons why Raymond is so intriguing.

He is known for a strong work ethic. That's a given.

But do you know another key to preparing for a season of football?

Getting away from football.

“When I was a rookie, Von Miller was like, ‘man, if you are football 100%, 365 days a year, you're gonna burn out,” Raymond said. “Some people pick up different hobbies and things. Because once you're in it, in training camp, it’s seven days a week.”

Raymond’s hobby?

Traveling.

“It gives you time to step away, recharge your batteries, and then come back with a fresh set of eyes, maybe a fresh perspective, and maybe even a different appreciation for what you're doing,” he said.

So, after the 2023 season — a year in which he was injured in the season finale against Minnesota and didn’t play in the playoffs — he got away.

Raymond spent a month traveling to Japan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Korea and Thailand.

“It was beautiful — a really, really cool experience, probably one of the best trips I’ve ever taken,” he said.

“I’ve been told you go on lot of big trips,” I said. “What do you get out of that?”

“Perspective and appreciation,” he said. “We can understand and respect the fact that people are different. I think it just gives you the patience and appreciation for everybody.”

He has so many layers.

There is the football player, of course — he’s a Swiss army knife who can play every wide receiver position, making him invaluable.

“Yeah, ‘Leaf’ is our ironman, particularly in that (receiver) room, he is a guy that has been there for us and when we have needed him, he has always shown up,” Lions coach Dan Campbell told reporters in June 2023. “He can play all of the positions. He can play the X. He can play the slot. He can play the Z. He is smart. He is tough. He is heads-y. He is a go-getter. He is resilient. He is a huge asset for us. Thank God we have him.”

But there is so much more to him.

He has an insightful way of looking at things.

Which brings us back to the topic of conversation he had on the grass with Peoples-Jones.

What is so special about this organization?

“It’s top down — Campbell and Holmes, but even a lot of the people in the building from the security to the janitors,” he said. “Right now, I have somebody helping me move into my home. I can't be there. But I just have so much trust and relationships that my house is unlocked and (a Lions staffer) is helping me move because I can’t be there. It’s little stuff like that.”


Undrafted out of Holy Cross in 2016, Raymond has found a way to stick in the NFL, bouncing between four teams before landing with the Lions in 2021.

But he has found a special place.

He’s found a home.

And if he puts in the work over these six weeks — which seems a safe bet considering his work ethic — this "ironman" is going to go from being perpetually overlooked to earning an invaluable role.

As Campbell said, they are lucky to have him.

So easy to root for...the kind of guy I'd be pulling for even if not a HC alum