Everybody Loves Raymond: Lions WR Represents Team

Kalif Raymond perfectly embodies toughness and grit of Lions.

Detroit Lions wide receiver Kalif Raymond (11) runs for a touchdown against Tennessee Titans during the second half at Ford Field in Detroit on Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

If there is one player that perfectly embodies the toughness and grit that have become staples of Dan Campbell's Detroit Lions teams, it is Kalif Raymond.

Raymond, who has gone from a career journeyman to one of the mainstays of the Campbell era, has fought tooth and nail to stay in the NFL.

At just 5-foot-8, Raymond has been the proverbial underdog since entering the league as an undrafted free agent in 2016 out of Holy Cross. He bounced around on multiple teams during his first five seasons in the league (the Broncos, the N.Y. Jets and Giants and the Titans). Plus, he spent the majority of those years on teams’ practice squads. And, when he did play during that time, it was almost exclusively as a kick and punt returner.

Raymond has earned every single opportunity he's had in the league up to this point. And, he didn't truly catch his big break until latching on with the Lions as a free agent in 2021, Campbell's first season as Lions head man. 

Raymond, who was a member of the Titans’ and Giants’ practice squads in 2018, didn't play a single game during the aforementioned campaign. And then he proceeded to spend the next two seasons in Tennessee, but once again almost exclusively as a member of the team's special teams unit. In fact, he logged a total of just 18 receptions for 357 yards and a lone touchdown in those two seasons combined.

Yet, Campbell was convinced that the undersized Raymond belonged in Detroit, and could play the receiver position for his then-rebuilding team. 

“I watched 10 plays, and I was like, 'Holy sh*t. Whatever it takes, (Detroit general manager) Brad (Holmes), let's get this guy in here,’” Campbell said in the locker room postgame, before handing Raymond a game ball.

I love the game of football, man!!! pic.twitter.com/hVr1ZRBxZl

— Detroit Lions (@Lions) October 28, 2024

Raymond, who inked just a one-year, $1.2 million deal to originally join the Lions, has rewarded Campbell & Co. – and then some – for taking a chance on him. 

Detroit Lions wide receiver Kalif Raymond (11) celebrates in the end zone / Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images

He finished among the Lions’ top three pass-catchers in receiving yards in each of his first two seasons in the Motor City (No. 3 in 2021 and No. 2 in 2022). Plus, he earned second-team All-Pro honors as a punt returner in 2022. Then, a season ago, he finished as the team's No. 4-leading receiver.

All the while, Raymond has continued to play with the same underdog mentality that has made him easy to root on for Campbell and Lions fans. 

And, it made it all the more rewarding to watch his standout performance on Sunday against one of his former teams in Tennessee. In the Week 8 affair, Raymond recorded 190 return yards on five punts, including a 90-yard return for touchdown in the third quarter. 

Raymond, who prior to Sunday had last scored on a return in 2022, was more than ready for his return to the end zone. 

“I’ve been ready for that feeling too many times. It’s kind of surreal, it’s kind of like, ‘Oh, oh, it’s happening, it’s happening,’ saying, ‘Don’t mess up, don’t mess up,’” Raymond told reporters in the postgame. “But, no when you got guys like that – I’ve been saying it the past 30-45 minutes – when you got defensive guys who will go play three snaps, force a punt and then go block on the punt, it’s incredible. I think (against) Arizona, we almost had one, too, and (Lions CB) Carlton (Davis III) and ‘T.A.’ (Lions CB Terrion Arnold) are just like – they’re blocking and they’re like, ‘Let’s go.’ It’s just so cool when you have a team with that kind of character, those kind of guys, that kind of grit. It’s really cool.”

And then midway through the third quarter, Raymond caught a 7-yard touchdown pass from Detroit signal-caller Jared Goff. In doing so, he became the first ever Lions player to amass a punt return touchdown and a receiving touchdown in the same game. 

Goff felt like Raymond had been on the verge, for a while, of breaking a return for a touchdown.

“I mean, he’s just been so close to breaking them through the whole year, it seems like, and today, those guys were blocking well for him, and he’s making those returns,” Goff said. “He’s as electric as it gets back there, and they kept kicking it to him, so he kept making them.”

Raymond's 38.0-yard punt-return average against Tennessee is the highest by any player since the AFL/NFL merger in 1970 (on a minimum of five punt returns).

Since the 1970 AFL/NFL merger, @Lions WR Kalif Raymond's 38.0 punt return average is the highest in any game with at least five punt returns.#OnePride pic.twitter.com/UGNBQXPNCd

— Detroit Lions PR (@LionsPR) October 27, 2024

Campbell – to no surprise – heaped a ton of praise upon the ninth-year pro for his impressive effort.

“Man, you talk about reliable and he’s consistent, and the way he prepares, the way he works, and he does everything for us, man,” Campbell said of Raymond. “He can play all the positions on offense, he’s a dynamic returner. That was good to see. It’s been a while since we got some big ones. He’s just, man, he’s the best. So, that was great, the team’s fired up for him, and I thought those guys blocked their rears off. And, the rest was up to him, you know. He just, he turned it on and found it.”

Raymond has found a home in Detroit, and Lions fans have found a soft spot in their hearts for the hard-working, never-say-never receiver.

The city of Detroit knows far too well what it's like to be overlooked and counted out, and so does Raymond. That's why the two are a match made in football heaven.

Everybody loves Raymond, the epitome of this present era of Lions football.