Kalif Raymond from the Lions takes revenge on his former team with a clear victory

Allen Park – The Tennessee Titans decided they could live without Caliph Raymond – twice.

Raymond, a receiver and return specialist for the Detroit Lions, got emphatic revenge on his former team in Detroit's 52-14 win at Ford Field on Sunday.

In addition to a 7-yard touchdown in the third quarter, Raymond returned a punt 90 yards for a touchdown and had a return totaling 190 yards – the second-most in a single game in franchise history and the fifth-highest punt return yardage in NFL history.

This came after he scored his first touchdown of the season in a 31-29 win over the Minnesota Vikings last week.

“It was a really cool game,” Raymond said afterwards. “The last two we played – I told some of the guys, Minnesota is one of the top five (most fun) games of all time – and then this game, just playing a team game is like that . “It’s fun to play special teams, play defense, run offense — it’s just fun to be a part of a football team like that.”

Lions head coach Dan Campbell named Raymond a guest captain for Sunday's game, and Raymond lived up to the gesture by posting the highest average punt return yardage (38.0 yards) of any player with five or more returns since the merger year 1970. He is the first player in franchise history to record a receiving touchdown and a punt return touchdown in the same game.

It was a thoroughly historic achievement.

Campbell recalled on Sunday a moment during the 2021 offseason — right after he took the job in Detroit — when Lions general manager Brad Holmes came into his office and said, “Hey, take a look at this guy from Tennessee. He's really a returner type of device (guy). Do you think there’s a place for him in this offense?”

“I watched about 10 games and thought, ‘Yeah. There definitely is. Recognize this guy straight away' and bringing Leaf here has been a blessing ever since. What a professional he is.”

Campbell called him one of the most reliable players on the team.

“Guys love him – coaches, players. Man, you talk about reliability, and he's consistent, and the way he prepares, the way he works, and he does everything for us,” Campbell said. “He can play all positions on offense; He’s a dynamic returner…he’s the best.”

As of Sunday, Raymond had completed 140 punts in his career. Sunday brought his second touchdown. His first of 2022 was equally poetic: Raymond returned a punt 47 yards for a touchdown against the New York Jets, another team that ran him twice.

Raymond said the feeling of realizing there's no one left to beat was “surreal.”

“I was prepared for this feeling too many times. It's kind of surreal. It's like saying, 'Oh, oh, it's happening,' and saying, 'Don't break it, don't break it,'” Raymond said. “But no, when you have guys like that…playing three snaps, forcing a punt and then blocking the punt, it's unbelievable. … It's just cool when you have a team with players like that.” Character, those kind of guys, that kind of determination.

Lions quarterback Jared Goff thought Raymond's performance was “great” and spoke of the love he and his teammates have for the veteran receiver.

“I mean, he's been so close to breaking through them all year, and today these guys blocked well for him and he's making those returns,” Goff said.

“It’s electric when it gets back there.”

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@nolanbianchi

Kalif Raymond from the Lions takes revenge on his former team with a clear victory

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