Featuring Calvin Johnson Jr. Interviewed and Written by: Jai Morzaria
GAME CHANGERS SERIES: There are athletes who dominate their sport, and then there are athletes who redefine what comes after it. Calvin Johnson Jr., better known to football fans around the world as “Megatron,” spent nearly a decade terrorizing NFL defences and cementing his status as one of the greatest wide receivers ever to play the game. Today, he is applying that same relentless pursuit of excellence to an entirely different arena: cannabis.
As professional sports continue to evolve its relationship with cannabis, a growing number of former athletes are stepping forward to challenge outdated narratives and advocate for alternative approaches to wellness and recovery. Few voices carry as much weight as Calvin Johnson Jr.’s. Through Primitiv Group, the company he co-founded alongside former NFL teammate Rob Sims, Johnson is helping shape a future where education, innovation, and athlete wellness sit at the center of the conversation.
His mission extends far beyond building a successful cannabis company. It is about creating trust, advancing scientific understanding, breaking long-held stigmas, and providing athletes with better options to support their recovery and overall quality of life.
Johnson’s athletic résumé speaks for itself. Selected second overall in the 2007 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions, he quickly established himself as one of the league’s most dominant offensive weapons. During his nine NFL seasons, he earned six Pro Bowl selections, three First-Team All-Pro honours, led the NFL in receiving twice, set multiple receiving records, and became one of the most feared wide receivers in football history. His remarkable career culminated with induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2021, forever solidifying his place among the game’s legends.
Yet perhaps Johnson’s most impactful chapter is the one he is writing now.
As cannabis continues its journey into mainstream acceptance, Johnson has emerged as one of the leading athlete advocates helping bridge the gap between elite sports performance and plant-based wellness. In this exclusive Sports Cannabis Game Changers interview, Jai Morzaria sat down with the Hall of Famer to discuss his personal relationship with cannabis, the rise of Primitiv, athlete education, recovery, innovation, and why he believes cannabis is only beginning to reveal its true potential.
Jai Morzaria:
Calvin Johnson Jr a.k.a. Megatron, meets cannabis. How did the transformation start?
Calvin Johnson Jr.:
“The transformation really started back around 2017 or 2018. At the time, it was just Rob and me as teammates, talking about the possibility of one day getting licenses and finding a way into the space. Eventually, that vision came to life through a few key partnerships we built along the way. By 2019, we officially secured our license and were fully operating in the cannabis industry.”
J M:
Nine NFL seasons, six Pro Bowls. What role did cannabis play in your recovery back then, even if quietly?
Calvin Johnson Jr.:
“Cannabis definitely played a role for me, especially when it came to recovery and winding down. Even before workouts, at times, it helped me push through that initial soreness and discomfort, and I always felt like I had great sessions when I used cannabis beforehand. But really, it became most important after competition or after practice, because it’s hard to bring your body down naturally after performing at that level. A lot of athletes struggle with that, and for me, cannabis was the one thing that gave me relief, helped my body relax, and made a huge difference when it came to sleep and overall recovery.”
J M:
Who’s tougher to deal with, NFL cornerbacks or cannabis regulators?
Calvin Johnson Jr.:
“(Chuckles)…Cannabis regulators…”
J M:
You went from catching touchdowns to catching market share. What’s been the biggest game-changer?
Calvin Johnson Jr.:
“For us, it’s really about building a quality brand and taking the foundation we already created as athletes and translating that into the cannabis industry. There’s definitely a growth process that comes with it, just like there was in professional sports, where you constantly have to improve your skillset. Whether it’s cultivation, retail operations, or refining our overall process, we’re always focused on how we continue to expand and grow. This industry evolves fast, so you have to be willing to learn, adapt, and pivot when necessary. It’s no different than playing professional sports — being adaptable and staying viable is ultimately what leads to long-term success.”
J M:
How important is education when introducing cannabis to skeptical athletes?
Calvin Johnson Jr.:
“Education is everything when it comes to cannabis. Even with CBD products, people still come to us saying they don’t want to feel high, and a lot of that comes down to misunderstanding the difference between CBD and THC. CBD doesn’t carry the psychoactive effects that THC does, and that’s why continuing to educate people on the plant, its compounds, and its potential benefits is so important. The more people understand cannabis as a form of plant medicine, the more the stigma begins to disappear.”
J M:
What does breaking the stigma mean to you personally?
Calvin Johnson Jr.:
“For me personally, breaking the stigma really comes from home. I think about my mom, who was very much against cannabis growing up and even into my early adulthood. But over time, as she’s seen the industry evolve and really understood it as a business, and more importantly, through the education around plant medicine, that perspective started to shift. Now she actually supports it, she understands the benefits, and she even uses products herself, especially some of the topicals we’ve developed.”
J M:
What’s your proudest moment since launching Primitive Group?
Calvin Johnson Jr.:
“My proudest moment since launching Primitive Group has really been seeing professional athletes actually use our products and come back with real feedback that they work, that they genuinely like them. Of course, building a business from the ground up and generating revenue is important, but for me, it goes beyond that. It’s been going through the process of earning NSF Certified for Sport, and then having pro athletes and collegiate athletes put our products to the test and say, ‘this works, I like this.’ Hearing that from all-stars, from professionals at the highest level, that means everything. That’s really the goal for us; getting our products into those hands and proving they belong there.”
J M:
What makes the cannabis approach different from traditional sports medicine in your experience?
Calvin Johnson Jr.:
“In my experience with cannabis, and really the reason I tend to prefer it over a lot of the synthetic medications that are out there, is because of that natural, more holistic approach to healing. I genuinely believe that what we need to heal our bodies was placed here for us, and cannabis is one of the most foundational, primitive medicines we have access to. It’s been used for generations in its most basic form, and while methods like smoking may not always be the most refined, there is still a level of relief and familiarity that comes with that traditional use.
But what’s really exciting now is how we’re able to take that same primitive medicine and apply modern technology to it, breaking it down and refining it into what we now recognize as medicine. Similar to how pharmaceuticals evolve with advances like nanotechnology in products such as Tylenol, we’re now able to apply those same kinds of innovations to cannabis, improving how it’s delivered and where it needs to go in the body. And honestly, we’re just scratching the surface of what’s possible.”
J M:
Calvin, if you have one, give us your game day cannabis routine. If there was one in the past, we won’t tell the league, we won’t say anything. It will be just between you and the sports cannabis community.
Calvin Johnson Jr.:
“(Chuckles…) Yeah, there wasn’t really a routine. It kind of depended on whether we were home or away, but for the most part, I didn’t use cannabis before games. There were maybe one or two times where I honestly just didn’t know how I was going to get through it because I was hurting, and I tried it. And to be honest, I had success with it. But I was always a little hesitant because I didn’t want any issues or anything that could affect my performance, especially because I was so focused on winning, and I had to run so much out there. I didn’t want anything impacting that.
Usually, it was after the game, once I got home, I would have something ready, and that was more about decompression. Just winding down, letting the body settle, and honestly helping me get to sleep, which was key for recovery. Outside of that, it was only maybe a couple times a week while I was playing, never consistently, just because I had to make sure my conditioning stayed at the highest level and my body was always ready to perform.”
J M:
What does NSF certified mean to you, and why should other brands care about it?
Calvin Johnson Jr.:
“The NSF Certified for Sport certification was really important to us because if we were going to build products for athletes, both collegiate and professional, that’s the standard you have to meet. It’s essentially the bar that ensures your product has been tested and cleared so that no athlete using it would risk testing positive for a banned or performance-enhancing substance.
That certification is what gives athletes the confidence that what they’re putting in their bodies is safe and compliant. And that’s critical if you want to build real partnerships, whether that’s with organizations like the Detroit Tigers or any other professional team. You have to have that level of certification in place if you expect athletes at that level to trust and actually use your products.”
J M:
What is one thing that you wish people knew about cannabis that they probably don’t?
Calvin Johnson Jr.:
“One thing I wish more people understood about cannabis is that every single one of us actually has a built-in endocannabinoid system. Our bodies naturally have receptors designed to receive cannabinoids, and that’s what allows them to interact and go to work within the system. It’s a big reason why we’re able to experience the positive and therapeutic effects of cannabis in the first place, because our body is already equipped for it.
That’s a key piece of education that’s often missing — really understanding how cannabis interacts with the body, and how the body recognizes and utilizes those cannabinoids. Once people realize that we already have this system in place, it becomes a much better starting point for understanding cannabis as a whole.”
J M:
If you could hand a primitive product to your rookie yourself, what would you give him and why?
Calvin Johnson Jr.:
“If I had to go back and give my rookie self one permanent product, it would be our two-ounce topical. It’s great for any bumps, bruises, and swelling, and really, what we’re focused on there is targeting inflammation through our high-performance nanoemulsion technology, which helps make the product more bioavailable for the user.
Looking back, we used things like Icy Hot and other topicals we had access to, but none of those really had that true anti-inflammatory component built in. So if we had been able to combine that level of relief with a proper anti-inflammatory profile at the time, that would have been a real game changer for recovery.”
Calvin Johnson Jr.’s journey from NFL Hall of Fame receiver to cannabis entrepreneur represents something much larger than business success. It reflects a growing movement led by athletes who are challenging outdated perceptions, demanding greater education, and exploring new approaches to recovery and wellness. Through Primitiv Group, Johnson continues to leverage the credibility he earned on the field to create meaningful impact off it.
What stands out most is not simply the products or the business milestones, but the mission behind them: helping athletes make informed decisions, advancing trust through certifications and research, and creating conversations that move the industry forward. In many ways, the same qualities that made Johnson one of football’s most dominant competitors — discipline, adaptability, and relentless pursuit of excellence — are the same qualities fueling his success in cannabis. As the worlds of athletics, wellness, and cannabis continue to converge, Calvin Johnson Jr. remains one of the most influential voices helping shape what comes next.
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