With a highlight reel of acrobatic-style catches coming out of OTAs, Detroit Lions wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa said it started younger.
“Growing up I was a quarterback so I’d always be throwing the ball, but once I transitioned to receiver, me and my dad every single day, we had a 30-minute to an hour routine with me just catching different balls,” he told the Good Morning Football crew in a recent interview. “We had straight on, off to the side, we’d do that for like 30 minutes and at the end we would
just practice a bunch of one-handers.”
The second-year said a big part of his skillset also comes from watching the other guys in his receiver room — Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams.
“Growing up, I was watching those guys and I was so amazed by the way that Saint played football,” he said. “To be able to be in his shadow now and be able to learn from him and obviously Jamo, it’s just an incredible room to be a part of.”
As a fan of the Lions growing up, TeSlaa said after he was drafted, it was a unique experience knowing who his teammates were, but they didn’t know him.
“I remember coming in as a rookie, just being so nervous trying to figure out the playbook while also trying to figure out what it means to be a part of this team,” he said.
My favorite part of this interview—somehow the GMFB team have noticed some fans have started calling TeSlaa “Vanilliatron,” after Lions’ legendary receiver Calvin “Megatron” Johnson.
“I’ve heard different nicknames. That one’s probably my favorite just because, like you said, I did grow up idolizing Megatron, so just to have some similarity, even if it’s just a nickname people are throwing out there, I’ll take that, I’ll run with that for sure,” he said.
And onto the rest of your notes.
- Over on the Feed, user jjanni is sparking some conversation regarding a player who was a potential Lions draft pick — Gabe Jacas. As the edge defender’s injuries stack up, the user wonders if the Lions’ front office maybe knows what they’re doing after all.
- The Lions defense has two critical questions looming ahead of the 2026 season: who is playing safety and what’s the plan opposite Aidan Hutchinson. Sports analyst Brad Galli takes a closer look.
- A bizarre story here — Detroit City FC’s mascot uniform was stolen from a staffer’s car over the weekend. Now Roary and the other city mascots are banding together to call for Friendly’s safe return.
- Congrats to the Hutchinson family! Aidan’s sister Mia got married and recently released the pictures. Looks amazing!
- Kerby Joseph was at a recent World Cup match supporting Haiti with his own personalized FIFA jersey. I mean, kit.
