Breshad Perriman knows how highly regarded his father, Brett, was for what he accomplished in the six years of his career he spent playing wide receiver for the Detroit Lions.
Breshad would like to make a mark of his own with the Lions, and the best way to do it is to do what he does best.
"Big plays ... that's what I'm all about," Breshad said Tuesday in a Zoom interview with the Detroit media.
"I love making big plays. I'm out there having fun."
It's like father like son in that regard. Brett was a high-intensity competitor, but he had fun competing.
Brett was acquired in 1991 in a trade with the Saints, where he spent his first three seasons.
He was a tough, productive receiver who was respected by teammates as much for the crunching blocks he delivered downfield as for the tough catches he made.
At 5-10 and 180 pounds, Brett was a remarkably versatile athlete. Teammates such as All-Pro nose tackle Jerry Ball told stories about how Brett could bench press as much weight as most linemen, and how he could throw a football 80 yards from a flat-footed stance.
Breshad was born in 1993, about halfway through his father's career, so much of what he knows about his dad's career is from what he has heard.
Those stories are part of why Breshad signed with the Lions as a free agent in March when he had other teams interested in him.
The Lions will be Breshad's seventh team in six seasons since being drafted by the Ravens in the first round in 2015 out of Central Florida.
"With my dad playing here and having a great career, it was a no-brainer," Breshad said.
"Knowing how well respected he was around the organization and around the city as well ... it's huge.
"It's just a blessing for everything to come full circle."
Breshad has a ways to go to match what Brett accomplished in his 10-year career.
As a Lion, Brett had 428 career catches for 5,244 yards, 25 TDs and 12.5 yards per catch.
He had career highs of 108 receptions, 1,488 yards and nine TDs in 1995. He backed that up in 1996 with 94 catches for 1,021 yards and five TDs.
Breshad missed his rookie season because of an injury but rebounded with a promising 2016 season -- 33 catches for 499 yards and three TDs.
He fell off to 10 catches for 77 yards in 2017.
He was released by the Ravens in the last cut before the start of the 2018 season. That's when he began making the rounds of the NFL.
He was signed by Washington on Sept.18 and released five days later. He spent the rest of the 2018 season with Cleveland.
After that it was one season each with Tampa Bay in 2019 -- one year before the Bucs' Super Bowl season -- and the New York Jets in 2020.
In Detroit, he has reconnected with Antwaan Randle El, a productive former NFL receiver and his position coach with Tampa Bay.
In all his travels, the one constant in Breshad's career has been a high average of yards per catch.
For his NFL career, he has 125 catches for 2,006 yards and an average of 16.5 yards per catch.
For the past three years, he averaged 21.6 yards on 16 catches with Cleveland, 17.9 on 36 catches with Tampa Bay, and 16.8 on 30 catches with the Jets.
