Tag: t.j. lang

Several Lions alumni among the 2024 nominees for the Pro Football Hall of Fame

Several Lions alumni among the 2024 nominees for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, including two 1st-time nominees

The initial nominees for the Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2024 were released on Tuesday morning. Several players with Lions ties are amongst the 173 names, including some who are eligible for the first time.

Haloti Ngata and T.J. Lang are part of the group of first-year nominees who spent some time in Detroit. Ngata played defensive tackle in Detroit from 2015-2017, while Lang — a Detroit-area native — finished his offensive guard career in 2017-2018 with the Lions.

Returning nominees who have playing roots in Detroit include:

  • OT Lomas Brown
  • WR Herman Moore
  • CB Dre Bly, the Lions current DBs coach as well
  • WR Anquan Boldin
  • K Jason Hanson
  • QB Jeff Garcia
  • DE Dwight Freeney

Coach Buddy Parker is one of the Senior Finalists as well, which was previously announced.

The selection committee whittles the list down to 25 semifinalists in November.

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T.J. Lang hired as the Lions radio broadcast sideline reporter

Lang will be the Lions sideline reporter on radio broadcasts this year

Former Lions offensive lineman and Detroit-area native T.J. Lang will be the featured sideline reporter for the Lions radio network broadcasts for the 2021 NFL season. Lang was officially announced as the sideline reporter on Thursday.

Lang, who played at Brother Rice High School and Eastern Michigan before embarking on a 10-year NFL career, is a welcomed presence on the broadcast. The radio network did not utilize a sideline reporter last year. Lang spent his final two seasons (2017-2018) with the Lions after a Pro Bowl career with the Packers.

Lang will also provide in-studio analysis on Mondays and Fridays on the Lions radio flagship station, 97.1 The Ticket in Detroit. He has media experience, doing a fun series for the Lions called “Goin Nuts with T.J.” while with the Lions.

Watch: Matthew Stafford’s reveals practical joke on Lions’ media/fans

It’s been few years in the making but Matthew Stafford finally revealed the practical joke he and T.J. Lang have been playing on the Detroit Lions’ media and fan base.

I’ll admit it, I was fooled.

Roughly three weeks ago, Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford and former Lion T.J. Lang joined the teams’ multi-media journalist Tori Petry as part of the teams’ pre-2020 draft virtual festivities. As the video conference was wrapping up, Lang said he has one more question for Stafford:

“Dating back maybe three years ago,” Lang said, “when we were doing the ‘Talkin’ with T.J.’, you kinda showed off your math skills… I’m just going to make a number up — 9,758 times 618.”

Stafford answered with ease:

That video clip went viral, reportedly getting over 100,000 views, and Stafford received a lot of accolades throughout the media — even being dubbed a Math Wizard by ESPN.

Today, during a video conference with the Detroit media, Stafford pulled back the curtain and revealed the truth behind hid genius:

“I can’t believe you guys fell for the math trick,” Stafford said. “T.J. and I have been doing that for years. He texts me the answer beforehand and I just read it off and sell it hard. I guess I deserve a Daytime Emmy, but for sure, not a math award.”

Well, at least I wasn’t alone in being fooled. Well done Matthew, well done.

T.J. Lang offers the Lions advice on which free agents to aggressively pursue

T.J. Lang offers the Lions advice on which free agents to aggressively pursue, and he likes the linemen

Former Detroit Lions Pro Bowl guard T.J. Lang still has an active interest in his former team. The right guard retired due to consussion-related issues after the 2018 season, but he’s not shy about expressing his clear thoughts on what direction the Lions should go in free agency.

Lang provoked some conversation by quote-tweeting his opinion on which of Pro Football Talk’s top 20 free agents the Lions should sign. He weighed in, stating his preference for Patriots guard Joe Thuney and Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones.

Lang quickly clarified that he meant Chris Jones and not Cowboys CB Byron Jones in his original tweet.

He even smartly explained why Arik Armstead should not be a featured target in a subsequent Twitter response,

Armstead had an outstanding year but up until that point was very inconsistent. Have to wonder how much of his production was caused by talent around him. Bosa/Buckner were lead dogs on that line.

Watch: Goin’ Nuts with T.J.: Episode 5

Prepare to laugh as the Detroit Lions media department released the latest installment of “Goin’ Nuts with T.J. Episode 5”.

The Detroit Lions media department released the latest installment of “Goin’ Nuts with T.J. Episode 5” and Lang is running solo in this episode as he visits the Plymouth Historical Museum.

The video opens with Lang about to make an entrance into the museum wearing an ugly holiday sweater — note the hilariously subtle description under Lang’s name during the intro.

Lang begins his tour by learning about the museum’s connection to the famous movie A Christmas Story, making clever jokes about himself — like being teased that he looked like Raggedy Ann doll — along the way. Lang also took his picture in a cut out of the pink bunny suit from the movie and nailed the expression of sadness and disappointment.

Lang then jumps off the tour to visit the Lincoln exhibit and has a run-in with Abraham Lincoln, but Lang’s “like 99-percent sure” it’s not the real Lincoln though.

You can watch the entire five-minute episode below:

Watch: Goin’ Nuts with T.J.: Episode 4, with special guest Frank Ragnow

Prepare to laugh as the Detroit Lions media department released the latest installment of “Goin’ Nuts with T.J. Episode 4”.

The Detroit Lions media department released the latest installment of “Goin’ Nuts with T.J. Episode 4” and Lang welcomes in a special guest this week — Frank Ragnow.

This installment diverges from previous episodes that are drenched in humor, instead, taking a more serious approach to some things NFL players do on their off days during the season.

The video opens with Lang and Ragnow meeting up at the Glass Academy, to try their hand at blowing glass. Ragnow explains to Lang that he is a regular, is familiar with the process and will teach him how to do it.

Lang has some fun with some of the terminologies of glass blowing and eventually, wants to try his hand at making a creation. Ragnow — with a little assistance — takes Lang through the process but unfortunately, because it takes 14 hours for the glass to properly cool, we don’t get that final look at a finished product.

It’s always cool to get a behind the scenes look at the players you root for on Sunday and Lang’s series continues to give fans a look at different Lions’ player’s personalities.

You can watch the entire seven-minute episode below: