Thomas John "T. J." Lang (born September 20, 1987) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

at Eastern Michigan and was drafted by the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the t ...

in the fourth round of the

2009 NFL Draft The 2009 NFL Draft was the seventy-fourth annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 25 and 26, 2009. ...

. Lang was a member of the Packers'

Super Bowl XLV Super Bowl XLV was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Green Bay Packers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

win over the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

, and has also played for the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at For ...

Early years

Lang was born in Royal Oak, Michigan. He attended Lakeland High School in

White Lake, Michigan White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

before transferring to Brother Rice High School in Birmingham, Michigan. He played on both the offensive and

defensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numb ...

. As a senior, he had 59 tackles, 8.5 sacks, and one

fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful ...

recovery on defense.

College career

T. J. Lang attended Eastern Michigan University. As a freshman, Lang played in all 11 games as a defensive lineman, recording 11 tackles, in the 2005 season. As a sophomore in 2006 Lang moved to offensive tackle and started all 36 games over the next three years.

Professional career

Green Bay Packers

Lang was selected in the fourth round (109th overall) by the

in the

. On July 7, 2009, he signed a contract with the Packers. Lang started his first game at the left tackle position versus the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conferenc ...

due to an injury to Chad Clifton. On August 14, 2012, Lang signed a four-year contract extension with the Packers worth $20.8 million and a $5.5 million signing bonus through the 2016 season. For his play during the 2016 season, Lang earned his first Pro Bowl appearance in the

2017 Pro Bowl The 2017 Pro Bowl (branded as the 2017 Pro Bowl presented by Aquafina for sponsorship reasons) was the National Football League's all-star game for the 2016 season, which was played at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida, on January 29, 2 ...

Detroit Lions

On March 12, 2017, Lang signed a three-year contract with the

. He started 13 games at right guard in his first season in Detroit, on his way to his second Pro Bowl. In 2018, Lang started six games at right guard, missing three games due to head, back, and neck injuries, before being placed on injured reserve on November 14, 2018. On March 8, 2019, Lang was released by the Lions. On March 29, 2019, Lang announced his retirement from the NFL.

Broadcasting career

Lang joined the

Detroit Lions Radio Network The Detroit Lions Radio Network is a radio network in Michigan and Toledo, Ohio that broadcasts all of the NFL's Detroit Lions games and related programming. All preseason, regular season, and postseason games are aired live throughout the network. ...

as a

sideline reporter Sideline(s) may refer to: * Extended side, the geometric line that contains the side of a polygon * Sidelines, the lines that mark the outer boundaries of a sports field * Sideline (app), a smartphone app * ''Sidelines'' (newspaper), the stude ...

beginning in the 2021 season.

Personal life

Lang appeared in the movie ''

Pitch Perfect 2 ''Pitch Perfect 2'' is a 2015 American musical comedy film directed and produced by Elizabeth Banks (in her feature directorial debut) and written by Kay Cannon. It is a sequel to the 2012 film ''Pitch Perfect'' and the second installment in th ...

'' with a group of then-teammates.

References

External links

Green Bay Packers bio

Eastern Michigan Eagles bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lang, T. J. 1987 births Living people Players of American football from Michigan Sportspeople from Royal Oak, Michigan People from Birmingham, Michigan American football offensive tackles American football offensive guards Eastern Michigan Eagles football players Green Bay Packers players Detroit Lions players National Conference Pro Bowl players Detroit Lions announcers Ed Block Courage Award recipients