TJ Lang Supports Gay Players, Thinks Lions Fans Can't Take A Joke
DETROIT (CBS Detroit) No stranger to controversy, Royal Oak native TJ Lang, a Green Bay Packers guard, took on a hot topic Wednesday on 97.1 The Ticket.
And he came out in support of openly gay NFL players.
Responding to the question of where an openly gay player would face the worst consequences -- from the media, the public or fellow players -- Lang said this: "I'd say more public than the locker room."
He added: "I think when you talk about football players ... We're all family, we all love each other ... I think he would get the support that he needs."
Lang admitted things might be "awkward" in the shower, but said, overall, issues like gay marriage and gay players are "something that never bothered me."
Gay players were just one of the things Lang discussed in a wide-ranging interview where he also took on the most painful thing he's ever seen on the field.
Turns out it was Derek Sherrod and his bone-cracking leg break on the field two years ago, where both his tibia and fibula snapped.
"It was woozy, that was nasty, you felt bad for him, he's still struggling to recover from that, it was just a gross, gross injury," Lang said.
He also talked about the Lions players he likes the least.
"Cliff Avril, he's not a Lion anymore, but he was just a guy I really didn't think was that great personally, he was just a whiner every play, talking to the refs, 'he's holding me, he's grabbing me, he's doing this,' it just gets so old," Lang said.
So that's the player he has no love for, but why does Lang -- who has 130,993 followers on Twitter and made national headlines by taking a stand against replacement refs in the NFL -- think fans in his native Detroit hate him?
"I root for the Tigers, I go to a lot of Wings games ... I'm a Detroit guy ... Those Lions fans, they have a hard time taking a joke sometimes," Lang said.
