The Detroit Lions’ broadcast team is getting a brand new addition for 2021, and it’s a move that will add some humor as well as some additional beef to the group.
Former offensive lineman T.J. Lang has been revealed to be joining the team’s broadcast booth this year as a sideline reporter. He will join play-by-play announcer Dan Miller and color commentator as well as former Lions lineman Lomas Brown in helping to describe the action.
The latest Lions news straight to your inbox! Join the Heavy on Lions newsletter here!
On Thursday, August 5, Audacity revealed that they would be adding Lang to the Detroit broadcast team. 97.1 The Ticket became the new radio home for the Lions following the team’s departure from WJR-760 after last season. The Ticket was the former radio home of the Lions for 20 previous years, but from 2016-2020, WJR took the reigns.
This will be the first sideline host the Lions have had since Tony Ortiz, who worked with the team during their CBS Radio days. Ortiz was the beloved sideline reporter for the broadcast team of Mark Champion and Jim Brandstatter, and later Miller and Brandstatter until his departure.
Obviously, Lang will be excited to take over this new role describing the action, and having him on the sidelines will be a natural fit for the team considering it was his natural habitat when he played in the league. Given how much he was beloved, fans will enjoy the move, too.
T.J. Lang’s Career Stats and Highlights
After growing up nearby Detroit and going to school locally at Brother Rice and Eastern Michigan University, Lang was selected in the fourth-round of the 2009 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers. Lang carved out a role up front in Green Bay along the team’s offensive front, and helped the Packers capture Super Bowl XLV. He was also a two-time Pro Bowl player in 2016 and 2017, his first year with Detroit.
Lang departed the Packers for the Lions in 2017, and stuck it out in Detroit until he retired after the 2018 season. Unfortunately, injury troubles hampered Lang late in his career with his hometown team. In a particularly brutal 2018 season, Lang sustained a series of head, back and neck injuries which helped him to re-evaluate his career aspirations.
Lang Remains a Lions Fan Favorite
Thanks to his great personality and fun-loving nature, Lang is a player that Lions fans naturally gravitated toward when he played for the team. Though he started his career in Green Bay, when he came home to help anchor Detroit’s offensive line, it was a wildly popular move within the fanbase. Best yet, the team constantly allowed Lang a chance to showcase his talents behind the microphone and the camera, with such series as Talking With T.J., where Lang would interview teammates in a very comical way and connect with them.
Here’s a look at perhaps the funniest segment of the series:
Now, it will be fun to see how Lang can grow into his new role with the team roaming the sidelines. It seems easy to see how this will be a natural fit for both Lang and the team.
READ NEXT: Dan Campbell Cheers ‘Special Place’ Detroit, Michigan
Former Lions Fan Favorite Tapped as Team’s Newest Sideline Reporter