Former Detroit Lions OL Says Packers Received Preferential Calls

Former Detroit Lions offensive lineman T.J. Lang expressed he noticed a difference in how officials treated the Green Bay Packers, especially when he ended up joining his hometown team.

Appearing on 97.1 The Ticket, Lang was asked if he truly believed the idea of "scriptwriters" could actually be legitimate.

"No, and I still don't," said Lang. "But I'll tell you this right now, when I was in Green Bay for eight years, I don't want to make headlines here, I felt like and a lot of guys on the team felt like -- not maybe in the moment, but when you look back, that yes, we did get some benefits of doubt for some calls."

Lang referenced the non-catch call that went against Dallas Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant. The current NFL analyst felt the Packers received preferential calls due to being a premier NFL team.

"We kind of felt like we were getting the benefit of the doubt, because we were a good team. I'll tell you one thing though, we were nice to the refs," said Lang. "(Former Packers coach) Mike McCarthy was a great coach. We used to come in on Wednesdays and he would put up the list of the the referees that were there reffing the game. 'This guy does this and this is his profession. He's got kids and he's got grandkids.' So, there'd be TV timeouts where you go talk to those guys and try to butter them up a little bit.

"It helped because I'm not kidding you. Rico (Beard), you laugh at it, but I would go talk to the back judge and he would be like, 'Hey, you kind of held him a little bit. Next time I'm probably gonna have to throw it.' I'd be like 'Oh, thanks Jeff. Yea I know, I kind of held him a little bit.' I think I had one holding called my last four years in Green Bay."

When Lang signed a three-year free agent contract back in 2017, he noticed calls against him increased, compared to when he played in Green Bay.

"Then in Detroit, it was like three holding calls, and people were like, 'What's going on?' I'm like, 'Listen, I'm doing the same thing I've done my entire career.' I'm not trying to create a conspiracy here, but I've been blocking this way for five years now and it's now being called against me now.

"You don't (want to) buy into that. And I think the Lions players and the coaches -- like they're not out to get you. They're not out to favor a team," said Lang. "They might duck the flag a little bit, if it's a close play and might say, 'Ah okay, it's got to be really egregious for us to throw one.' But yeah, I would say that being retired now for what, six years, you watch some games and you're like, 'That's weird.' Why does it keep benefiting one team and nobody else is getting these calls?"