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Amon-Ra St. Brown didn’t hold back when he responded to fans who were critical of the Detroit Lions hiring Drew Petzing as offensive coordinator. On his podcast, he essentially told fans to relax, trust Dan Campbell, and stop acting like they know more than the people running the organization.
While many fans loved the fire, former Lions Pro Bowl guard and current radio analyst T.J. Lang wasn’t fully on board with how St. Brown went about it.
Speaking on 97.1 The Ticket, Lang made it clear he respected the emotion—but thought the approach crossed a line.
Don’t Battle Social Media Trolls
Lang’s first issue? Amon-Ra engaging with the loudest voices on social media.
“That’s where you go wrong, when you try to insult the fans’ intelligence, that’s just a lose-lose,” Lang said as quoted by Lions OnSI. “Unless Amon-Ra has a forum every week with every Lions fan and you can get a grip on every single fan’s opinion on what they think the team is doing, you’re responding to social media that isn’t real. And you’re responding to what’s probably 90 percent B.S. These people are trolling you, man, they’re trying to get you riled up.”
Lang’s point was simple: Twitter isn’t real life. Most of the negativity comes from a tiny, loud group looking for reactions, not thoughtful football discussion.
St. Brown suggested some fans criticizing Petzing “don’t know ball.” That’s where Lang really took issue.
“You can’t insult, you can never go after the fans’ intelligence. You have to read the room, these are passionate fans,” Lang explained. “You guys have built this team into being relevant again, and what comes with that is these fans are going to be more involved. They’re gonna feel more involved than they ever have been in the last 50 years.”
Lang emphasized that scrutiny is actually a sign of success.
“Every single move this organization makes is gonna be scrutinized by a lot of people, and you know what? That’s a good thing, because that means people are attached.”
It’s About Picking the Right Target
Lang made sure to clarify that he didn’t think St. Brown was attacking all Lions fans.
“I don’t necessarily think he was going at all the fans. Same thing with Jared Goff when he said, ‘Oh, it pisses me off that some fans think we can’t do this.’ He’s not going at the majority, he’s going at the minority of people that are being negative.”
But he still felt the response wasn’t worth it.
“You have to try as hard as you can to not respond to those people and not let that guide the message that you are trying to send.”
Bottom Line
Amon-Ra St. Brown’s loyalty and passion are part of what makes him beloved in Detroit. But T.J. Lang believes the better play is letting the results speak and keeping the focus off social media noise—especially now that the Lions are legitimate Super Bowl contenders.
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Jeff Bilbrey
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