Advertisement

Packers guard T.J. Lang’s Twitter explosion could be the most re-tweeted tweet of all time

It's safe to say that Green Bay Packers guard T.J. Lang wasn't too happy about the way his team's 14-12 loss to the Seattle Seahawks ended on Monday night. We've already documented one of the most controversial calls in NFL history, but the fallout will take a while to fully comprehend.

The NFL should be glad there wasn't Twitter back in the days of Super Bowl XL or the Tuck Rule game, because the league would have to deal with stuff like this:

According to the TwitSprout blog, Lang's missive would be the third-most re-tweeted tweet of all time, behind Floyd Maywether calling out Manny Pacquiao, and Justin Bieber's tribute to LMFAO (yeah, we know). And that's just after 10 hours -- who knows how far the numbers will trend up?

Another Lang post, "Got [bleeped] by the refs.. Embarrassing. Thanks nfl" had 64,288 re-tweets as of Tuesday morning.

Of course, Lang didn't explain exactly why his line gave up eight sacks in the first half, but that's another matter.

And then, there was this.

By our count, that's over 160,ooo re-tweets on three messages from one player on a team that, in the eyes of many, got jobbed on Monday night.

Stuff like this seems irrelevant, but Twitter is the new mode of communication and relation for many people. The NFL is dealing with a severe perception and integrity gap in its dealings with obviously unqualified replacement officials, and the fact that the Twitterverse is blowing up over this incident should not escape the notice of those in the NFL who made the decisions that led to this debacle.

Lang is not the only one who's fed up about this.

Sadly, the only thing the NFL will probably do about this is fine Lang, or issue a new edict that NFL players must "respect the game" when using social media. Then, they'll most assuredly go back to turning a blind eye.


Other popular content on the Yahoo! network:
Michael Silver: The worst call in NFL history? | Photos
Dan Wetzel: Roger Goodell needs to immediately clean up officiating mess
Colin Montgomerie fears raucous American crowd could mar Ryder Cup's return to U.S.
Y! Tech: Rioting sweeps Chinese Apple iPhone 5 factory