Ferndale Native in Super Bowl for Green Bay Packers

Ferndale resident Linda Cooke pays special attention when the Green Bay Packers are playing – like in Sunday's Super Bowl.  It has nothing to do with fantasy football leagues, but with her family – her nephew, T.J. Lang, is part of the Packers'  special teams unit.

"As soon as I see the special teams take the field I try to find him," she said Sunday evening during the Super Bowl half-time show.  "When I do, I point and scream and say my nephew is playing in the Super Bowl. People still don't believe me."

Before the Packers drafted Lang in the fourth round in 2009, he was living here in Ferndale and playing on the Berkley Steelers youth football team as a 9-year-old.

"T.J. started here in Ferndale. He went to ," Cooke said. "When he was drafted they had a party for him at the . His dad is a member of the Elks."

Lang's father, Tom, still lives in Ferndale. Tonight, he's in Texas watching his son play in the Super Bowl.

Lang went to Birmingham Brother Rice for high school, where he played both offense and defense. "He played the whole game," his proud aunt said. "I don't know how he did it. He's always been a gung-ho athlete."

After Brother Rice, Lang went to Eastern Michigan University and started all four years. His first year he played defense, then moved to offense for the next three.

Cooke said she hasn't spoken with her nephew recently, but keeps up with him on his Facebook page. She's not worried. "He's playing in the Super Bowl," she said.

If Cooke could say one thing to her nephew tonight, she said she would say: "We love you."

Then she quickly added with confidence: "They better start sizing his Super Bowl ring."

Correction: Linda Cooke's name has been corrected from a previous version of this story.