If you listen closely enough, you'll hear something strange at the line of scrimmage in every NFL game. Like when Matthew Stafford once audibled by yelling "Kershaw!" -- childhood friends, ever heard? -- or the Packers offensive line screamed "Pot Roast!" to identify blitzes.
"It’d be hilarious because you’re on the field and your neurons start clicking and you’re like, ‘Hey, watch that pot roast! Watch that pot roast!’" former Packers O-lineman TJ Lang said on the Necessary Roughness podcast with fellow former O-lineman Jon Jansen. "It’s just the dumbest sh*t, but it makes you laugh on the field."
And nothing made Lang laugh more than the audible the Packers' O-line came up with when they realized their calls were being picked up by hot mics on TV.
"You’re watching the TV copy and you’re like, 'Dude, you can hear all of our calls. The immature guys that we had in our room, of course we were like, 'Let’s start having fun with it,'" he said.
So the coaches gave the O-line some "creative leniency," said Lang, and the O-line ran with it.
"I apologize to our listeners, but 'Donkey Dick' was a call that we legitimately had in Green Bay, Wisconsin," he said.
And the boys got their money's worth.
"I want to say it was a power scheme and if the defense walked a linebacker up, we were gonna have to really haul ass," said Lang. "It literally made no sense. I can’t remember which game it was, but it was hilarious. We were watching the TV copy and, of course, clear as day, just, 'Donkey Dick! Donkey Dick! Donkey Dick!'
"Football's a serious game, but any time you get a chance to get a laugh and have some fun ..."
You gotta take it, right?