Former Washington resident gets shot with Steelers
PITTSBURGH – It might have just been a blip in the Transactions report in most newspapers last week, but many people took notice locally when the Steelers signed tight end Paul Lang.
Lang spent 10 years living in Washington, moving with his family here when he was 2 before leaving after his older brother, Eric, and sister, Kristen, graduated from Peters Township High School in 2000 and 2002, respectively.
His parents, Michael and Carolyn Lang, lived in Washington but paid tuition for their two older children to attend Peters Township. Paul Lang and his other brother, Ryan, both graduated from Mt. Lebanon after the family moved back there.
Eric Lang is a former Observer-Reporter boys basketball player of the year.
“Although he’s 10 years older than me, I still had people coming up to me and telling me how good he was,” Paul Lang said of Eric, who now lives in San Francisco and works in finance. “It’s really cool because I grew up watching him as a kid and dreamed of being athletic just like him.”
It worked out, even if Paul Lang’s sport of choice wound up being football.
The Michigan State graduate is getting an opportunity not just to play in the NFL, but also to do so for the team for which he grew up following. The Steelers open a three-day mandary mini-camp Tuesday before breaking until training camp opens July 28.
“Growing up as a kid, I had some of these guys’ jerseys, so this is a lot of fun,” he said of joining the Steelers last week. “I’ve settled in. You can’t blow it up too much. I’ve got so much to work for and this is just the beginning. I can’t be too excited. I have to hold it inside and get in here and compete.”
Though he was a four-year letterwinner at Michigan State after a standout career in both football and basketball, the 6-4, 259-pound Lang is more of a blocking tight end than he is a receiver.
He had 15 career catches for 136 yards in 50 games for the Spartans. He might have finally landed with the right team. Unlike teams that use their tight ends as bulked-up receivers, the Steelers still favor tight ends that are adept at blocking.
Longtime starter Heath Miller retired at the end of the 2015 season, but veteran backup Matt Spaeth has fashioned a 10-year career – seven of which have been spent with the Steelers – out of being a solid blocker.
Lang is willing to do whatever it takes to stick in Pittsburgh.
He’s already seen the business side of football. He attended rookie minicamps with both Detroit and Washington and had workouts for the Patriots and Rams before signing with the Steelers.
“I think I’m very versatile, I can play (on the line or split wide) or at fullback,” he said. “I think I am a sound blocker. I’m a sound receiver.”
Regardless, he is ready to compete for a spot at a position where the Steelers have Spaeth returning to go along with free agent signees Ladarius Green and David Johnson along with holdovers Jesse James and Xavier Grimble.
He would have enjoyed competing in something else had his family stayed in Washington.
Lang also was a baseball player growing up, and his family moved right before he had an opportunity to play Pony baseball here in Washington. He wanted an opportunity to play in the Pony World Series.
“I wanted to,” Lang said. “I tried getting my Little League team in Mt. Lebanon to get into it but we weren’t good enough.”
He just hopes he shows he’s good enough to stick around with the Steelers.
“It’s such a great opportunity, and being that this is my hometown, it’s awesome to be here,” Lang said. “I want to make the most of it. I grew up watching this team. I grew up rooting for them, so I want to make the most of the opportunity.”