The room was finally empty. Desolate. His teammates cleared out, coaches cleared out, media members cleared out.
Inside the visitors' locker room at Ford Field, T.J. Lang was finally alone with his thoughts.
Clutching his bag, the Green Bay Packers left guard took a deep breath.
Lang would've handled this differently three years ago. But not now. Not after his transformation, not with everything he's going through.
"I could easily take this situation, go out and do dumb (expletive) to try to forget about it," Lang said. "I've learned that's not the way to take care of things."
The "situation" is every son's nightmare. Lang's father - some 20 minutes from Ford Field - is battling a life-threatening illness. Without specifying, Lang said his dad, Tom Lang, would begin treatment this week. Perspective hit like a head-on collision. The news rocked him.
Dad never missed a game at Lambeau Field. Ever. And seven hours before Lang's game against Minnesota Vikings on Nov. 14, he discovered his dad's health had turned south. Someone would be missing.