David Lamont Long Jr. (born October 12, 1996) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

for the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

Early life

When Long was seven years old, he was on the back of a bike being pedaled by his older brother when he was hit by a car driven by someone who was not paying attention. He was treated at the hospital with head and arm injuries. He attended Winton Woods High School in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

and finished his career with 283 career tackles, six sacks, and six interceptions. Long was a high school teammate of safety Mike Edwards, who was drafted by the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

in the third round of the

2019 NFL Draft The 2019 NFL Draft was the 84th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2019 NFL season. The draft was held on April 25–27 in Nashville, Tennessee. The first round was held on April 2 ...

College career

Long redshirted in 2015 and made his collegiate debut as a redshirt freshman for the 2016 team in the season-opener against

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

on September 3 with four tackles as a reserve. Long missed the first month of the season due to a summer knee injury. As a redshirt sophomore for the 2017 Mountaineers, his best statistics were his 18- tackle (including a school record 7 for a loss (meaning the offense lost yardage as a result of his tackle)) effort against the

Oklahoma State Cowboys The Oklahoma State Cowboys and Cowgirls are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Oklahoma State University–Stillwater, Oklahoma State University, located in Stillwater, Oklahoma, Stillwater. ...

on October 28 and his 2.5-

quarterback sack In gridiron football, a sack occurs when the quarterback (or another offensive player acting as a passer) is tackled behind the line of scrimmage before throwing a forward pass, when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage in th ...

performance in the December 26,

2017 Heart of Dallas Bowl The 2017 Heart of Dallas Bowl was an American college football bowl game played on December 26, 2017, at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas. It was one of the 2017–18 bowl games concluding the 2017 FBS football season. The 8th edition of the ...

against the

Utah Utes The Utah Utes are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent the University of Utah, located in Salt Lake City. The athletic department is named after the Ute tribe of Native Americans. The men's basketball team is known as the Runnin' ...

. Among his best games as a redshirt junior for the 2018 team were his 15-tackle (3 for a loss) effort against

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

on September 29 and his 3-sack performance on November 10 against TCU. That season, he was named as a 2018 first-team All-Big 12 selection and as the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, after leading the Big 12 in

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking u ...

for a loss. Long is the second Mountaineer to be named a conference defensive MVP (

Canute Curtis Canute J. Curtis (born August 4, 1974) is a former American college and professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for six seasons during the 1990s and early 2000s. He played college football for We ...

, 1996

Big East The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...

), and first since the Mountaineers joined the Big 12. Long earned 2018 College Football All-America Team second-team recognition by the

Walter Camp Football Foundation The Walter Camp Football Foundation (WCFF) is one of the organizations whose College Football All-America Team is recognized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The organization also presents various awards. It is named in honor of foo ...

, and the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

. On December 30, 2018, Long announced that he would forgo his final year of eligibility and declare for the

Professional career

Long was drafted by the

in the sixth round (188th overall) of the

. During Week 10 against the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

, Long forced a fumble off running back Damien Williams which was recovered by teammate

Rashaan Evans Alan Rashaan Evans (born November 8, 1995) is an American football linebacker for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft. He played college f ...

for a 53-yard touchdown in the 35–32 win. Long was placed on the reserve/

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

list by the team on November 16, 2020, and activated on November 28. David Long 2021

Long entered the 2022 season as the starting linebacker for the Titans. He suffered a hamstring injury in Week 13 and was placed on injured reserve on December 10, 2022.

NFL statistics

Personal life

David’s father, David Sr., is a former professional boxer who went 12-5-2 as a heavyweight. He once fought future world champ

Deontay Wilder Deontay Leshun Wilder (; born October 22, 1985) is an American professional boxer. He held the WBC heavyweight title from 2015 to 2020, making 10 successful defenses. By winning the title, Wilder became the first American world heavyweight ch ...

References

External links

Titans bio

West Virginia profile

Long at ESPN
{{DEFAULTSORT:Long, David Jr. 1996 births Living people Players of American football from Cincinnati American football linebackers West Virginia Mountaineers football players Tennessee Titans players