Joseph R. LongWayne State University Athletics - 2011 Football Roster
/ref> (born July 27, 1989) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who was an

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

in 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). Long attended

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public research university in Detroit, Michigan. It is Michigan's third-largest university. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 350 programs to nearly 25,000 ...

in Michigan and joined the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arri ...

as a free agent as he went undrafted in the

2012 NFL Draft The 2012 NFL draft was the 77th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players for their rosters. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held ...

. His brother is former offensive tackle

Jake Long Jake Edward Long (born May 9, 1985) is a former American football offensive tackle. He played college football at Michigan, where he was a two-time consensus All-American, and was drafted by the Miami Dolphins first overall in the 2008 NFL Dr ...

. Long attended

Lapeer East High School Lapeer East High School was a public high school located in Lapeer, Michigan. It was the rival school of Lapeer West High School. In 2010, all portable classrooms were removed and the school was reverted to 9-12 grade students. It was built in 19 ...

Lapeer, Michigan Lapeer ( ') is a City (Michigan), city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is the county seat of Lapeer County, Michigan, Lapeer County. As of the United States Census, 2010, 2010 census, the city population was 8,841. Most of the city was incorporat ...

, where he played in the 2007 Michigan High School Football Coaches Association All-Star game which earned him a spot on the Second-team All-Flint Metro League and honorable mention AP Class A All-State honors. Long also was a

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player and was involved in

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

while in high school. At

, Following his freshman season in which he earned All-GLIAC Honorable Mention Team and also voted WSU's Co-Offensive Rookie of the Year. Following his junior season, Long was named to the D2Football.com Honorable Mention All-America team and selected to the Hansen's Football Gazette All-Region Third-team. Following his senior season, he received the 2011 Gene Upshaw Award as the top Division II lineman. He was the GLIAC Offensive Lineman of the Year also his senior season. He also was a member of the Associated Press Little All-America First-team in his senior season. He blocked for three running backs (including former

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

running back

Joique Bell Joique Dewayne Bell Jr. (born August 4, 1986) is a former American football running back. He played college football at Wayne State. Bell was signed by the Buffalo Bills as an undrafted free agent in 2010. He has also been a member of the Phila ...

) that rushed for 1,000 yard seasons during his time at Wayne State University. Long has also played for the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

Early life

A 2007 graduate of

, Long played in the 2007 Michigan High School Football Coaches Association All-Star game which earned him a spot on the Second-team All-Flint Metro League and honorable mention AP Class A All-State honors. He also participated in basketball and track for the Eagles which he served as a team captain in both football and basketball. Long also played

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

as a freshman.

College career

In 2007 season, Long dressed for the five home games and the game at St. Joseph's. In 2008 season, he started all 11 games at

left tackle Tackle is a playing position in gridiron football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a tackle played on both offense and defense. In the modern system of specialized units, o ...

and was named to the All-GLIAC Honorable Mention Team and also voted WSU's Co-Offensive Rookie of the Year. He helped Wayne State university rush for over 170 yards per game in that season. In 2009 season, Long was named to the GLIAC All-Academic team which he started all 11 games at left tackle. Long also was named to the All-GLIAC Honorable Mention team leading to key contributor to an offense that ranked second in the GLIAC and ninth nationally in rushing yards per game (233.7) In 2010 season, Long was named to the D2Football.com Honorable Mention All-America team in which he was selected to the Daktronics Super Region #3 Second-team offense. Long also was named to the Hansen's Football Gazette All-Region Third-team as an

and voted to the All-GLIAC First-team offensive line. He was named to the GLIAC All-Academic team and was one of the Warrior captains in which he was the squad's Co-offensive Player of the Week for the Northwood game. He shared the team's Offensive Player of the Week award for the Saginaw Valley contest with the rest of the offensive line. He was a regional finalist for the Gene Upshaw Award and he earned the team's the Ultimate Warrior award for the football student-athlete who did outstanding work in the weight room. In 2011 season, he was the recipient of the 2011 Gene Upshaw Award as the top Division II lineman in both offensive and defensive side. He was selected to the Daktronics All-America First-team as well as the All-America First-teams for both D2Football.com and Hansen's Football Gazette team following the season. He was selected to the Associated Press Little All-America First-team. He was selected to the Don Hansen's Super Region Three First-team along with being selected as the GLIAC Offensive Lineman of the Year on November 17, 2011. He was selected to the Daktronics Super Region First-team and was voted as the top vote-getter at offensive line position and was selected to the 2011 All-GLIAC First-team on January 19, 2012. He also was selected as the Super Region 3 Offensive Player of the Year by Don Hansen and also was selected to the 2011 GLIAC All-Academic Team. He blocked an important third quarter field goal attempt at St. Cloud with Wayne State leading 27-24 to earn WSU's Special Teams Player of the Week award for his efforts that game. He contributed in Wayne State's offensive Line as it help lead the team to rush for 1,038 rushing yards and 15 rushing touchdowns in the 2011 NCAA playoffs. Long started all 49 games at left tackle breaking the school record for both career and consecutive starts (Rich Baur, 1993–96, 44 starts). He blocked for a 1,000-yard rusher all four seasons (

rushed for 1152 yards in 2008 and 2084 yards in 2009), ( Josh Renel rushed for 1249 yards in 2010 and 1353 yards in 2011 and Toney Davis ran for 1557 yards in 2011). On January 21, 2012, he participated in the

2012 East-West Shrine Game 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...

Professional career

St. Louis Rams

Long signed with the

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

. On August 31, 2012, he was released.

Pittsburgh Steelers

On November 28, 2012, he signed with the

to join the practice squad.

Chicago Bears

On December 18, 2013, Long signed a 2-year contract with the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

. He was released on August 24, 2014.

Detroit Lions

On December 31, 2014, Long signed with the Detroit Lions to join the practice squad.

References

External links

Wayne State profile

St. Louis Rams profile

Pittsburgh Steelers profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Long, Joe 1989 births Living people American football offensive tackles Chicago Bears players Pittsburgh Steelers players St. Louis Rams players Wayne State Warriors football players People from Lapeer, Michigan Sportspeople from Metro Detroit Players of American football from Michigan