Kyle Howard Long (born December 5, 1988) 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 ...

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

who is a free agent. The son of

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coach ...

defensive end

Howie Long Howard Matthew Moses Long (born January 6, 1960) is an American sports analyst and former professional football player. He played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons as a defensive end, spending his entire career with the Raider ...

and the younger brother of former defensive end

Chris Long Christopher Howard Long (born March 28, 1985) is a former American football defensive end who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons. The son of Hall of Fame defensive end Howie Long and older brother of NFL guard Kyle Lon ...

. 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 ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

following stints with

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

and Saddleback. He was selected in the first round of the

2013 NFL Draft The 2013 NFL Draft was the 78th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in ...

by 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 ...

, where he played his first seven seasons. During his Bears tenure, Long received three consecutive

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

selections from 2013 to 2015 and one second-team

All-Pro All-Pro is an honor bestowed upon professional American football players that designates the best player at each position during a given season. All-Pro players are typically selected by press organizations, who select an "All-Pro team," a list th ...

selection in 2014. After retiring in 2019, he returned with the Chiefs for the 2021 season.

Early years

Long was born in Ivy, Virginia. He attended St. Anne's-Belfield School in

Charlottesville, Virginia Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen Ch ...

. He played both baseball and football. He was selected to the 2008 U.S. Army All-American Bowl. He was drafted by the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

in the 23rd round of the

2008 Major League Baseball Draft The 2008 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft continued Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players, and was held on June 5 and 6, 2008. First round selections ;Key Supplemental first rou ...

, but did not sign and honored his commitment to

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

College career

In January 2009, Long left Florida State for academic reasons following an arrest for DWI. In 2010, Long enrolled at

Saddleback College Saddleback College (Saddleback) is a public community college in Mission Viejo, California. It is part of the California Community College system and awards over 300 associate degrees, academic certificates, and occupational skills awards in 19 ...

, a

community college A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an "open enrollment" for students who have graduated from high school (also known as senior sec ...

Mission Viejo, California Mission Viejo ( ; corruption of ''Misión Vieja'', Spanish for "Old Mission") is a commuter city in the Saddleback Valley in Orange County, California, United States. Mission Viejo is considered one of the largest master-planned communities eve ...

, and returned to playing football. During his first year he played defensive end, recording 16 tackles and one

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 ...

. In 2011, he switched to the

offensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

. On December 18, 2011, he committed to play for the

Oregon Ducks football The Oregon Ducks football program is a college football team for the University of Oregon, located in the U.S. state of Oregon. The team competes at the NCAA Division I level in the FBS and is a member of the Pac-12 Conference (Pac-12). Although ...

team, and subsequently transferred to the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

. During the 2012 season, he started six of twelve games for the Ducks on the offensive line. He appealed for an extra year of college eligibility, but his appeal was denied by the NCAA.

Professional career

Chicago Bears

Long was selected by the

with the 20th overall pick in the

. He was the first guard to be drafted by the team in the first round since Roger Davis in

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

. Long signed on May 17, the last member of Chicago's 2013 draft class to do so. Long attended the rookie minicamp from May 10–12, but missed much of the offseason program due to a league rule prohibiting rookies from working out until their college class graduates. He returned to team activities on June 17. Long started the 2013 season opener against the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

at right guard, becoming the first rookie in team history to start a season opener at the position in the

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

era. On January 8, 2014, Long was named to

Pro Football Focus Pro Football Focus (also written as ProFootballFocus, and often referred to by its initials, PFF) is a sports analytics company that focuses on thorough analysis of the National Football League (NFL) and NCAA Division-I football in the United Sta ...

' All-Rookie Team. He was subsequently named to NFL.com's All-Rookie Team on January 15. On January 20, 2014, he earned a spot in the

2014 Pro Bowl The 2014 Pro Bowl was the National Football League's all-star game for the 2013 season. It took place at 2:30 pm local time on January 26 at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii. The game was televised nationally by NBC and was the final Pro ...

due to the injury of original Pro Bowl left guard

Mike Iupati Michael Iupati ( ; born May 12, 1987) is a Samoan-American former American football guard who played for 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). A native of American Samoa, Iupati went to high school in southern California, played col ...

in the 2014 NFC Championship Game. Long became the first Bears rookie to make the Pro Bowl since Johnny Knox in 2009. He made the Pro Bowl again following the 2014 season and was also named as a second-team All-Pro guard. At the start of the 2015 season, Long made the switch from

to tackle. He started all 16 regular season games in 2015 and was selected to his third consecutive Pro Bowl. On March 10, 2016, the Bears signed

right 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, ...

Bobby Massie Bobby Bryndale Massie (born August 1, 1989) is an American football offensive tackle who is currently a free agent. He played college football at Mississippi. He was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the fourth round of the 2012 NFL Draft. He ...

from the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

, and Long was moved back to

. On April 15, 2016, the Bears exercised the fifth-year option on Long's rookie deal, a move that would have kept Long under his original contract through 2017. On September 7, 2016, Long signed a four-year $40 million contract extension with the Bears through 2021. Long suffered multiple injuries during the 2016 season. He played the first seven games of the season with a torn labrum in his left shoulder. He missed the Bears' Week 8 contest against the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

due to a strained triceps. Long then severely injured his right ankle two weeks later against 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 ...

and was carted off the field. He was placed on injured reserve on November 15. On December 5, 2017, Long was placed on injured reserve after aggravating a shoulder injury in Week 13, while also being bothered by ankle and finger injuries throughout the season. Kyle Long 2019 (cropped)

Long started the first eight games of the 2018 season, but suffered a foot injury in Week 8 against the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

and was ruled out 6–8 weeks just a few days later. He was placed on injured reserve on November 3, 2018. He was activated off injured reserve on December 29, 2018. Early in 2019, Long suffered a hip injury that forced him to miss the Week 4 game against the

. Although he returned for the following week's

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

game, the injury persisted and he was placed on injured reserve on October 14. Long announced his retirement from professional football on January 6, 2020. The Bears declined his contract option for 2020, making him an unrestricted free agent on March 18, 2020.

Kansas City Chiefs

On March 18, 2021, Long signed with 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 ...

, after deciding to come out of retirement. He injured his knee during OTAs on June 10, 2021. He was placed on the physically unable to perform list (PUP) on August 31, 2021, due to the injury. He was activated on November 30. He was put on the Reserve/COVID-19 list on December 21, 2021. He was activated on December 27, 2021. He did not play a single snap for the Chiefs, largely due to his knee injury and the emergence of rookie guard Trey Smith.

Personal life

Long is the son of

defensive end

and the younger brother of retired defensive end

. He is a part-owner of esports team Mode Motorsports in the

eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series The eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series (formerly PEAK Antifreeze iRacing Series and NASCAR iRacing World Championship) is the premiere esports league that is sanctioned by ENASCAR. The league began in 2010 and is one of the longest running, officia ...

, and as of September 16, 2020, co-hosts (with Paul Swan) a weekly talk show on NASCAR.com's

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel. In 2020, Long became a studio analyst for

CBS Sports Network CBS Sports Network (a.k.a. CBSSN) is an American pay television network owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. When it launched in 2002 as the National College Sports Network (later College Sports Television also known as ...

's ''That Other Pregame Show''.

References

External links

Chicago Bears bio

Oregon Ducks bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Long, Kyle 1988 births Living people American football offensive guards Chicago Bears players Kansas City Chiefs players Oregon Ducks football players Saddleback Gauchos football players People from Ivy, Virginia Players of American football from Virginia Unconferenced Pro Bowl players Long family (American football) American football offensive tackles Ed Block Courage Award recipients