Spencer Long (born November 8, 1990) is a former

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 ...

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

. 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 ...

at the

University of Nebraska–Lincoln The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Nebraska, NU, or UNL) is a public land-grant research university in Lincoln, Nebraska. Chartered in 1869 by the Nebraska Legislature as part of the Morrill Act of 1862, the school was known as the Universit ...

and was drafted by the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

in the third round of the

2014 NFL Draft The 2014 NFL draft was the 79th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players to the league. The draft, officially the "Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in New Y ...

. He has also been a member of 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 ...

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

, and

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

College career

Long attended Elkhorn High School in Elkhorn,

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

. He played

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

on the Antlers football team, and also played baseball. He walked on to the

Nebraska Cornhuskers The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference, and the Cornhuskers compete in NCAA Divis ...

football team for the 2009 season. He

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

in 2009, and did not appear in a game in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

. In

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, Long was one of three Nebraska offensive linemen to start in all of the Huskers' games. He also started in every game during the 2012 season. In

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

, he played in only six games before suffering a season-ending knee injury.

Professional career

Washington Redskins

Long was drafted by the

in the third round, 78th overall, of the

. On May 16, 2014, Long signed his four-year rookie contract, worth 2.85 million. With the release of former starting right guard, Chris Chester, Long was given the chance to compete for the starting position. He ended up losing out to

Brandon Scherff Brandon Scherff (born December 26, 1991) is an American football guard for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Iowa and was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the first round of the 20 ...

, who originally was expected to become the starting right tackle. He would then become the starting left guard after regular starter,

Shawn Lauvao Shawn Sisifo Lauvao (born October 26, 1987) is a former American football guard. He was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the third round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He played college football at Arizona State. College career Lauvao started his l ...

, was placed on the team's injured reserve in September 2015. In 2016, Long became the team's starting

after a season-ending injury to

Kory Lichtensteiger Kory Adam Lichtensteiger (born March 22, 1985) is a former American football center who played in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the fourth round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He played college football at ...

in week 3. On November 21, 2017, Long was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

after dealing with knee tendinitis.

New York Jets

On March 18, 2018, Long signed a four-year, $28 million contract with the

. He started 13 games in 2018 at center and left guard but was released on February 5, 2019.

Buffalo Bills

On February 12, 2019, Long signed a three-year $12.6 million contract with the

. On March 10, 2020, Long's second-year option was exercised by the Bills. He was released on August 4, 2020.

San Francisco 49ers

Long was signed by the

on August 13, 2020, but announced his retirement three days later.

References

External links

Nebraska Cornhuskers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Long, Spencer 1990 births Living people American football centers American football offensive guards Buffalo Bills players Nebraska Cornhuskers football players New York Jets players Players of American football from Omaha, Nebraska Washington Redskins players San Francisco 49ers players