After retiring, Long pursued a career in acting and broadcasting and serves as a studio analyst for Fox Sports' NFL coverage.

[citation needed] Long played college football at Villanova University near Philadelphia and earned a degree in communications.

[citation needed] Selected in the second round of the 1981 NFL draft by the Oakland Raiders, Long played 13 seasons for the club, wearing the number 75.

He capped off a stellar 1985 season earning the George Halas Trophy for having been voted the NEA's co-NFL Defensive Player of the Year (along with Andre Tippett).

In 1986, Long was voted to his fourth consecutive Pro Bowl and was key in helping the Raiders record 63 sacks and being the number one defense in the AFC.

Long's signature defensive move was the "rip," which employed a quick, uppercut-like motion designed to break an opposing blocker's grip.

[citation needed] Pro Football Weekly (PFW) named Long as one of the ends on its All-time 3–4 defensive front, along with Lee Roy Selmon, Curley Culp, Lawrence Taylor, Andre Tippett, Randy Gradishar, and Harry Carson.

[8] After his retirement from the NFL following the 1993 season, Long pursued an acting career, focused mainly on action films—including Firestorm, a 1998 feature in which he starred.

He played a minor role in the movie 3000 Miles to Graceland alongside Kevin Costner, Kurt Russell and Courteney Cox.

In That Thing You Do!, Long appears as Mr. White's (Tom Hanks) "partner" Lloyd in the extended cut of the movie, released on DVD in 2007.

"[10]After his retirement, Long began as a studio analyst for the Fox Network's NFL coverage, where he often plays the "straight man" to the comic antics of co-host Terry Bradshaw, as well as writing a column for Foxsports.com.

[citation needed] Long met his future wife Diane Addonizio during his freshman year at Villanova; they married in 1982,[3] and they have three sons.

The eldest, Chris, is a retired defensive end, who played for the St. Louis Rams, New England Patriots, and Philadelphia Eagles, winning two Super Bowls in his own right.