He played college football for the Nebraska Cornhuskers and was selected by the Washington Redskins in the third round of the 2014 NFL draft.

He ended up losing out to Brandon Scherff, who originally was expected to become the starting right tackle.

[6] He would then become the starting left guard after regular starter, Shawn Lauvao, was placed on the team's injured reserve in September 2015.

[7] In 2016, Long became the team's starting center after a season-ending injury to Kory Lichtensteiger in week 3.

[9] On March 18, 2018, Long signed a four-year, $28 million contract with the New York Jets.