Villanova Univeristy Athletics

A standout defensive end during his collegiate career and one of the most recognizable NFL personalities on television studio coverage following his Hall of Fame professional career, Howie Long was an honorable mention All-American and the MVP of the Blue-Gray Classic during his collegiate career. He played for Villanova from 1977-80 and graduated in 1981. He was inducted to the Varsity Club Hall of Fame in 1996 in his first year of eligibility.
 
Long arrived on campus as a tight end but was moved to the defensive line where he initially played nose guard before moving to defensive end. He earned All-East honors and was an honorable mention All-America selection as a senior for a Wildcats team which finished 6-5 and tallied wins over Boston College, Cincinnati, and Temple. Long’s senior stats included 84 total tackles, including 36 solo stops and 48 assisted tackles. He led the team in sacks for the second time in his career with four on the year and added two fumble recoveries and a pass breakup.
 
The impact that Long made on the Villanova defense was immediate at the start of his collegiate career. He started all 11 games his freshman year in 1977 and had 99 tackles while averaging 11.0 stops per game. Long followed up his freshman year performance with 80 tackles and a team-high five sacks his sophomore year. One of his best collegiate games occurred that season when he registered a career-high 14 tackles in a 17-14 win at Richmond.
 
Long started each of the first 29 games of his Wildcats career before he suffered a thigh injury against Holy Cross his junior year. After missing three straight games late in the season, he returned to play in the season finale against Temple and ended the season with 45 total tackles and a pass breakup. Entering his senior year, Villanova coach Dick Bedesem said of Long, “great body, runs a legitimate 4.7 … every pro scout has been in on [him].”
 
The preseason acclaim was spot-on and Long was selected to play in the Blue-Gray Football Classic where he was named the MVP of the 1980 game. He was selected by the Oakland Raiders with the 48^th overall pick in the second round of the 1981 NFL Draft and went on to be one of the most prominent players of his era. Long played exclusively for the Raiders from 1981-93 and was an eight-time Pro Bowl selection as well as a five-time All-Pro selection, earning first team honors three straight years from 1983-85 and second team accolades in 1986 and 1989.
 
Long was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2000. During his NFL career he finished second in the voting for Defensive Player of the Year in 1985 and that same season was named both the NFL Alumni Defensive Lineman of the Year and the NFLPA AFC Defensive Lineman of the Year. He won the George Halas Trophy as the NEA’s co-NFL Defensive Player of the Year and was selected as the Seagrams’ Seven Crown NFL Defensive Player of the Year. In 1986, he was named the Miller Lite NFL Defensive Lineman of the Year. Each of the latter two awards was chosen through polls of NFL players.
 
The Raiders won the Super Bowl in 1983 and Long was named to his fourth consecutive Pro Bowl in 1986 when he helped the team record 63 sacks and rank as the top defense in the AFC. From 1983 to 1986 the Raiders had 249 sacks which tied the Chicago Bears for the most in the NFL during that span.
 
Long recorded 91.5 sacks during his career with a single-season high of 13 in 1983 and a single-game high of five against Washington on October 2 of that season. He had two career interceptions and 10 fumble recoveries. In Super Bowl XVIII, Long outplayed Washington offensive tackle George Starke and helped limit Washington’s dominant running game to 90 yards on 32 attempts. Long was chosen by John Madden to the All-Madden teams in 1984 and 1985 and was named to the 10^th Anniversary All-Madden team in 1994. He was named to the NFL 1980s All-Decade Team. Pro Football Weekly named Long as one of the ends on its All-time 3-4 defensive front based on a vote of over 40 former NFL players, coaches, and scouts.  
 
Talented in many areas beyond football, few will remember that Long was also a collegiate boxer at Villanova and was the Northern Collegiate Heavyweight Boxing Champion during his career. He pursued an acting career after his NFL playing days and appeared in films alongside stars such as John Travolta, Kevin Costner, Kurt Russell and Courtney Cox in addition to making cameo appearances in TV shows and commercials.
 
Long has been a longtime studio analyst for Fox Network’s NFL coverage and he won a Sports Emmy Award in 1996 for Outstanding Sports Personality/Analyst. He has written a column for Foxsports.com and hosted an annual award show on Fox called Howie Long’s Tough Guys. Long authored the book Football for Dummies to help average fans understand the basics of professional football and he is both an alumnus and volunteer for the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. He was named the Walter Camp Man of the Year in 2001 by the Walter Camp Foundation.
 
In 2016 the brand-new weight room in the Andy Talley Center at Villanova was dedicated as the Howie Long Strength and Conditioning Center. Long and his wife Diane, also a Villanova graduate, attended the dedication ceremony of the 10,000 square foot weight room which is two stories and offers Wildcats student-athletes from all 24 varsity sports the maximum space to train for collegiate competition.
 
Long’s jersey number – 55 – was retired on the Wall of Fame in Villanova Stadium in 1995.