Chris Long
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[edit] Biography
Chris Long the oldest son of former NFL Hall of Fame defensive end Howie Long, is himself a defensive end for the St. Louis Rams.
Long played on both the offensive and defensive lines in college, at state champion St. Anne's-Belfield School. His high school alma mater retired his jersey. Long was named both to the prep All-American teams by both SuperPrep and PrepStar, and was given a 4-star player rating by Rivals.com. The capstone of his prep career came when Long was named 2003 Gatorade Player of the Year in Virginia.
As a freshman in 2004, Long played in six games. He saw limited action during the first three games of the season, but missed the next five due to illness. He recorded his first career sack in a road win over Georgia Tech.
As a sophomore starter in 2005, practicing across from first-round pick D'Brickashaw Ferguson, Long rapidly improved. He made seven tackles in his first career start, with three coming in the backfield; his seven tackles was the most by a first-time starting UVa defensive lineman since 1987. In the 2005 Music City Bowl against the University of Minnesota, Long dominated, registering a career-high nine tackles.
His junior year, Long was named team captain and made second-team All-ACC. He finished fourth among ACC defensive linemen with 4.8 tackles per game, and was a key cog in the UVa machine which finished 17th in overall defense (allowing 289.5 yards per game). He was a finalist for the Dudley Award, given to the top collegiate football player in Virginia.
In 2007, Long was selected ACC Defensive Player of the Year and registered 14 sacks, third highest in UVa history and more than ten other teams. He was a first-team All-American by the American Football Coaches Association and Rivals.com, and was a finalist for the Rotary Lombari Award, Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Ronnie Lott Trophy, and Ted Hendricks Defensive End of the Year Award. Long was team captain for the second year in a row, and his jersey was retired prior to his final home game (November 24th, versus Virginia Tech).
The St. Louis Rams selected him as the #2 overall pick in the 2008 NFL Draft.
[edit] Scouting Report
A relentless player with good bloodlines, Long has all the tools needed to be successful in the NFL. He is capable in both a 3-4 set and a 4-3, and is an excellent penetrator with good hands. Gil Brandt told the New York Times that "Howie will be angry with me, but I think Chris is the better football player. He’s everything you want."
Long does, however, tend to gun for the big play, and may get burned at the NFL level unless he can reign in his fiery ball-focused attack style.
[edit] Statistics
- Registered 22 sacks and 43 other tackles for a loss over a four year, 42 game college career.
- As a senior, registered 14 sacks (for 122 yards) and 19 tackles for a loss (132 yards), while picking off a pass and blocking a kick.
[edit] Transactions
[edit] Trivia
- Long played basketball, lacrosse, and baseball during his high school career and won the 2003 YMCA Slam Dunk Contest for high school students.
[edit] Video Gallery
[edit] Picture Gallery
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