Bio
Howie Long has served as analyst for America’s No. 1 NFL pre game show, FOX NFL SUNDAY since its 1994 inception. He retired to become a Pro Football Hall of Famer and mainstay on the show after a 13-year career, all with the Oakland and then Los Angeles Raiders. Long assumed the additional role of pregame and halftime analyst for Thursday Night Football from 2018 to 2021.
Long is one of the nation’s most-respected analysts, winning a Sports Emmy Award for Outstanding Studio Analyst in 1997 and notching an astonishing 10 consecutive nominations in the same category (1997-2006). FOX NFL SUNDAY was inducted into the NAB Broadcasting Hall of Fame in April 2019. With two sons who had played in the NFL and now have careers in sports media, Chris and Kyle, and one son, Howie Jr., who works with the Las Vegas Raiders, Long’s ongoing connections to the league add unique perspective to his analysis.
Joining the Raiders as a second-round draft pick out of Villanova (48th overall) in 1981, Long became one of the best defensive linemen ever to play in the NFL. His size, strength and explosive quickness, combined with his versatility (he played all five defensive line positions), helped define the era.
Long was selected to play in eight Pro Bowls, was twice named the NFL’s Lineman of the Year by the NFL Alumni Association and was also named co-Defensive Player of the Year in 1985, along with Hall of Famer Andre Tippett. In 1983, Long led the Raiders to victory in Super Bowl XVIII against Washington. He, alongside Reggie White, was selected as one of two defensive ends on the 1980s All-Decade Team.
Long retired in 1993, playing his final game at the Pro Bowl in Hawaii in January 1994. He capped his remarkable career with induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in August 2000.
A four-year letterman at Villanova, Long was named the MVP of the Blue Gray All-Star Game, for which his coach was FOX NFL SUNDAY studio mate Jimmy Johnson. Long and his wife, Diane, have three sons, Chris, Kyle, and Howard Jr., as well as four incredibly adorable and wildly advanced grandchildren. Howie was born in Charlestown, Mass.