UVA’s star defensive end won’t last “Long” in the NFL draft

By Andy Bitter
Lynchburg News & Advance
Published: April 25, 2008

Chris Long has had a busy month. If traveling from city to city to meet with prospective employers in advance of the NFL Draft weren’t enough, the former Virginia defensive end has had a full slate of marketing commitments.

He appeared on CNBC hawking Sprint cell phones. He filmed several online Webisodes for Subway (the latest of his growing endorsement deals) with weight-loss spokesman and low-fat sub fanatic Jared Fogle.

And right now, he’s in New York City, one of a few elite players the NFL invited to attend the draft in person.

“I’m just looking at it as a new experience and an experience you only live once,” Long said while riding a group bus back from Radio City Music Hall, the site of Saturday’s draft. “This is our moment in the sun this weekend, as somebody put it, and we’re just all having fun with it.”

The real fun will come shortly after 3 p.m. Saturday, when Long is expected to be a top-five pick.

He won’t go first. Miami agreed to a pre-draft deal with Michigan offensive tackle Jake Long, though it has since been reported that Chris Long was option 1B had the two parties not come to an agreement.

All signs point to the fact that the former UVa star won’t last long past that:

St. Louis picks second with a need for a defensive lineman. Rams coach Scott Linehan was in attendance at UVa’s pro day last month, and Long came away with a positive impression from a meeting in St. Louis, where the parties watched film and discussed the possibility of Long playing defensive end in the Rams’ 4-3 scheme.

This is where ESPN draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. has Long going.

Oakland picks fourth, and while the Raiders have greater needs, there is the tantalizing possibility of Long suiting up for the team on which his father, Howie, starred in the 1980s.

It doesn’t bother the younger Long, who met with Oakland owner Al Davis recently, saying it was an honor.

“No matter what pressure that brings with it … it’s another place I have to prove myself,” Long said.

w Kansas City picks fifth and has hole to fill at defensive end after trading NFL sack leader Jared Allen to Minnesota earlier this week. Scouts Inc. analyst Todd McShay has this as Long’s destination.

The New York Jets and New England, a pair of teams that employ a 3-4 defense, pick sixth and seventh, respectively.

Long’s NFL position still hasn’t been determined. Some teams see him as an end in either a 3-4 or 4-3 scheme. Others think the 6-foot-3, 268-pounder will play outside linebacker in the pros.

“I think that makes it interesting,” Long said. “Somebody put it to me this way: ‘Hey, these teams are willing to pay you this much money to play a position you’ve never played before. How cool is that?’”

Long isn’t bothered by the labels. Most draftniks consider him a safe pick because of his pedigree and strong technique. Others hold that against him, questioning his ceiling as a player because, to a degree, his game is so polished right now.

“That definitely motivates me,” Long said. “I’d probably just turn it back around with a question. I’d say, ‘Tell me why.’ … And that’s fine. I understand. That’s the way the media works and the way people tag certain players.

“But I think just as much, athletic guys don’t get tagged with the technical tag, and they get cheated on that. I think a lot of times when people watch ball, they don’t really get it.”

Long’s entourage at the draft won’t be as large as it normally is. His two younger brothers have their prom at St. Anne’s-Belfield on Saturday, so they’ll be in Charlottesville, monitoring things from afar.

His mom and dad will still accompany him to New York. As Chris tells it, Howie is the anxious one of the group.

“I think he’s more nervous for sure,” Chris said. “I’m the one that’s kind of like, ‘Hey, dad, just calm down. It will be all right. Whatever happens happens, and I’ll be better off at the end of the week than I was when I woke up Monday morning.’

“This is going to change my life in a positive way no matter how.”