Rien Michael Long (born August 7, 1981) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the Guard (American football), offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive Tackle (gridir ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Washington State Cougars The Washington State Cougars (known informally as the Cougs) are the sport, athletic teams that represent Washington State University. Located in Pullman, Washington, WSU is a member of the Pac-12 Conference in NCAA Division I. The athletic pr ...

, earning consensus

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honors and recognition as the top college interior lineman in 2002. The

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

chose him in the fourth round of the

2003 NFL draft The 2003 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League (NFL) teams selected amateur college football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually since 1936 NF ...

, and he played for the Titans until his pro career was cut short by injuries.

Early life

Long was born in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. He attended Anacortes High School in

Anacortes, Washington Anacortes ( ) is a city in Skagit County, Washington, United States. The name "Anacortes" is an adaptation of the name of Anne Curtis Bowman, who was the wife of early Fidalgo Island settler Amos Bowman.athletic scholarship An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university or a private school, private high school awarded to an individual based predominantly on their ability to play in a sport. Athletic scholarships are common in the U ...

to attend Washington State University, where he played for the

Washington State Cougars football The Washington State Cougars football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Washington State University, located in Pullman, Washington. The team competes at the NCAA Division I level in the FBS and is a member of the Pac-12 ...

team from 2000 to 2002. As a junior in 2002, he won the

Outland Trophy The Outland Trophy is awarded to the best college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that g ...

as that year's best college football interior lineman, and was recognized as a consensus first-team

Professional career

Tennessee Titans

The Titans drafted Long in the fourth round in 2003, and he started five of 39 games through his first three seasons with 9½ career sacks and 99 career tackles. He missed the 2006 season with a torn Achilles' tendon, then was placed on injured reserve for 2007 with a knee injury before being waived.

Florida Tuskers

Long was selected by the

Florida Tuskers Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

on the UFL Premiere Season Draft in 2009 and signed with the team on September 3. He was released on September 22.

Television career

Long co-starred in Going Native on

Animal Planet Animal Planet (stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American multinational pay television channel focusing on the animal kingdom owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. First established on June 1 ...

with his brother Devan Long. The pair subject themselves to the 9,000-year-old rites of passage of the Tatooya tribe in the Colombian Amazon to begin their journey into manhood, including ceremonial vomiting, blowdart hunting and ritual whipping. The show first aired on June 7, 2015.

Personal

Long is of one-fourth

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

descent and cherishes his heritage greatly. He has a tattoo of the seventh letter of the

Armenian alphabet The Armenian alphabet (, or , ) or, more broadly, the Armenian script, is an alphabetic writing system developed for Armenian and occasionally used to write other languages. It is one of the three historical alphabets of the South Caucasu ...

(Է) over the Armenian flag on his biceps. Rien Long's trip to

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

and

Nagorno-Karabakh Nagorno-Karabakh (, ; ) is a region in Azerbaijan, covering the southeastern stretch of the Lesser Caucasus mountain range. Part of the greater region of Karabakh, it spans the area between Lower Karabakh and Syunik Province, Syunik. Its ter ...

in March 2006 was the subject of a feature-length documentary, "The Long Journey from the NFL to Armenia" Rien has one son by the name of Gavon who plays soccer, football, and basketball in Anacortes (www.globalistfilms.com). Just before midnight on January 21, 2008, Long crashed his 2005

Ford Mustang The Ford Mustang is a series of American Car, automobiles manufactured by Ford Motor Company, Ford. In continuous production since 1964, the Mustang is currently the longest-produced Ford car nameplate. Currently in its Ford Mustang (seventh ...

into a rock wall while driving too fast on an I-40 on-ramp near downtown Nashville. Long was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center where he suffered injuries that left him in critical condition.

References

External links

Rien Long
– Washington State Cougars player profile {{DEFAULTSORT:Long, Rien 1981 births Living people All-American college football players American football defensive tackles American sportspeople of Armenian descent Sportspeople of Armenian descent Ethnic Armenian sportspeople Florida Tuskers players Tennessee Titans players Washington State Cougars football players Players of American football from Los Angeles