Spencer Long (born November 8, 1990) 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 center 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

Nebraska Cornhuskers The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding t ...

and was selected by the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

in the third round of the

2014 NFL draft The 2014 NFL draft was the 79th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players to the league. The draft, officially the "Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in New Y ...

. He was also a member of the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

, and

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

Early life

Long attended Elkhorn High School in Elkhorn,

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

. He played

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

on the Antlers

team, and also played baseball.

College career

At the

University of Nebraska–Lincoln The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Nebraska, NU, or UNL) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Lincoln, Nebraska, United States. Chartered in 1869 by the Nebraska Legislature as part of the M ...

, he walked on to the Cornhuskers football team for the 2009 season. He

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

in 2009, and did not appear in a game in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

. In

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, Long was one of three Nebraska offensive linemen to start in all of the Huskers' games. He also started in every game during the 2012 season. In

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, he played in only six games before suffering a season-ending knee injury.

Professional career

Washington Redskins

Long was selected by the

in the third round, 78th overall, of the

. On May 16, 2014, Long signed his four-year rookie contract, worth 2.85 million. With the release of former starting right guard, Chris Chester, Long was given the chance to compete for the starting position. He ended up losing out to Brandon Scherff, who originally was expected to become the starting

right tackle A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a tackle played on both offense and Defensive tackle, defense. In the modern system of ...

. He would then become the starting

left guard In American football, a guard (G), otherwise known as an offensive guard (OG), is an offensive line player who lines up between the center and the tackles. Like other offensive line positions, guards are used primarily for blocking. Right ...

after regular starter, Shawn Lauvao, was placed on the team's

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

in September 2015. In 2016, Long became the team's starting center after a season-ending injury to Kory Lichtensteiger in week 3. On November 21, 2017, Long was placed on injured reserve after dealing with knee tendinitis.

New York Jets

On March 18, 2018, Long signed a four-year, $28 million contract with the

. He started 13 games in 2018 at center and left guard but was released on February 5, 2019.

Buffalo Bills

On February 12, 2019, Long signed a three-year $12.6 million contract with the

. On March 10, 2020, Long's second-year option was exercised by the Bills. He was released on August 4, 2020.

San Francisco 49ers

Long was signed by the

on August 13, 2020, but announced his retirement three days later.

References

External links

Nebraska Cornhuskers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Long, Spencer 1990 births Living people American football centers American football offensive guards Buffalo Bills players Nebraska Cornhuskers football players New York Jets players Players of American football from Omaha, Nebraska Washington Redskins players San Francisco 49ers players