New England Patriots

Howie Long ready for 'extraordinary moment' to watch his son in Super Bowl LI

Published Feb. 1, 2017 9:36 p.m. ET

Sam Gardner

HOUSTON — It’s a dream for many fathers to watch their son play in the Super Bowl, but there aren’t many who get to do it and also call it work.

That’s the reality this week, however, for NFL on FOX analyst Howie Long, whose oldest son, Chris, is a starting defensive end for the AFC champion New England Patriots.

After eight seasons with the St. Louis Rams, Chris Long signed a one-year deal with New England in March, choosing the Patriots over the Atlanta Falcons, his eventual opponent in Super Bowl LI (Sunday, 2 p.m. ET FOX, FS GO). A FOX mainstay for more than two decades, Howie Long said Chris made the decision based on his desire to win a championship.

And while there were certainly no guarantees the Patriots would get this far, Howie was well aware he’d be on the FOX pregame show crew if they did. Now that the moment has finally arrived, Long, a Raiders defensive lineman for 13 years and a Super Bowl champion in 1983, is savoring the moment.

Chris Long

“If you’ve followed my history with my boys, I try to be in the background,” said Long, whose middle son, Kyle, is an offensive lineman for the Chicago Bears. (He also has a third son, Howie Jr.) “Now, at the Super Bowl, it certainly ends up being about a dad covering his son playing in the Super Bowl, which is an extraordinary moment for us. And I’m not quite sure how I’ll react to it.

“As a player, you’re nervous, you’re anxious, you’re excited, and then you get hit and it’s football,” Long continued of his emotions going into the game. “Unfortunately, as a broadcaster and just a dad on the sideline, I don’t get hit so the nerves don’t go away.

“It’s like being in a fight,” he continued. “You’re nervous before you get in the fight, and then you get in the fight and it’s just a fight. Been there, done that. With this it’s different, it’s unique, and I think it’s going to be really special.”

For Howie, the opportunity to be on-site for any of his kids’ pro games is a unique one. Save for a few rare exceptions, like a Nov. 2013 Bears-Rams game that saw his sons’ teams face each other (and also saw Chris pull Kyle away from a fight), he’s watched their careers almost exclusively from the FOX studio, making it difficult to focus too intently on either one.

Chris Long

“We do multiple halftimes to different markets, and we have TV monitors on our desks that you don’t see,” Long explained. “My monitor is either on the Bears or the Patriots and Michael (Strahan) puts the opposite game on his monitor. The problem that I run into is when they’re both playing simultaneously, and worse yet, when the ball is being snapped simultaneously. Then you’re faced with the challenge of, as a dad, which son do I watch? I mean, that’s how much I angst over watching them.”

This time, however, he’ll be focused intently on No. 95 in white.

“I’ve said this before — and people find this hard to believe — it’s just like any dad who’s watching their kid on the mound in little league,” Long said. “The same kind of nerves you have in that venue are the same nerves that I have in this venue. The only difference is, what, 150 million people watching? But at the core it’s a football game, and he’s someone who has done the best possible job he can to prepare, and I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

Interestingly, though, that preparation hasn’t included much time spent picking his Hall of Fame dad’s brain about his experience in Super Bowl XVIII in Tampa.

“You might find this hard to believe, but my boys and I — and they’ll tell you this — I’ve probably had five conversations with them about my career,” Long said. “We don’t talk about it. They like to be around people that I played with, because then they can get more information than they get at home. But I’ve never really felt like it should be about me.

Howie Long

“At home you’re just the dad,” he added, “and I’ve always tried to separate the two.”

As for what that means about his objectivity when it comes to his role on the pregame show, Long says he’s not concerned about his ability to do his job — he actually filmed a feature with Chris in Foxborough, which will run during the broadcast. But while he’s off the air, there won’t be any uncertainty about where his allegiances lie.

“I have a job to do, and I’ll prepare to do my job and talk about all aspects of the game: defense, offense, special teams, coaching, history,” said Long, 57. “And I’ll give my opinions both in the pregame and the halftime and the postgame, and be professional. But certainly, I’ll be watching the game as a dad.

“I’m rooting for my son,” Long added. “If in turn that means rooting for the Patriots, certainly (I will). And Mike Shanahan is rooting for the Atlanta Falcons. And the Matthews family roots for their son and their nephew. Blood is blood. That’s just the way it is.”

You can follow Sam Gardner on Twitter or email him at samgardnerfox@gmail.com.