Here's a story on the Chief's website by their site blogger, Josh Looney. Although it's a "success story", it really doesn't give you the warm-n-fuzzies about Long's long-term chances. Coach Haley still obsesses over Lance's (very few) mistakes, while a black WR would get a pass:
LONG SHOT
November 18th â€" 5:59 AM
September 13th, 2009 was Opening Day for the defending NFC Champion Arizona Cardinals. University of Phoenix Stadium was buzzing with the excitement and anticipation of another Cardinals run at a Super Bowl. WR Lance Long was buzzing with excitement and anticipation as well; Long was on an NFL active roster for the first time in his career.
The excitement in Arizona came and went as the Cardinals were upset 20-16 by the 49ers. For Long, the excitement came and went as well. He was released the following day. Two days later, Long was signed to the Chiefs practice squad. His NFL process had taken a huge blow. It was back to square one for Long once again.
Long entered the league as a long shot â€" a rookie free agent to be more specific. Not only was he a rookie free agent, but he was an undersized receiver trying to make his way onto a roster that featured Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin and Steve Breaston (My initial thought â€" Yikes, good luck with that). Oh, he also had to impress the watchful eye of Todd Haley while going up against these NFL playmakers. Oh, and he also only started seven college games and scored one TD at Mississippi State.
"Lance was a guy in Arizona that I think we got for about $500 right after the draft,"Â Haley explained.
(Random Timeout â€" yes, there have been a lot of them this week â€" earlier in the off-season, Fitzgerald had signed a $40 million contract. Long was guaranteed exactly .0000125% of Fitzgerald's deal).
"One of our coaches on the staff had been a college coach of his and he knew him,"Â Haley continued. "Lance doesn't have a lot of college career catches but he knew him and said he would be a great guy for camp. He'll come in and give you an honest day's work and when the draft ends that's always a tough deal where you're scrambling trying to find enough guys. You have holes at certain spots. I really didn't have any expectations for Lance and really tried to run him off for the first month [in Arizona] or so. He'll probably attest to that."Â
The offensive coordinator at the time just admitted that he had zero expectations for Lance Long as a football player. He even tried to run Long off the team during those early days in Arizona. This sounds like the storyline of that show on MTV, "Made."Â
With that said, how in the world did Long overcome these type of odds?
"As time went on you could tell this guy wasn't going away,"Â Haley said. "His role early on and for most of the year was just a show-team player. But every day the guy made plays and the defense didn't like him and you take notice. That's the way guys make it and there's never going to be a day he can ever take off. But he's quick and he's tough and he goes a hundred miles an hour all the time. That's what got my attention."Â
Getting Haley's attention ultimately landed Long on Arizona's practice squad for the entirety of Arizona's Super Bowl XLIII run a year ago. Gaining Haley's attention also won him an opportunity to make the Cardinals at the beginning of this year and, eventually, placed him onto the Chiefs practice squad in September.
Six weeks later Long was back on an active roster, this time it was with the Chiefs. He was on the field against another California foe this time as well, but his status was up for grabs following the October 25th contest against the Chargers once again. This time, Long recorded statistics (two catches for 12 yards), but he also had to leave the game with a "head trauma"Â after being leveled on a crossing pattern by LB Tim Dobbins.
The trauma was nothing serious, but the fact that he had to leave the game was. There are no guarantees in the NFL, especially if you are a player like Lance Long.
Long, however, did make one play (err"¦almost made one play) that earned him yet another look in a Chiefs uniform. Surely you remember it; the deep ball in the end zone that Long went air-born, fully-extended for and came up just millimeters short of the TD. That play was enough to get fans excited about this long shot and it had to have helped him in the film room. The kid was gritty.
"We brought him here for a reason," Haley said. "Lance has some unique skill to him. I had some familiarity with him but, again, he's a young receiver in the league that doesn't have a lot of experience. He wasn't a highly productive college receiver but is a guy who's kind of come on, works hard. It's really hard to out-work him. He's out there running routes ‘on air' by himself in practice. This kid works and he has some unique skill. We're just trying to find out what we have as we go forward."Â
In his second-chance with the Chiefs Long impressed the city and his teammates in a big way. He drew the primary job at slot receiver and his arrival onto the scene ultimately drove veteran WR Bobby Engram out of that role. In his first game of extensive action, Long was targeted a team-high 11 times and finished as the Chiefs leading receiver at Jacksonville (eight catches for 74 yards). He followed up that performance last week with a two-catch, 18-yard effort in Oakland.
That brings us to where we are today. Today, Long happens to find himself in yet another situation of opportunity. With the Chiefs primary target, WR Dwayne Bowe, suspended for the next four games, there are plenty of opportunities for others to make big plays. Another challenge has been issued and, not just Long, but each member of this entire receiving core has the chance to do themselves a lot of favors in regards to their future in Kansas City.
"I feel like it's a great opportunity,"Â Long said of joining the Chiefs. "I feel like just in the last few weeks, with me being able to play a little bit more, it's just been a blessing. I'm trying to make the best of this opportunity."Â
"I feel like I'm doing a lot,"Â Long continued. "Each day I'm trying to just take one thing that I need to work on and get better at it each day. I feel like that's all that you can do. Just treat every day like it's your last day."Â
That line of thinking has served Long well thus far in his long shot NFL career. He knows, however, that nothing is secure.
"I think he's shown enough to continue trying to work him in,"Â Haley said. "He hasn't been perfect, the out-of-bounds [play vs. Jacksonville] being a big thing and last game he missed a big block late in that game that might have given us a chance to keep the ball at the end. But again, with each guy you've got to take in account all the variables and this is a guy who does not have a lot of experience. We're trying to give him on-the-job experience; that's the best way to describe him."Â
Long's run with each shot he's been given. We'll see how he handles this one.
