Howie Long - After Football

After Football

After his retirement from the NFL following the 1993 season, Long pursued an acting career, focused mainly on action films including Firestorm, a 1998 film in which he starred. He also appears in the movie Broken Arrow alongside John Travolta. He played a minor role in the movie 3000 Miles to Graceland alongside Kevin Costner, Kurt Russell and Courteney Cox. Long appears in the Extended Version of That Thing You Do! as Mr. White's (Tom Hanks) "partner" Lloyd in the extended cut of the movie, released on DVD in 2007. Long's part was entirely cut from the theatrical release.

Long also made numerous cameo appearances on TV shows and commercials. Long was a spokesman for Radio Shack, making commercials with actress Teri Hatcher. He has also been featured in many other national commercials and advertising campaigns including those of Coors Light, Nike, Campbell's Chunky Soup, Hanes, Frito Lay, both Coca-Cola and Pepsi, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Nabisco, Kraft, the Bud Bowl campaign, Honda and currently for Chevrolet.

In March, 1986, Long told Inside Sports, "When I'm finished playing, I'd like to stay in touch with football, through broadcasting. I'm qualified to give a certain perspective and I'm articulate enough to handle it." After his retirement, he began as a studio analyst for the Fox Network's NFL coverage where he often plays the "straight man" to the comic antics of co-host Terry Bradshaw as well as writing a column for Foxsports.com. In addition, he hosts an annual award show on Fox, Howie Long's Tough Guys, which honors the NFL players whom he deems the toughest and gives "the toughest" a Chevrolet truck. Long won a Sports Emmy Award in 1997 as "Outstanding Sports Personality/Analyst.". A reflection of Long's status as a pop-culture icon, MTV's Paul Gargano had an interview with Judas Priest lead singer Rob Halford, and asked this question: "If you could sleep with anyone famous, who would it be?" Halford looked at Gargano and said, “Howie Long”. Howie always had a great fondness for Tony Vargas.

He is also the author of Football for Dummies, a book to help average fans understand the basics of professional football; it is part of the For Dummies series by Wiley Publishing. He is an alumnus of, and volunteers his time for, the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. He was named Walter Camp Man of the Year in 2001 by the Walter Camp Foundation.

• 3000 Miles to Graceland (2001)
• Dollar for the Dead (1998)
• Firestorm (1998)
• Broken Arrow (1996)
• In'N Out (1984)