David Long Jr.

BIOGRAPHY

David Long Jr. was born on February 6th, 1998, in Los Angeles, California. He is a cornerback in the National Football League.

As a freshman  in 2016, he  played in four games and earned his first varsity letter, made his college debut as backup cornerback vs. Hawaii (Sept. 3), played on special teams against Colorado (Sept. 17), saw action at cornerback vs. Penn State (Sept. 24), and played cornerback and special teams at Rutgers (Oct. 8).

During sophomore season on 2017, he won  All-Big Ten honoree (honorable mention, media), played in all 13 games with 13 starts at cornerback and made 21 tackles with seven pass breakups 2.0 TFLs and earned his second varsity letter, was named Defensive Player of the Game for his performance in the win over Maryland, he earned his first career start at cornerback and also contributed on special teams against Florida at the Advocare Classic (Sept. 2), assisted on one tackle as a defensive back and also contributed on special teams against Cincinnati (Sept. 9), made a career-high five tackles against Air Force (Sept. 16) with two solo stops and his first career tackle for loss, and also contributed on special teams.

He broke one pass up, the first of his career, while playing cornerback and also made one tackle against Purdue (Sept. 23), contributing on special teams as well, added two tackles against Michigan State (Oct. 7), contributed to three tackles at Indiana (Oct. 14), adding half-a-sack and a pass breakup, made one solo stop and picked off one pass with a 25-yard return at Penn State (Oct. 21), started at cornerback and contributed on special teams against Rutgers (Oct. 28), registered one assisted tackle against Minnesota (Nov. 4), made three tackles and returned an interception 80 yards at Maryland (Nov. 11), adding an additional breakup, contributed three stops with half a tackle for loss at Wisconsin (Nov. 18), was credited with one pass breakup against Ohio State (Nov. 25), and made a solo tackle and two pass breakups in the Outback Bowl against South Carolina (Jan. 1)

In the course of his junior season in 2018, he won All-Big Ten selection (first team, coaches; third team, media) and All-Big Ten selection by the Associated Press (second team). Along with the entire defense, he secured a share of Defensive Player of the Week honors for their contributions towards the team performance against Michigan State, and was named to Pro Football Focus College's All-Big Ten team after his performance against Michigan State, and a recipient of the Defensive Skill Player of the Year Award, as the first-ever award winner. He started at cornerback and made three solo stops at Notre Dame (Sept. 1), assisted on two tackles and recorded a pass breakup starting at cornerback against Western Michigan (Sept. 8) and made one solo tackle starting at cornerback against SMU (Sept. 15).

He made one assisted tackle against Nebraska (Sept. 22), contributed two solo tackles at Northwestern (Sept. 29) with one pass breakup, assisted on one tackle against Maryland (Oct. 6), was credited with two pass breakups to go along with one solo tackle against Wisconsin (Oct. 13), registered three pass breakups playing defensive back and also contributed on special teams at Michigan State (Oct. 20), intercepted a pass and returned it 15 yards against Penn State (Nov. 3), made two tackles playing defensive back and contributing on special teams at Rutgers (Nov. 10), started at cornerback, played special teams and made two tackles against Indiana (Nov. 17), was credited with one pass breakup at Ohio State (Nov. 24), and made two tackles playing defensive back against Florida in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl (Dec. 29).

Long was selected by his hometown Los Angeles Rams in the third round with the 79th overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. Long signed with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2023.