Howie Long | Celebrity Net Worth 2026

Biography & Early Wealth Journey

Howie Long spent his entire 13-season NFL career with the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders, establishing himself as one of the dominant defensive linemen of the 1980s. He was selected to eight Pro Bowls, earned three consecutive First-Team All-Pro selections, won Super Bowl XVIII, and was named to the NFL's 1980s All-Decade Team. In 2000, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

After retiring from football following the 1993 season, Long successfully moved into broadcasting and acting. He joined Fox when the network launched its NFL coverage in 1994 and became one of the original analysts on "Fox NFL Sunday." More than three decades later, he remains one of the show's most recognizable personalities. Long won a Sports Emmy Award for his studio work and has appeared in films including "Broken Arrow," "Firestorm," and "3000 Miles to Graceland."

Football also became a family business for the Longs. Howie's sons Chris Long and Kyle Long both became NFL players, while his youngest son, Howie Long Jr., has worked for the Raiders organization.

Howie Long Salary

Primary Income Streams & Multi-Million Contracts

Between his work for Fox Sports and endorsement deals, including his longtime relationship with General Motors, Howie Long typically earns around $5 million per year. His broadcasting career has now lasted significantly longer than his NFL playing career, making television and endorsements an important component of his lifetime earnings.

Long has been part of "Fox NFL Sunday" since the program debuted in 1994. His longevity alongside personalities such as Terry Bradshaw has made him one of the longest-serving studio analysts in American sports television.

Early Life

Howard Matthew Moses Long was born on January 6, 1960, in Somerville, Massachusetts, and was raised primarily in the Boston area. He attended Milford High School in Milford, Massachusetts, where he became a standout multi-sport athlete. In addition to football, Long played basketball and competed in track and field, excelling in both the shot put and discus.

Real Estate, Luxury Assets & Personal Investments

Long attended Villanova University, where he initially arrived as a tight end before moving to the defensive line. He immediately became an important part of the Wildcats' defense, starting all 11 games as a freshman and recording 99 tackles. As a senior, he recorded 84 tackles, earned All-East honors, and was named an honorable mention All-American.

Long was also an accomplished boxer at Villanova and became the Northern Collegiate Heavyweight Boxing Champion. He graduated in 1981 with a degree in communications and was later inducted into Villanova's Varsity Club Hall of Fame. The university retired his #55 jersey, and in 2016 its football strength and conditioning facility was named in his honor.

NFL Career

The Oakland Raiders selected Howie with the 48th overall pick in the second round of the 1981 NFL Draft. He would spend all 13 seasons of his professional career with the franchise, playing his rookie season in Oakland before the team moved to Los Angeles in 1982.

Wealth Trajectory & Future Earnings Projections

Long moved into the starting lineup during the strike-shortened 1982 season and emerged as an elite defensive lineman the following year. In 1983, he recorded 13 official sacks, including five in a single game against Washington, and earned the first of eight Pro Bowl selections.

That season ended with the Raiders facing Washington again in Super Bowl XVIII in January 1984. Los Angeles dominated the defending champions 38-9, with Long contributing five tackles as the Raiders captured the third Super Bowl championship in franchise history.

Long followed his breakout year with 12 sacks in 1984 and 10 in 1985. He earned First-Team All-Pro honors in three consecutive seasons from 1983 through 1985 and later received Second-Team All-Pro recognition in 1986 and 1989. In 1985, he was named NFL Alumni Defensive Lineman of the Year and shared the NEA NFL Defensive Player of the Year award.

Long's versatility was one of his defining attributes. At 6-foot-5 and roughly 268 pounds, he possessed enough power to play inside on the defensive line and enough speed to rush from the edge. He became particularly known for his "rip" technique, using an uppercut-style arm movement to break the grip of offensive linemen.

Official NFL statistics credit Long with 84 career sacks. However, sacks did not become an official NFL statistic until 1982, and Long recorded another 7.5 as a rookie in 1981. Including those unofficial rookie sacks gives him a total of 91.5 over his career. He also recorded 10 fumble recoveries and two interceptions, including a 73-yard interception return in 1988.

Long retired following the 1993 season after playing 179 regular-season games for the Raiders. He was named to the NFL's 1980s All-Decade Team alongside defensive stars such as Lawrence Taylor and Reggie White.

In July 2000, Howie was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

Fox Sports Career

Long moved almost immediately from football into television. When Fox acquired the rights to broadcast NFL games beginning with the 1994 season, the network hired him as one of the original analysts for "Fox NFL Sunday."

The move proved to be the beginning of a remarkably durable second career. Long became a fixture of the program alongside Terry Bradshaw and other longtime Fox personalities, helping establish the pregame show as one of the network's signature sports properties. He has remained with "Fox NFL Sunday" since its inception and also served as a pregame and halftime analyst for "Thursday Night Football" from 2018 through 2021.

Long won a Sports Emmy Award for Outstanding Studio Analyst in 1997 and subsequently received 10 consecutive nominations in the category between 1997 and 2006. "Fox NFL Sunday" itself was inducted into the NAB Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2019.

His broadcasting career has been especially notable for its longevity. Long played 13 seasons in the NFL but has spent more than 30 years analyzing the league on television, meaning the second phase of his professional football career has lasted more than twice as long as the first.

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Acting Career

Long also pursued acting after leaving the NFL. One of his best-known roles came in the 1996 action thriller "Broken Arrow," in which he appeared alongside John Travolta and Christian Slater. Two years later, Long received the starring role of firefighter Jesse Graves in the action film "Firestorm."

He later appeared in the Western television film "Dollar for the Dead" and the 2001 crime film "3000 Miles to Graceland," which starred Kurt Russell and Kevin Costner. Long also filmed a small role in Tom Hanks' "That Thing You Do!" His scenes were removed from the theatrical release but later appeared in an extended version of the film.

Although Long never pursued acting as extensively as broadcasting, his combination of NFL fame and distinctive appearance made him a familiar presence in commercials. Over the years, he appeared in advertising campaigns for brands including RadioShack, Nike, Coors Light, Campbell's Chunky Soup, Honda, and Chevrolet.

Long also authored "Football for Dummies," a guide intended to explain the sport to casual fans, and hosted the Fox special "Howie Long's Tough Guys."

Personal Life and Football Family

Howie married Diane Addonizio in 1982 after the couple met while attending Villanova University. They have three sons: Chris, Kyle, and Howard Jr. All three eventually built careers connected to professional football.

Chris Long was selected second overall by the St. Louis Rams in the 2008 NFL Draft and spent 11 seasons as an NFL defensive end. He won consecutive Super Bowls with the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles before retiring in 2019. Kyle Long was selected by the Chicago Bears in the first round of the 2013 NFL Draft and became a three-time Pro Bowl offensive lineman. Their younger brother, Howie Jr., followed a different path and has worked in football operations with the Raiders.

Howie and Diane have also maintained a long relationship with Villanova. In 2015, the couple made a $1 million commitment to the university's athletics program as part of a major football facility project. The Howie Long Strength and Conditioning Center subsequently opened as part of Villanova's Andy Talley Athletic Center.

The achievements of Chris and Kyle made the Longs one of the NFL's more unusual multigenerational families. Howie reached the Pro Football Hall of Fame, while two of his three sons went on to become high-level NFL players in their own right.

Real Estate

After retiring from the NFL, Howie Long and his wife, Diane, made a major lifestyle change. The couple had lived in Los Angeles for more than a decade while Long played for the Raiders, but following the 1994 Northridge earthquake, they decided they did not want to continue raising their three sons in Southern California. The family reportedly considered locations ranging from Oregon to Cape Cod before choosing Charlottesville, Virginia.

The Longs settled on a 65-acre property outside Charlottesville that required substantial work. Howie has recalled that the house had been vacant for roughly eight or nine years when they moved in and initially had only one functioning bathroom and no usable kitchen. The property became the longtime family home where they raised sons Chris, Kyle, and Howie Jr. It also included a separate cottage where Diane's father lived for approximately a decade.

Long also owns a home on Flathead Lake in Montana, where the family has spent summers for many years. He has described the lake house as an attempt to recreate some of his happiest childhood memories, when he spent summers at his grandmother's modest lake house in New Hampshire. Long has said his children essentially grew up spending their summers at Flathead Lake, and his oldest son, Chris, later acquired a home in the area as well. In a 2011 interview, Howie described Charlottesville and Montana as his two primary residences.

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