Multiple generations of football fans have known Howie Long as a studio analyst for Fox Sports’ coverage of NFL games.
But back in the day, he was an outstanding defensive lineman for the then-Los Angeles Raiders who was named to the Pro Bowl eight times and won a Super Bowl championship during the 1983 season.
While on “The Rush” podcast, he revealed the measly salary he played for during the 1980s and early 1990s.
“My game check after taxes was $1007,” Long said.
While the NFL has long been America’s most popular pro sports league, players didn’t make nearly as much in the 1980s as they have made since.
The big-money era in not just the NFL, but also the NBA, didn’t really start until the 1990s.
In the 1980s, very few football players made seven figures a year, and players at certain positions made an income that would seem very meager by today’s standards.
But even if Long’s paycheck seemed small back then, his game was the opposite.
At 6-foot-5 and 270 pounds, he was a hard-hitting defensive end who recorded double-digit sacks in three seasons and ended up being named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s NFL 1980s All-Decade Team.
He played 13 seasons in the NFL, and even midway through his career, he had his sights set on becoming a broadcaster once his playing days ended.
Shortly after his retirement, he joined Fox’s NFL broadcast crew when the then-fledgling network won coverage rights, and along with colleagues such as Terry Bradshaw, he helped the network become largely associated with the nation’s most popular sport.
