Kevin Long, a South Carolina high school and college standout who spent five seasons as a respectable Jets running back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, died on Tuesday. He was 69.
Long was the Jets’ seventh-round pick, 195th overall, in the 1977 NFL Draft, and he joined a crowded backfield that included Bruce Harper, Clark Gaines, Scott Dierking, and Tom Newton when he arrived, followed by first-round picks Freeman McNeil and Scott Augustyniak in 1981. No. 33’s gutsy short-yardage running and nose for the end zone gained him playing time and respect from his teammates and Jets fans as the Green and White gradually built toward their 1981 postseason berth.
He has long had a game with two or more touchdowns in each of his last four seasons, including two games with three rushing touchdowns against Buffalo in 1978 and Detroit in 1979, making him one of only eight different Jets runners to have three rush touchdowns in a game, and one of only four to do so twice.
Long’s other achievements included two 100-yard rushing games against the Baltimore Colts 1978. He had a career-high 136 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries at Memorial Stadium, then took 19 times for 107 yards in a win at Shea Stadium.
He also had 100 yards on 25 attempts and scored from a yard out with 1:38 left to bring the Jets to a hard-fought 14-7 away victory over the Falcons in 1980. “Kevin was fantastic,” head coach Walt Michaels commented following the game. “And the players recognized it when they gave him a game ball.”
“I’m not Earl Campbell, but I have quick feet,” Long told Newsday of his star turn in Atlanta, near his childhood home. “I did a lot of cutback runs since they were slanting so much, allowing me to go against the grain. Sure, it felt beautiful, but the line was blocking well, just like it did when we were the top running team a year ago. Indeed, in 1979, Long was a member of the Green & White’s band of brother backs who led the NFL in rushing offense.
Long also tied for the fifth-most third-/fourth-and-1 conversions among RBs in team history, converting 42 out of 60 attempts and 13 of 17 in 1981. He has long played 73 games in green and white, starting 33, including all 16 in 1978. In 1981, he rushed 574 times for 2,190 yards and 25 touchdowns, and he caught 74 passes for 539 yards and three scores.
He recorded 28 touchdowns in his career, including 10 in his breakout season of 1978 when he also accumulated a career-high 1,158 scrimmage yards. He added his 29th touchdown in the 1981 playoff defeat to the Bills. He not only played for the Jets in the NFL but also for three USFL clubs from 1983 to 1985: the Chicago Blitz, the Arizona Wranglers, and the Arizona Outlaws.
He has long played high school basketball in Clinton, South Carolina, before staying close to home and starring for three seasons at the University of South Carolina. In 1975, he became the first Gamecock to rush for 1,000 yards in a single season, totaling 1,133. Long met his wife, Frankie, while they were students at USC, and they have been married for 46 years. They had four children—Kevin, Latifah, Alisa, and Salia—and six grandkids. Long’s public viewing and funeral service will take place Friday at Myers Mortuary & Cremation Services in his hometown of Columbia, followed by a celebration of his life the next day at New Ebenezer Baptist Church in Columbia.
