Quotes from Howie Long

When I left for Milford I was in the 10th grade and had never read a book from cover to cover. From the fifth grade on I felt if you studied intently something was wrong. The coolest kid in class was regarded as the leader and you fell in behind him or you were frowned upon... and whatever else that entailed.

Punters are players, too. They got to learn to take the hits. If they dont want to get hit, they shouldnt be out there.

Unfortunately, everyone thought that Teri Hatcher was my wife. Matter of fact, I would be with my wife, holding my wife's hand at a football game, and someone would come up to me and say, 'Hey, I love those commercials you do with your wife.' My kids almost had shirts made up that said, 'Teri Hatcher is not my mom.'

I'm a hungry individual, but I'm not mean.

Everything I've done after football requires so much less focus, less work, less stress, it's kind of like a weight has been lifted off your shoulders. You no longer have to be the toughest guy in the world.

I have this dying desire to be on top. I'm paranoid about it. It's almost a sickness.

As a broadcaster, I've always taken the approach that I want to be informed. I want to understand. It's easy to mail it in and throw a take out there.

You know, most of my friends are either dead or in jail. There were a lot of tragedies.

I think people who had made the transition from sports into film, the mistake that they made in the past, they tried to be too much. They tried be the guy in the film.

My family members were always there and I was very fortunate for that I mean, I played hockey growing up. That was the sport everyone in Charlestown played back then, and I had skates and the equipment, but I was growing so fast, it became hard to afford new stuff every year. But hockey was it for me.

I was sick a lot, and doctors told my grandmother I'd never grow up to be big and strong. Isn't that ironic?

We had barracuda jackets and alligator shirts with the collars up. We were wearing the collar up before it was cool.

My grandmother is the type of person, I'd be down playing cards in the park, and she'd take the dog and walk down to the park, like 10:30 or 11 at night. I was 12 years old. She'd come down yelling for me. I'd be embarrassed in front of my friends. She'd grab me by the hair on my head.

I was a quiet kid. I was very introverted, believe it or not. I never spoke above a whisper. I was always, 'Yes sir.' I was raised that way.

Running backs like Emmitt Smith and Barry Sanders, you were lucky to get a piece of them.

I was a street kid, but that meant hopping a ride on the back of the MTA down to Revere Beach - that's the beach that's made out of concrete - or sneaking into the Boston Garden to watch the Celtics or the Bruins.

Having grown up in that area, and being like every other kid that grows up in that area, it's John Havlicek, it's Bobby Orr, it's Sam Bam Cunningham, it's names and players like that who you kind of live your dreams through. Having come from there, I'm very proud of the fact I'm from Boston and continue to be proud of that.

I like John Riggins. He's one of the guys I look up to. He doesn't try to change his act to suit his profession. He just gets the ball and tries to ram it down your throat. I respect that.

Interestingly enough, on every team there's usually a minimum of two and a maximum of seven knuckleheads on a roster.

God gave me good people around me, and He gave me size. It's kind of a miracle, really.

I really enjoy my time in Montana.

I really don't know what would have happened if my uncle hadn't taken me in. He took a hoodlum and turned him into a student-athlete from Milford.

I was uncontrollable. I didn't like school. I was younger than everyone in my class by two years. I had few friends. I never had a girlfriend. I was kind of a grandmother's boy.

I usually wear my Hall of Fame ring on a more regular basis because it is more like a college ring. It is a little more understated. The Super Bowl ring is kind of loud, but I take great pride in those two things.