Howie Long

Howie Long spent 13 seasons as a dominant defensive lineman for the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders, earning eight Pro Bowl selections and a Super Bowl XVIII championship before being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2000. After retiring, he became a longtime lead analyst on Fox NFL Sunday and built a parallel career as a film and television actor.

Long has been a consistent, largely low-profile presence in charitable work for decades, regularly supporting the United Way, the Mental Health Association, and the Tracey Biletnikoff Foundation, and serving as honorary chairman of both his local Boys & Girls Club and “Andrew's Buddies,” an organization supporting spinal muscular atrophy research. Much of his giving — including a scholarship fund he established at Villanova in his grandmother's honor — has been directed quietly through his family's foundation, Howie's Heart, toward causes like youth homelessness, affordable housing, and veterans' services. In 2023, he received the Pat Summerall Award at the Legends for Charity event benefiting St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, recognizing his community impact.

Westcoast Sports Associates presented Howie Long with the Roy Firestone Award in 2001, honoring a Hall of Fame career paired with decades of understated generosity.