Kyle Long finally came clean to Stephen A. Smith.
Long, a former Bears offensive lineman, recently apologized to Smith for an awkward, alcohol-fueled exchange in the mid-2010s involving Jay Cutler, and still attacks him.
“One of my biggest regrets in life is about Stephen A. Smith, and I think about it a lot.” Long said this last week on his brother Chris Long’s podcast, “Green Light with Chris Long.”. “Sometimes when I’m lying in bed, I remember something I’ve done that I’m embarrassed about.
“And you think, ‘Hmm, is this a bad dream?’
Long, the son of Hall of Famer Howie Long, recalled that Smith once said something critical about Long’s then-Bears teammate Jay Cutler, and he didn’t like it.
The lightning rod quarterback and Long played together from 2013 to 2016, with Young playing three more years in Chicago before announcing his retirement after the 2019 season.
Much later, he met Smith at an ESPN party for the Super Bowl and stood up for his teammates.
The former first-round pick admitted he was “taken a hit” at the time.
“Because of what he said about Cutler, it kept me going for a year. I thought, ‘I’ve got to be a white knight for my quarterback,'” Long said. “I was drinking about a dozen beers at an ESPN party and I saw him, so I walked over and put my paw on his shoulder. He was talking to someone, so I walked over and put my paw on his shoulder. I was like, “Hey, Jay Cutler says, “Hello.” Something clever. At that moment, I thought I was very good at it.
“And he gave me a look like, ‘You’re a total idiot.'”
Long, who Smith described as “very good at his job,” was hoping he would finally get a chance to interact with the ESPN personality again, but that doesn’t seem to be happening.
So he settled for an apology on his podcast.
“Ever since that day, I was like, ‘Man, I wish I had a chance,'” Long said.
“Stephen A., I’m sorry.”
