NE Roots: Howie Long on the streets of Charlestown, loving Bobby Orr, and the 'a-ha' moment on way to HOF

The latest edition of our “New England Roots” series features former NFL defensive end Howie Long. It’s not hyperbole to suggest Long is the finest football player to ever come out of Massachusetts. The defensive lineman, who was born in Somerville, was raised in Charlestown before moving out to Milford. He went on to a Hall of Fame career, first at Villanova and them with the Raiders, where he played 13 seasons, finishing with 84 career sacks, two first-team All-Pro nods and a Super Bowl ring. Currently an analyst for Fox Sports, he’s the father of NFL players Chris Long and Kyle Long. He and his wife live on the West Coast.

BSJ: What was your youth sports experience like in New England when you were growing up?

Howie Long: I guarantee you that my youth sports experience was as unique a one you’ve had when you’re talking about something like this, because there really wasn’t any, at least organized. I grew up in Charlestown, but moved to Milford when the busing riots hit. In Charlestown, I remember playing up on Bunker Hill Monument. Eden Street Park, right around Albion Place. No parents, no coaches. Up until 13, it was in the streets. It was the best of times. I played football right under the elevated trains on Rutherford Avenue. Playing in the streets with my friends. It’s remarkable how well kids could figure it out on our own. We had great coaches and great structure when it came to some of the youth sports I was involved in, but most of my memories were playing in the street with my friends. For me, it was growing up wanting to be Bobby Orr, playing street hockey and basketball and baseball with a bat that had nails in it to hold it together. Basically, it wasn’t your traditional youth sports background. Baseball, kickball, stickball, football … you name it, we played it. And had a ball doing it — I think it was kind of foundation of sports for me.

When I got to Milford, I was walking down the hallway at school one day and ran into Dick Corbin, a guy who ended up coaching at Harvard under Joe Restic. He was the head coach at Milford High, and he saw me. I was like of like a deer in the headlights — I was all legs and arms. I could run, but I didn’t know where I was going. And that’s where I started to think about organized football.

What’s your most vivid youth sports memory?

I think I was a kid who was good-natured, a fun kid, who wasn’t really tough, per se. But my most vivid youth sports memory for me was the transition from high school to college. I graduated, and I was a tall, pretty skinny kid who was about 6-foot-4, 220. That summer after graduation, I went to Villanova, started lifting weights and was on a meal plan, and went from 225 to 265 in one summer. I would say that transition was the most eye-opening, vivid sports memory for me. I went from a kid who didn’t know what he was doing, like a young horse with all legs, to being a 265-pounder who was physical. I realized there are things I could do that other people couldn’t do. That was an a-ha moment for me.

At Villanova, I wasn’t thinking about the NFL. It was a small program with no dedicated weight room, no film room, and we stayed three to a room at the George Washington Motor Lodge for road trips. But for me, it was the best of times. It allowed me to grow outside of the spotlight. I was in college, but people didn’t know really who I was, and that allowed me the luxury of evolving physically as a young man to a point where I was drafted by the Raiders. So I got the call, found Oakland on a map, went out there and started on third down my rookie year. And the rest was history.

Favorite Boston sports team growing up?

Oh, it was the Bruins for sure. I was a huge Orr fan, and ironically enough a friend of mine who I work with at Fox Sports has someone who he knows who knows Orr, and Bobby sent me a cool autographed photo of that post-goal celebratory dive. Living that close to the Garden at that time and having access to that team and the Red Sox a couple of years after 1967 and the ups and downs that came with it, you couldn’t not be a fan.

Interestingly enough, I didn’t really watch football. I went to one camp, and when I first got there … it was a high school camp on Cape Cod. Now, you have to understand, when I grew up in Charlestown, when you lived there, you know you didn’t really leave there. It’s a tight-knit community. Going to Milford was an eye-opener for me. And going to the Cape might as well have been going to Europe. But this camp, it was run by Armond Colombo, the former Brockton coach, and it was a very impactful week for me. That’s where I met two guys, one of who was Ray Hamilton, who was a defensive lineman for the Patriots. He was one of the counselors. Fast forward I don’t know how many years, but he ended up coaching me a year with the Raiders. But at that camp, I was looking at guys like Ray, and they were just larger than life. I was 14- or 15-years old, and they were just huge. I mean, I grew up watching hockey and baseball and basketball, but when I went to that camp and met those guys, they were like something out of a Marvel comic. I remember thinking, ‘Oh, my gosh. Can you imagine being that big?’

As for my football career, my senior year in high school, I broke my ankle against Franklin in Week 2 and came back, and three weeks later, I just sort of limped around the rest of the season. But when I was hurt, a friend of mine had tickets, cheap tickets to the Patriots-Raiders game in 1976 in Foxboro. I went in crutches and in the cast, and I remember seeing the Raiders coming out of the tunnel, and they were like giants. They had (John) Matuszak, Art Shell. They were just a larger-than-life team. And New England smoked them (laughs).

Favorite Boston sports athlete growing up?

I loved Orr, and Yaz. But I also liked George Scott. Guys who were just oversized. Even though he didn’t play for Boston, I remember liking Frank Howard because he was a bigger-than-life guy. But I remember watching games with my aunt and uncle in the city with my grandma in the second and third floor of a row home in Charlestown. They had a little TV with coat-hanger antenna in the kitchen. We had the Red Sox and Bruins on Channel 38, and that’s where we lived and died with them. And you went out in the streets and you played it out the next day. Everyone would try and emulate Yaz and his pre-pitch routine, where he would twirl that bat over and over again in the box. But ultimately, growing up in Boston gave me an opportunity to watch a lot of really remarkable teams and remarkable players.

Favorite memory of a Boston sports event?

The 1972 Bruins winning a championship for me, at that age, was pretty big. There were a lot of big moments with the Celtics, but hockey was so big when I was that age. In many ways, I was a disappointment, I think, because I didn’t play hockey. But skates were so expensive, and for a kid who was growing out of sneakers every four months, how do you afford a new pair of CCM Tacks in that time?

What is your favorite Boston sports venue?

It’s hands down Fenway, and more specifically, The Wall. I remember we were there for Game 3 of the 2004 ALCS. Terry Bradshaw and I went down on the field and watching BP and talked to some of the guys, which was great. We ended up getting up in the Monster Seats, and we were talking with some cops. There was a “six degrees of separation” thing where one of the cops knew my Dad. Baseballs were flying overhead. Being up on that wall, that was a bucket-list thing for me. If you are any kind of sports fan, you have to get to Fenway, and walk through the bowels of the place. It’s remarkable. I know there are these ultra-stadiums these days, but that place is a real treasure. People in Chicago talk about Wrigley and the Cubs, but being on that wall, that’s an amazing experience.

Boston sports team you keep the most track of?

Right now, it’s the Celtics and Red Sox. I kind of lost touch with hockey to a certain extent. It’s just a different game now than the one I grew up with. The demographics have changed a great deal. The guys, for the most part, used to be Canadian and American. Now, it’s just different. If you’re doing play-by-play, it’s like, ‘Can I buy a vowel?’ The game is so much faster and bigger. I mean, it really is the same in our sport. Everyone is bigger, stronger and faster. Football and hockey these days is like NASCAR. If you watch it on TV, you don’t really get it. If you’re sitting on turn three and a car goes by at 200 MPH, then you get some sense of what’s going on. It’s the same with football and hockey. You don’t really get a sense of what’s going on unless you’re right on the sidelines or up against the ice.

As a sports fan, what do you miss most about New England?

Nowadays, you could be anywhere. Let’s go back to being in Aunt Edie and Uncle Mike’s kitchen in a row home in Charlestown, sitting 10 inches from a TV set watching Channel 38. Now, I could be anywhere and watch Boston sports. I could be in Bolivia and I could watch the Red Sox, Bruins, Celtics or Patriots. It’s like you could work for anyone around the world. As long as you have a phone or a computer, you can watch anything.