Russell Wilson won’t be alone in starting something new at CBS.
The network announced Thursday it will also welcome Kyle Long as a studio analyst for CBS Sports’ signature pregame show “The NFL Today” and will join Wilson along with Nate Burleson, Bill Cowher and host James Brown.
Long, who started at CBS Sports in 2020, appeared on the show last season and now becomes a full-time member. The two former players will also serve as analysts for CBS Sports’ digital NFL pregame show streaming on Paramount+, CBS Sports HQ and the NFL ON CBS YouTube channel.
The former Giants quarterback, who announced the career switch to media this week, joined Burleson in studio and announced Long’s promotion on “CBS Morning” Thursday.
“Every good quarterback needs a good lineman in front of him, and we’ve got one of the best to do it. Let’s bring out another new member of the ‘NFL Today’ team, Chicago Bears legend Kyle Long,” Burleson said.
Long came out and greeted all of the “CBS Morning” team and dabbed up Wilson.
“This is everything Nate. Hearing Russell talk about the transition from going from being a player to being in the media, when I first got out I said ‘Hell I don’t have a team anymore. Where are my real friends?’ Now every Sunday, I spend time with you [points to Burleson] and now we get our guy Russell, who I’ve known since I was 14,” Long said.
The two played baseball and football against each other growing up in Virginia. Wilson, who was born in Cincinnati, primarily grew up in Richmond while Long is from Ivy, V.A.
“I never touched him in football,” Long said. “He was too quick.
“But this is everything a boy like me could have ever dreamed of, having watched my dad in the studio [Howie Long] and sitting on James Brown’s knee in 1994 at the desk, I knew this is where I wanted to be. CBS has been awesome and we get to do it every Sunday now.”
Long, a first-round draft pick to the Bears and three-time Pro Bowler, has served as both a studio and game analyst across varios CBS Sports related platforms. He will likely be a big resource to Wilson, who will be entirely new to the venture after a 14-year NFL career.
During the segment, Wilson was also asked about his goodbye message to the NFL he shared Wednesday. It was a three-minute video posted to his social media accounts that confirmed his retirement from the game after various reports days prior.
“I wanted to paint a picture of how much this game meant to me,” Wilson said. “The obsession. The love. You do this for 14+ years and I wanted to take it back to my childhood. I wanted to take it back to the memories of my dad and brother throwing footballs and the moon balls, like I said. This history of the game too and what this game has meant to me. To be the second black quarterback to ever win a Super Bowl, that piece of it too. Coach [Pete] Carroll and honoring him and what he meant to me as a coach in Seattle. They raised me. But also to say my thank yous to my family. To my dad, my mom.”
Wilson spent 10 years with the Seahawks where he led the team to eight postseason appearances and the organization’s first Super Bowl championship in 2014.
He went on to play two seasons for the Broncos and a one season stint with the Steelers before his final season in New York.
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